Jacking on tarmac

[Thekilt]

Hi All,

I have noticed that the small rear wheels on my jack has made some nasty grooves in our tarmac drive. It’s not the best quality tarmac as the front wheels of both ours and next doors have made grooves in the ground but I need to start prevent further damage (and maybe fix what has already been done).

So any tips on jacking on tarmac? such as anyone using wood underneath etc? its tight with the jack under the car as it is, and I don’t think wood underneath will allow me to get the jack under.

Also any ideas on how to repair/make the damage not so obvious? if the wife see's it I might have my balls in the vice!

[ITSv40]

Be prepared to have your balls tightened in a vice - repairing tarmac is not easy. Depending g on how deep the Jack rust are you may be able to tamp the edges with a lump hammer or similar to flatten the grooves. Do this on a warm day and the tarmac should have a bit of give.

For future jacking you need a piece of steel plate to stand the jack on. Do make sure you put axle stands under the car as the jack will slide on the steel plate.

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by ITSv40

Be prepared to have your balls tightened in a vice - repairing tarmac is not easy. Depending g on how deep the Jack rust are you may be able to tamp the edges with a lump hammer or similar to flatten the grooves. Do this on a warm day and the tarmac should have a bit of give.

For future jacking you need a piece of steel plate to stand the jack on. Do make sure you put axle stands under the car as the jack will slide on the steel plate.

I am prepared on a daily basis when i do something wrong! Thanks for that. Today is a perfect day then, even if i can take out the deppness and shallow out the edges that will help. Good shout on the steel plate as well, might be able to get some stainelss from the work skip when i eventually end up working back in the office! I always use axle stands under the car anyway, never soley rely on the jack as it slowly releases over time. needs replacing really.

[DaveNP]

I'd be looking for some steel plate about 1/4" or 6mm thick, it doesn't have to be a massive piece just bigger than the footprint of the jack enough that the jack won't work its way off of it. When the car is jacked up you've got up to half the weight of the car on the tiny points of contact that are the wheels of the jack, hence the need for thick plates.

The damage could be worse, in a previous job they had us dropping loaded artic trailers in the customers car park, that's effectively two point loads of over 5 tonnes each from the trailer legs. We told them many times that it was digging into the tarmac but nothing was done until one of the trailers broke through the tarmac and sank into the drain below, although even then it took some effort to explain to the manager why a sheet of 1/4" chipboard was not enough to stop it happening again

[Ian21401]

The drive at our previous house was concrete so there was no problem. The drive at our current house is tarmac. I experienced the same problem. A neighbour obtained a sheet of the steel used on elevated walkways. Smooth one side and treads on the other side. About 18ins.wide and 40ins. long. I use it smooth side up. It needs to be larger than the jack’s footprint. This allows movement of the jack to precisely the required point under the vehicle whilst it is still on the steel plate and also allows the jack to roll as it lifts the vehicle.
I’ve had my jack a long time and eventually it needed to have the oil topped up before each use and did sink somewhat whilst in use. I was about to replace it but found a local hydraulics/hose repair business who agreed to have a look at it. They replaced the seals and declared it fit for use. It performs perfectly again, but only used to lift prior to locating axle stands.

[green van man]

I carry a piece of 3 mm plate about 12x18 inches in the LandRover as a jacking plate for use off road. Only use a bottle jack with that.

I found the same problem with my tarmac drive, greatly eleviated when I bought a proper 2 ton garage jack rather than the DIY type with the narrow wheels. Again if needed 3mm sheet steel is fine to prevent the wheels digging in, the only occasion it did happen the LandRover was sat on the jack for 3 weeks while welding repairs were made to the wheel arch and chassis.

I have always placed the wheel I remove under the car in case of Jack failer. On tarmac the small point load of axil stands is a real safety concerns so again unless plates are placed under them then they run the very real risks of digging in. There is an understandable reason garage floors are concrete.

I am thinking of replacing the tarmac with block paving, but as ever it's getting the sub base right before laying the blocks, I have seen some very nice looking block drives that quickly developed tramlines because the sub base was not adequately prepared.

Paul.

[Bob Meadows]

Tarmac: ~ you can purchase handy repair bags/quantities from most builders’ merchants, small repairs are possible with the same but follow the pack instructions.

Jacking on Tarmac- any jacking on a soft surface should be approached with caution unless you have very cheap body parts—yours and the car! As already being recommended the weight must be spread by using suitable steel plate- strong wood etc.
Regards Bob.

[EssexExile]

The great thing about a tarmac drive is that it never looks great. So you can spill stuff on it, drop stuff on it, drive things over it, put dents in it & take chunks out of it & after all that it still doesn't look great.

[Baxlin]

Block paving: even with a concrete sub-surface, as my drive has, the blocks are still set on a layer of sand. So there are a few shallow indentations where the car is parked.

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by EssexExile

The great thing about a tarmac drive is that it never looks great. So you can spill stuff on it, drop stuff on it, drive things over it, put dents in it & take chunks out of it & after all that it still doesn't look great.

I disagree with that. Ours is only a small drive (enough for 1 car) and shared with next door (our garages are semi detatched so both our cars sit next to each other) It would look odd with block paving, the tarmac looks fine. However when stains start to arise, and indentations from jacking and even the wheels, it starts to look a bit worse for wear.