[PhatboyC]

No centralize jack points?

Looking at the manual I see no centralize jack points? I was hoping there was. I just bough a 3 ton jack thinking I would save time when changing my summer/winter wheels by jacking front then back instead of the four corners. Usually RWD or AWD cars with a centralize mass has this.

I wonder if jack pad adapters will be available. Seems similar shape than BMW's and Mercedes. To bad they can't agree on one standard.

Example one for BMW's

Example use for Mercedes

 

[SDspeed]

I've been changing summer/winter wheels on our cars for many years. Initially I used a rolling floor jack, but that only lasted for a few years until the seals burst. The floor jack was convenient to use, but it took up a lot of storage space in the garage. I was able to jack a traditional SUV in the air from a central point on its solid axle, but have never found a central jacking point on a unibody vehicle like the XC90. On a 2007 Audi Q7 I used a hockey puck to pad its jacking points because they were along the unibody pinch seam.

After the floor jack broke, I purchased a Torin Big Red double ram bottle jack. That was great for a while because it fit under the vehicles easily, but it constantly weeped hydraulic fluid and failed after a couple of years. I think the double-ram design contributed to its early failure.

Almost all jacks these days seem to be made in China. Unless you want to spend a lot of money on a US-made floor jack, I think you have to expect jacks to fail regularly. So my current solution is to use a traditional bottle jack (i.e. not a double ram). It will probably fail in a couple of years like the other jacks, but it is easily replaced. The challenge with a traditional bottle jack is that it doesn't fit underneath the XC90. So when I change a wheel, I first drive it onto a stack of three pieces of 3/4" plywood laid flat on the ground. This raises the jacking point high enough for the bottle jack to fit underneath. I also use the flat pad accessory from a Safe Jack kit (indicated by the arrow) to distribute the load across the XC90's jacking points. This works well and the jack is very stable when raising and lowering the XC90. I have found the cradle accessory to work well on a solid axle vehicle.

 

[PhatboyC]

Anyone know the wheel lug bolts thread size? I'm looking to buy wheel hangers. Will come in handy when installing my summer rims. I think this is the right size but a am having difficulties finding cross reference tables to confirm.

 

[Lexman8]

Anyone know the wheel lug bolts thread size? I'm looking to buy wheel hangers. Will come in handy when installing my summer rims. I think this is the right size but a am having difficulties finding cross reference tables to confirm.

They're M14 x 1.5. https://www.wheel-size.com/size/volvo/xc90/2017/

 

[PhatboyC]

Wow nice website seems trustworthy.

Thanks.

 

[SDspeed]

Anyone know the wheel lug bolts thread size? I'm looking to buy wheel hangers. Will come in handy when installing my summer rims. I think this is the right size but a am having difficulties finding cross reference tables to confirm.

I used a wheel hanger on a previous Q7 when changing summer/winter wheels, but have found that it isn't necessary on the XC90. The XC90 wheel will hang off of the center hub and you can rotate it until you see the holes line up. You might try removing and reinstalling a wheel before deciding if you need a hanger.

 

[PhatboyC]

I used a wheel hanger on a previous Q7 when changing summer/winter wheels, but have found that it isn't necessary on the XC90. The XC90 wheel will hang off of the center hub and you can rotate it until you see the holes line up. You might try removing and reinstalling a wheel before deciding if you need a hanger.

Ok I'll do just that. Big thanks for your advice.

Can I ask if you used jack pad adapters, pictured in my first post above. If not, didn't the jack damage the jacking points a tad?

 

[OURDESIGN]

I used a hockey puck and had no issues.

 

[SDspeed]

I didn't use a pad between the jack and the jacking points, but if you'll notice in post #2 of this thread, the jack adapter I used is smooth and flat, distributing force evenly across the jacking point. If your jack surface is uneven and you have enough clearance, a hockey puck might prevent damage. I've done that with previous vehicles, but only using floor jacks that have cup shaped bearing surfaces. I probably wouldn't set a hockey puck on top of a bottle jack head, which is why I bought the adapter.

 

[PhatboyC]

Now that I installer my summer rims. Both fronts has nice metal flat pad to jack. The rear has nice plastic pads to jack. Doesn't look at all like the manual other than the placement of the jacking points. Very easy with a 3 ton jack. Didn't bother looking for a front/back centralized points.

 

[Zitro0101]

jack pads

Now that I installer my summer rims. Both fronts has nice metal flat pad to jack. The rear has nice plastic pads to jack. Doesn't look at all like the manual other than the placement of the jacking points. Very easy with a 3 ton jack. Didn't bother looking for a front/back centralized points.

phatboyc,
so did you use the bmw or mercedes jack pads? I broke a jack point trying to use my floor jack. Thanks

 

[Zitro0101]

Broken jacking point

phatboyc,
so did you use the bmw or mercedes jack pads? I broke a jack point trying to use my floor jack. Thanks

Here is a picture of the jacking point part I broke. There is a hole in the middle, is there some Volvo tool or adapter on the floor jack that helps with jacking up using this?

 

[PhatboyC]

No I didn't use any other jack pads adapter. My 3 ton jack has a huge pad area that I added a rubber pad on top so not to scratch. Ends up being bigger that the jack points.

How big of a jack did you use? Was the load only in the corner that crushed the plastic?

 

[ADM17]

Bumping this thread since I'm getting ready to swap on our winter setup. I looked under the Volvo the other day as I was swapping to my winter setup on my Audi. I noticed the volvo has no real jack/lift points like Audi/BMW. The rear area has that plastic block, but the front, I only see what is circled where the jack point arrow is on the side of the car. I'm looking to use a 3 ton jack with a flat pad, but I'm not sure where to put it in the bottom image. Nothing looks substation for a jack.

Rear point is this block, I'm assuming.

Front point?

 

[VolvoUhu]

@ADM17 - the front points you've circled are the spots to use as confirmed by my service tech. The one that's closer to the mount bolt is the one I would use over the lower one in your picture. Just last week I had to jack up the rear and used the plastic blocks you've pictured, too with a hockey puck as a pad/spacer and it worked just fine to take the tire off to plug it (flat).

 

[SDspeed]

I recently bought a floor jack to replace the bottle jack with Safe Jack adapter that I referenced above and used it to swap seasonal tires last weekend with no problems.

ADM17 - your photos of the rear jacking points are accurate - you lift directly on the hard plastic bumpers. The pad on my floor jack is too big to center it under the plastic bumper without touching the surrounding objects, so I push the jack under the car just far enough to get the entire plastic bumper on the jack pad. This works well.

Your photos of the front jacking points are also accurate, although you should be careful with these and try to distribute the weight of the car over the largest surface area possible. Since my floor jack pad has a slightly raised lip, I picked up a piece of 1/4" scrap steel plate from a local fabricator that is just large enough to span both of these holes and cover the flat surfaces that surround them. I put the plate on top of my floor jack pad and lift across both of these points. My prior Safe Jack solution worked fine as well, and it was a smaller surface area (but still flat with no lip). In that case, I centered the flat pad on the outboard hole. The first time I looked under the car, the grease surrounding the outboard holes had been disturbed but the inboard holes were untouched, indicating that the dealer had lifted from the outboard holes. As you've probably already discovered, the owner's manual doesn't distinguish between these holes in its section on jacking.

 

[ADM17]

Thanks for the info guys. I was mistaken and apparently my jack is only a 2 ton and it's lower profile for cars so I don't know that it'll go high enough for the Volvo. So I guess I'll just get a new jack. Any recommendations since it'll mostly be used on the volvo? I'd like something I could pick up locally or prime on Amazon. Thoughts?

 

[Nickshu]

Thanks for the info guys. I was mistaken and apparently my jack is only a 2 ton and it's lower profile for cars so I don't know that it'll go high enough for the Volvo. So I guess I'll just get a new jack. Any recommendations since it'll mostly be used on the volvo? I'd like something I could pick up locally or prime on Amazon. Thoughts?

I just use a low profile floor jack from Harbor Freight. It works great. As far as the jacking points, get some hockey pucks, they work great as jack pads and clear the rockers at the factory jacking points. If you have air suspension don't forget to lockout the air suspension before lifting the car. Also putting the car in the lowest mode (Power) before lifting makes life easier.

 

[ADM17]

I just use a low profile floor jack from Harbor Freight. It works great. As far as the jacking points, get some hockey pucks, they work great as jack pads and clear the rockers at the factory jacking points. If you have air suspension don't forget to lockout the air suspension before lifting the car. Also putting the car in the lowest mode (Power) before lifting makes life easier.

Thanks. My only real worry are the front points as they are basically holes in the metal. It looks there should be some sort of pad there or something. For the front, did you center the puck under the circled hole or the one with the arrow pointing to it in my earlier post with the picture?

 

[SDspeed]

I guess I'll just get a new jack. Any recommendations since it'll mostly be used on the volvo? I'd like something I could pick up locally or prime on Amazon. Thoughts?

I purchased a Strongway 3-Ton Aluminum/Steel floor jack locally from Northern Tool (Item #46186). It's a Chinese jack that is labeled with Northern Tool's house brand. I chose it because it's lighter than a heavy duty all steel jack and more substantial than most aluminum "race jacks." With a lifting range of 4" - 18-1/4" it works on all of our vehicles from car to high-clearance SUV. It works on the XC90 rear jacking points without modification and on the front points with a steel plate as I described. I also use it on a 2018 A4 which is lifted directly on the pinch welds. Only alternating sections of the jack pad's edges are raised and the jack pad rotates, so for the A4 I rotate it so that the pinch seam rests on the flat part of the jack pad like so:

I also use it to lift the entire rear axle of an SUV via the differential. It works great, but it will probably fail in a few years like every other jack I have owned.