Wooden Panel for my car jack.

[Nail]

I bet a board of phenolic type plastic would do.

I have some old locker doors of it and have also got shower cubicle walls from it too.

 

[ChaiLatte]

If the OP could upgrade the accommodation for his jack board to indoor storage, an offcut of kitchen worktop might do well.

This thought comes from peering into skips from the upper floor of the bus...

If I mis-spell 'peering' above by omitting the 'r', the phrase takes on a very different meaning...

 

[sams93]

I bet a board of phenolic type plastic would do.

I have some old locker doors of it and have also got shower cubicle walls from it too.

Completely agree - I just don't know where i'd find such a thing being thrown out in sufficient sizes (1mx0.6m ish - i'm away currently but I will measure the boards I have when I get back).

If the OP could upgrade the accommodation for his jack board to indoor storage, an offcut of kitchen worktop might do well.

This thought comes from peering into skips from the upper floor of the bus...

If I mis-spell 'peering' above by omitting the 'r', the phrase takes on a very different meaning...

100% - I think the plywood would be fine to be fair if it were stored inside, it's only an issue that has developed with it's age... Indoor storage is sadly only a dream at present. Hopefully one day a garage will negate the requirement for any of this!

There are some plexiglass sheets near me going for free on facebook, look to be about 5mm thick, I think i'm going to give those a go first and they should be simple enough to just screw to the boards I have, i'll chamfer the edges so I don't catch myself on them. If that plan fails (I have suspicions that it might crack under the weight, although they will be fully supported by the plywood underneath them) then I will move towards some aluminium checkerboard (using the flat reverse face) - although it looks like I will have to be a bit more patient/active on my search for those - I'll keep an eye out.

 

[Fergie 307]

If the OP could upgrade the accommodation for his jack board to indoor storage, an offcut of kitchen worktop might do well.

This thought comes from peering into skips from the upper floor of the bus...

If I mis-spell 'peering' above by omitting the 'r', the phrase takes on a very different meaning...

Only issue with a lot of modern cars is they are very close to the ground. I can't use a proper garage jack on the wife's mini on the drive. With the board under it it is too high. I have a couple of baby ones that I normally use for changing a gearbox or similar that are ok. I suspect something as thick as a kitchen worktop might cause even them a problem. Shame, because strength wise would be good.
I know it's not what the OP wants but one of the best things I have bought are two-piece plastic ramps. Long ramp section which can be removed out of the way once the car is up. And they grip really well so don't just slide along in front of the car when you try and drive on as the metal ones often do.
Brilliant.

 

[Sachakins]

Bolting the angle to the board is not a great idea.

Doing so means you have to move the entire board around to position the jack.

It is likely you would want the jack at a different positon relative to the centreline of the board when working on the left or right or side of the vehicle.

True, but you have to move the board around to reposition the jack anyway.
Unless it's an 8x4 board

 

[artie]

How about changing to a bottle jack, which doesn't need to move?

 

[Fergie 307]

How about changing to a bottle jack, which doesn't need to move?

I have a really nice old screw type one. No idea now where I got it from but still really useful.

 

[sams93]

How about changing to a bottle jack, which doesn't need to move?

The car is quite low so I have to use a low-profile trolley jack to get under it. Someone gave me a bottle jack years ago when they were clearing a garage but it was useless to me as I couldn't get it under any of the cars I had. I can get it under the car using my boards but there isn't much free space similar to the experience @Fergie 307 reports.

I have never owned ramps but I am sure they make life extremely easy for oil changes and things like that - however because I have older cars (225k miles upwards) I end up doing more than my fair share of varied work with the wheels off. The situation that has prompted me to post this is that i've got to change one of my wheel bearings this week - so the ramps wouldn't be any help for that! Plus, I am very space limited (hence my boards have to live outside), and ramps are bulky so I would struggle to store them.

 

[artie]

It's more money than you want to spend and prolly harder to store than you'd like.
But I'm posting it anyway cause I like it.

 

[Fergie 307]

It's more money than you want to spend and prolly harder to store than you'd like.
But I'm posting it anyway cause I like it.


[/QUOTE

One of my mates has a big one of these for use off roading. Excellent bit of kit when there is no firm grounding for a normal jack.

 

[Fergie 307]

Not sure what happened there

 

[Fergie 307]

The car is quite low so I have to use a low-profile trolley jack to get under it. Someone gave me a bottle jack years ago when they were clearing a garage but it was useless to me as I couldn't get it under any of the cars I had. I can get it under the car using my boards but there isn't much free space similar to the experience @Fergie 307 reports.

I have never owned ramps but I am sure they make life extremely easy for oil changes and things like that - however because I have older cars (225k miles upwards) I end up doing more than my fair share of varied work with the wheels off. The situation that has prompted me to post this is that i've got to change one of my wheel bearings this week - so the ramps wouldn't be any help for that! Plus, I am very space limited (hence my boards have to live outside), and ramps are bulky so I would struggle to store them.

I feel for you, spent many years doing the same. Have finally got my kids away from home and reclaimed my workshop so have a powered lift exhumed from under all their junk. Sods law dictates that one of them will have an issue when I already have something on the lift that can't be moved, so out comes the board and jack. Never was exactly fun but as you get older laying on your back in the rain struggling with a rusty bolt definitely loses any charm it might once have had

 

[artie]

Not sure what happened there

Looks like you typed in the quote box instead of outside.

 

[Fergie 307]

Looks like you typed in the quote box instead of outside.

I believe so, not sure how I did that

 

[XTiffy]

Sam 93, I have a suggestion! I have several steel filing cabinets, re-purposed as tool cabinets in my barn. These cabinets have sheet steel shelves with rolled edges, to stiffen the shelves. It would be easy to cut your ply to fit inside. There would be no edges to catch on. As you are in East Sussex and I am in West Sussex, if you were ever my way I would give you one. Without measuring I would say they are around 36" X 15" and the edges around1"deep. They are painted and could be stored with a plastic bag over them. I am sure they turn up in Tips or metal scrap yards.

 

[MarkAW]

Beware the jack sliding on any slippery surface like a worktop or sheet metal. Or the board on the driveway surface. Especially so if your driveway is sloped.

I have the same problem on my tarmac driveway. I tend to use an old bit of ply too, but as you say the jack's wheels need to move rather than sink into the ply. I wouldn't trust the jack alone either, and also use some axle stands

 

[mwinfrance]

Scissor jack ? The ones I have ( I have trolley jacks and bottle jacks etc too ) go down really flat to be slid in.

Yes always with axle stands. Bought some metal ramps last year..looked at the plastic ones ( on line ) wasn't sure about them as to if they really would not collapse.