MOT Question

I've got my car in for MOT tomorrow. Where do you people reckon I should  advise the tester to jack up the front end ?

On rear mounting brackets of front wishbones ?

I don't want any crushed sills  :cry:

he'll use the chassis legs as he'll have either an insepection pit or a four post lift.  both of these have sliding jacks that lift both sides at once.

Jon.

Thats my worry. I recall a garage squashing one of them on a MK1 a few years back. Are they really strong enough to cope ?

DubPartz said

Thats my worry. I recall a garage squashing one of them on a MK1 a few years back. Are they really strong enough to cope ?

The MoT tester will have jacked up hundreds of cars, and the Mk1 Golf can safely be jacked up on the 4 poster during the MoT test with no damage. If it crumples at the recommended jack points, its not his fault but the car's too rusty in those areas underneath. If this is the case, then it should be fixed before MoT as it will inevitibly earn a fail on corrosion. He has the choice of the circular jacking points or the bottom wishbone mount area, and there's rubber pads on the jack.

Not only that he may have the type where you drive it on and it jacks up, in effect, on the wheels..

So to summarise the box sections in rear of the wishbone mountings are ok for jacking on. I always understood the two 'cups' in the front corners of the floor pan were there as mounting points on the production line. The same for the rear platforms.

I'm not convinced by this; my cabrio has damage to the chassis rail (as I interpret it) under the passenger side floor which looks like inexpert jacking to me.

I don't know where to jack my front end to do the suspension, actually - I expect I will be fretting about it for a while (likewise need to change the oil, but I reckon ramps are best/fine for that).

DubPartz said

So to summarise the box sections in rear of the wishbone mountings are ok for jacking on. I always understood the two 'cups' in the front corners of the floor pan were there as mounting points on the production line. The same for the rear platforms.

The box sections are NOT the recommended jacking points. I always jack on either the rear wishbone pick ups or the "cups".

dubboy said

DubPartz said

So to summarise the box sections in rear of the wishbone mountings are ok for jacking on. I always understood the two 'cups' in the front corners of the floor pan were there as mounting points on the production line. The same for the rear platforms.

The box sections are NOT the recommended jacking points. I always jack on either the rear wishbone pick ups or the "cups".

The tester knew where to jack the front end up so I need not have fretted….
'the rear wishbone pick ups'  :wink:

But sadly my car failed on a split steering rack boot.   

Poor do Mike.

Crack on!

Does this mean you're due to be back on the road, or just putting it through an MOT?

thats a bit picky do you get a free re test?

mk1john said

Poor do Mike.

Crack on!

Does this mean you're due to be back on the road, or just putting it through an MOT?

I can't grumble too much John. To just fail on that isn't bad for a 23 yr old car. It was my 'grey import' Jetta and yes I'm back behind the wheel after almost a year out. It's great to be back    

I will try and cruise down to the next Yorkshire meet  :wink:

cla55ydubs said

thats a bit picky do you get a free re test?

That's what I thought but if he is so picky then to just fail on that isn't too bad and yes they willl give me a free re-test

Great news

Let me know if/when you're planning to attend a meet, I haven't been to any in a while - would be good to catch up with everyone.

Which Jetta was this - you seem to have obtained a second one!

 erm the vw supplied jack that came with the mk1 is for use on the seam of the sill, thats where i jack using a trolley jack and my sills dont distort, as was said earlier if the sills crush then they must be past it   :scratch:

raferackstraw said

 erm the vw supplied jack that came with the mk1 is for use on the seam of the sill, thats where i jack using a trolley jack and my sills dont distort, as was said earlier if the sills crush then they must be past it   :scratch:

The jack supplied is for use when changing a wheel but during an MOT they lift the whole front and up, hence the question. As for the crushing it wasn't the sills that were mentioned but the chassis rails.

TBH I'd only use the supplied jack in an emergency has it's not paint friendly  

mk1john said

Great news

Let me know if/when you're planning to attend a meet, I haven't been to any in a while - would be good to catch up with everyone.

Which Jetta was this - you seem to have obtained a second one!

Shifts permitting I'll go to the next one. Todays Jetta was my first one. The seond one is still in Germany awaiting collection, probably next April  

raferackstraw said

 erm the vw supplied jack that came with the mk1 is for use on the seam of the sill, thats where i jack using a trolley jack and my sills dont distort, as was said earlier if the sills crush then they must be past it   :scratch:

But the VW jack does not just push up on the strip along the bottom of the sill. Even if I knew the sill was as strong as it could be on my care I would not want someone to jack straight up on the sill.

VW put the U shaped head on the jack for a reason and also put the markers on the sills for a reason, even out of the factory the official way to jack a mk1 is to do it with that jack in the specific place.

I have seen people adapt the heads of trolley jacks with the U brackets instead of flat cups. I always mean to weld one up myself but have never got round to it.

Good point, well made Dave