A pinch weld frame on a car can cause a lot of grief when you want to do some simple maintenance. Without the proper adapter, a floor jack is unusable.
Imagine this situation…
You are a shade tree mechanic. A home gamer. You invested in an awesome hydraulic floor jack for your vehicle. You can lift that vehicle by the box frame or the pumpkin, no problem. And since you love working on cars, you are glad to help out family and friends with their vehicles.
Then you get ready to lift their vehicle and you see it. A pinch weld frame.
That awesome jack is now a half step away from useless. It will crush the weld if you try to use it. The time it was going to take to rotate the tires has just tripled. You go get the scissor jack out of the trunk of their vehicle because it is designed to fit over the weld. And you start to crank. Crank some more. And crank… And crank. Now the wheel can come off and the spare goes on. So you crank again. And crank… You get the picture. You only have to repeat the whole process four more times.
Here is where the pinch weld frame adapter comes in. For a few bucks (I think mine was about $20.00) I picked up an aluminum adapter. The adapter has a round base with two rails that point up with about a half inch between. This area fits over the pinch weld and cradles it. The rails make contact with the actual lifting point of the vehicle. My adapter has two magnets that holds the adapter in place. The jack is moved into position and pumped a few times.
The car has been lifted quickly and easily. It has been done with a much safer jack. Old wheel off, new wheel on. Lower the car. No damage to the pinch weld. That means no damage to the frame.
Check out this video to see the adapter in action!
The Pinch Weld Jack Adapter! Click here or on the image to see a video of the adapter in use.
The adapter I used was purchased at Amazon. It was called the Viveway Jack Pad Pinch Weld Frame Rail Adapter with Magnetic Function for Sub-Frame Vehicle Floor Jack. This item was definitely named by an engineer. The name is a descriptor of exactly what the item is. There is no ambiguity. Pinch Weld Jack Adapter would have worked just fine.
There are other versions of adapters like this. They can be made of aluminum, polyurethane, and/or other materials. Some guys even use hockey pucks that they cut slots in. I do not recommend that method. Pucks are not designed for that kind of use. The adapter does not cost that much and will not require a ton of work to get it ready to use.
The frame adapter is an item you want to have in your tool chest. Your floor jack will thank you. If you are interested in purchasing, I have included a link below.
As an Amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. This small commission does not change the cost to you.
