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Jack points on my 2003 Jetta VW TDI
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related links: 1000q: making wood blocks to raise the car

Introduction

This article shows the jack points on my 2003 Jetta VW TDI.  This information applies to my car and my exact situation only, your car may be in different condition, different year cars may be different, your car may be loaded differently, your driveway/garage surface may be different, etc., so modify this information to your exact situation.  Refer to the TOS Agreement for the full legal disclaimer.  Damage to your property, injury, and death, or to a 3rd party, are possible consequences of not supporting your vehicle properly and/or securely.  Never get into a position where you could be injured by an improperly supported car.  If you have any doubt about the safety of working on your car, take it to a professional mechanic.

Safety rules I always follow for getting under the car:

Always check to make sure the car is secure and safe before getting under the car far enough to be injured.

Never get under the car far enough to get injured while raising, lowering, or adjusting the car.  

Always check the jack when raising, lowering, or adjusting the car to make sure it's not slipping or moving.

Never get under the car far enough to get injured if the car's weight is not securely resting on jack stands.  A hydraulic jack is only for raising the car to where you can put jack stands under it because it's not safe to rest the car's weight on a jack.  A hydraulic jack can blow a seal, break, fail, etc., and this can kill you. 

Make sure your equipment and the car's jack points are in good condition.  Also inspect the driveway/garage condition because jack stands can dig into hot asphalt. 

Always make sure your equipment is suitable and rated for the car that you are using it on.

Never rest the weight of the car on the suspension or axle - these are designed to move and are not safe jack points.

After raising the car, shake it a bit to check that it's secure.

I always use a backup to jack stands since it's not worth betting your life that the jack stand won't fail.  Another pair of jack stands and using the hydraulic jack to just where it lightly holds the car (not supporting the car's weight) are the minimum backups that I use.

Apply the parking brake and put the car in gear as appropriate.  Also chock the wheels so that the car can't roll.

Chock the end of the car that is not being raised.  I stuff a rain gutter guide like this around both wheels to hold them securely and prevent movement:

The "widowmaker" scissor jack in your car is for emergency roadside wheel removal and is not a substitute for a floor jack or jack stands.  They are not sufficient to safely support a car and at no time while changing a wheel on the side of the road should you get under the car far enough to be injured because they can fail.

NEVER use cinder blocks to carry the weight of a car or as substitute for proper car jack stands.  Cinder blocks are stronger in one orientation and weak in the other - do you know which one is the strong direction?  If you don't and have used cinder blocks to support the car you have risked your life and didn't even known it.  Cinder blocks supporting weight should always have plywood placed between the weight and the block to spread the load out.  Focusing the load can cause cinder blocks to suddenly shatter.  Cinder blocks also don't show cracks, weaknesses, or defects well.

Don't get complacent in safety checks!  That one time you say "it's good enough" could be when the accident occurs, like shown below (not mine).  Luckily no one was injured in the case pictured, but that crushed oil pan could be your chest and that oil could be your splattered brains.  Hopefully discipline and fear will prevent complacency.

More of what I do:

I use a thin piece of cardboard between the jack and car to prevent it from scratching the car.

I rest the jack stand on top of a solid, even, and secure piece of wood to raise its height and prevent digging into my driveway.  Once the car's weight is being carried through the jack stand, the wood is clamped down to the ground.  

I have a safety helper double check my setup and assist in case anything else does go wrong.

My personal hydraulic jack is the costco 3 ton "arcan" aluminum jack.  Not every store may carry it.  It's about 58 lbs vs. 100 lbs for a comparable steel jack, has a lower padded bar to avoid scratching your car, is about $145 after everything, and has a range of 3.7-19.3" so it will fit under most lowered cars but lift high too.  It is not a racing "quick drop" jack so lowering it is safe and controlled, I avoid racing jacks in general.  It also has a quick lift feature.  My experience with Craftsman jacks is that they tend to leak and stop lifting after a while due to dirt clogging an internal valve.  They can be cleaned and rebuilt but I avoid craftsman jacks now because of their current design.

The jack stand can rest on the pinch weld highlighted in green below.  The pinch weld highlighted in red are not reinforced and you should not place a jack stand there.  Some cars have a corrugated look to the reinforced area.  There is a stamped triangle on the lower sill right above the reinforced pinch weld to indicate where it is.  This is also where you place the roadside emergency scissor jack.  If you use a hydraulic jack on the sill you should use an adapter to securely hold the sill.

The area just inboard of it highlighted in green is reinforced and you can either use a piece of wood (to spread out the weight) between the body and hydraulic jack to raise the car.  You can also use a piece of wood between the frame rail and hydraulic jack to raise the car.  The previous owner did not use wood to protect the body and spread out the weight so the frame rails have some dents.  There is a small piece of cardboard between the jack and car to help prevent marring.  There is also a spot for installing jack pads.  These pads are only for use with 4 post car lifts since they spread out the weight of the car evenly.  I do not use them because I already have jack stands and a good jack, and because they are designed for use with 4 post car lifts.

Here is another photo showing my car's front passenger side after raising it.  The weight of the car is on the jack stands at the factory jack stand location.  The hydraulic jack is for backup only and is only lightly touching the frame rail - it is not carrying the weight of the car!  Hydraulic jacks can fail or blow a seal, suddenly releasing the car, so never be in a position to be injured while a hydraulic jack is carrying the weight of the car.  The other side has another jack and jackstand to secure that side.  The rear wheels are also chocked.

Here is the pinch weld jack point on the rear.  It's also below a stamped triangle on the sill.

External links

Here are some more notes about jack points on an mk4.  http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2951609

Audi TT jack pads on various cars (for use with 4 post lift) http://www.ottawa-vdubbing.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22984 , http://forums.fourtitude.com/zerothread?id=2220220