This is a guide on how to fit jacking pads from an Audi S3 to a MkII Skoda Octavia.

The process will be almost identical on other Golf mkV/VI platform cars I assume, but this focuses on the Octavia.

Being a keen detailer and also an avid fan of using specific winter wheels and tyres I often find myself removing the wheels on my cars but on purchasing the Octavia I noticed a distinct lack of obvious places to position a trolley jack.

One solution to this seems to be to fit jacking pads from an Audi S3 (which uses the same platform).

This is not a new modification and indeed I remember the same thing being done using TT pads when I had my mkIV Golf about 9 years ago.

It’s not a difficult mod to do and should take no more than an hour- less than half that if you are a competent mechanic.

I used a guide originally posted on www.sciroccocentral.co.uk by user RW1. Credit goes to him for doing the research and providing the method and indeed the template for this guide- I’ve just rehashed it in my own words (mostly!) and added photos of the Octavia.

Note: all photographs were taken whilst performing the modification on the passenger side (left hand side) of the vehicle.

Parts, Materials & Tool List:

Parts:

8P0 802 845 Front Left Jack Pad - 1 off required @ £8.03 +VAT

8P0 802 846 Front Right Jack Pad - 1 off required @ £8.03 +VAT

8P0 802 847 Plastic Jack Pad Plugs - 2 off required. @ £8.03 +VAT each

8N0 804 583 Rubber Buffers - 4 off required @ £1.53 +VAT each

Total Cost: £45.89 incl VAT @ 20%

(Note: hese parts have to be ordered via an Audi dealership, brand blocked at Skoda dealerships)

Optional: Some brightly coloured tape such as yellow insulating tape

Photo 1 - Kit of parts

Materials:

Optional: Waxoyl /White grease

Optional: WD40

Tools:

Hydraulic Jack with flat lift surface (if cupped, small square piece of stiff/flat wood)

26 or 27mm socket.

Flat bladed screw driver

Torx driver and T25 torx bit

Rear Jack Pad Points

The Octavia vRS with standard suspension does not need to be raised on a jack to gain access for this modification.

You’ll find the rear jacking points just forward of the rear wheels. On the inside of the sill there are two round plastic covers.

Photo 2- Rear jack point- looking backwards

Photo 3 - Rear jack point- side on

Remove the rearmost plastic blanking cap. This can be done with your fingers very easily.

The mounting point is now ready for preparation and fitting of the Rubber Buffer, part number 8N0 804 583.

Photo 4- rear mounting point

This is where the optional Waxoyl or white grease comes in. I sprayed a little white grease on the end of the rubber buffer before insertion to aid the insertion and to seal the hole. You could probably get away without it though.

To insert the rubber buffer part of the jack pad, it needs to be pushed up into the hole. However, being rubber, if you push on the outer rim it will just squash and won’t push home.

You need to push on the inner centre part of the buffer and the easiest way to do this is to use a 26mm or 27mm socket. You’ll find this fits nicely into the centre of the buffer and allows you to push it home without squashing the rim.

Photo 5- inserting rubber buffer

Place the socket onto your trolley jack head, place the rubber buffer on top and offer it up to the hole in the chassis. Raise the trolley jack slowly until you’re sure you’ve got it lined up and then just raise it until the buffer pops home. Twist the buffer to make sure it is seated properly.

The next job is to insert the Plastic Plug, part number 8P0 802 847 into the rubber buffer. A light wipe over with WD40 may help to ease it in but I didn’t bother.

If your jack has a ‘cupped’ head like mine does then put a flat piece of wood or similar on the head and place the plastic plug on it. Follow the same procedure you did when fitting the buffer into the chassis and raise the jack so you can line up the plug with the hole in the buffer.

Photo 6- Lining up the plastic plug

Keep lifting the jack until the plug pops into the buffer.

At this point you’ll notice why the yellow tape is suggested. It’ll help make the jacking points more obvious for anyone lifting the car in future. I went one step further in geekiness and printed labels on a label machine!

Photo 7- rear point complete

Then the other side just needs done in exactly the same way.

Front Jack Pad Points

The first thing to do is remove the chassis cover panel which stops you from being able to remove the cover for the mounting point. The chassis cover panel is held on by two T25 Torx bolts, one of which is circled in red in the below photo

Photo 8- chassis cover panel with fixing screw circled

With the outer cover removed you can see the mounting point cover which you now need to remove.

Photo 9- Mounting point cover- insert screw driver where red arrow points

This is more difficult to remove than the rear ones. I found pushing a large flat blade screwdriver in between the chassis and the plastic (where the red arrow is in the above photo) was the best way to get this off.

You might want to put a bit of cardboard or something soft on the ground as chances are you’ll be yanking on this quite hard when it eventually comes away and you don’t want to bash your knuckles on the ground!

The following photos shows the part once it has been removed from the car

Photo 10- Mounting point cover removed from car- showing tabs which need broken/squeezed

You can see the tabs which you need to break/push in with the screw driver to get it free from the car.

Removing the cover leaves the forward Jack Pad mounting point exposed to work on.

You then need to re-install the cover that you removed and refit and tighten the two T25 torx screws.

From this point on there is a slight lack of pictures as the process is largely the same as the rear.

Fit the Rubber Buffer, part number 8N0 804 583, by inserting your 26/27mm socket and pushing home with the trolley jack as before. Again, waxoyl or white grease might be a good idea to lubricate the rubber.

Now you are ready to insert the plastic plug, part number 8P0 802 845 for the left side and 8P0 802 846 for the right side.

Again, place a block of wood onto the head of your trolley jack (if it is not a flat head) and offer the plug up to the hole. Rotate it so that it is facing the correct way and it lines up with the plastic cover and then lift the jack to push it home.

The jack pads mod is now complete!

Photo 11- Front jack point complete

You can now quickly and easily lift the Octavia using a trolley jack with no worries about damaging sills or trying to locate a suitable lifting point.

Great guide, thanks.

Where would you recommend supporting the car on axle stands once the jack is removed?

That's a more tricky question!

On the front it's quite easy, I put the axle stand under the rearmost wishbone bush (the circular thing clearly visible in photos 8, 9 and 11).

I've yet to find a suitable location at the rear though.

Anyone got any suggestions?

Why are FOUR rubber buffers required, but only TWO plastic buffer plugs?

Why are FOUR rubber buffers required, but only TWO plastic buffer plugs?

If you look carefully those are for the back.....the two front plastic buffer plugs are part of the new cover plates!!

To the OP......I did the standard Audi TT jack pad mod to my Fabia and it is good....But I didn't know that there were plastic inserts that are longer!!!!!......Next time around I might get 4x of the ones fitted to the rear of your car...and fit them all around on mine!!!!...

Speedstar, fabdavrav is right.

There are four rubber buffers as one of those needs to go into the hole at each corner.

There are then four plastic pads (one for each corner again) but they are not all identical. Two identical ones go on the back (that's the two you mentioned) and two larger ones go on the front, different ones on each side.

That's why you need:

Four identical rubber buffers

Two identical plastic pads to go in them at the rear

A left hand front plastic pad

A right hand front plastic pad.

I remember rumours that the jack pads for Golf IV were only suitable for a 4-post lift, not for a trolley jack. Can anyone comment if that's the case for this?

I'd be interested in this mod for my Leon.

I remember rumours that the jack pads for Golf IV were only suitable for a 4-post lift, not for a trolley jack. Can anyone comment if that's the case for this?

I'd be interested in this mod for my Leon.

There's whole threads on the pro's and con's on a jack pad mod just do a search...

There's a few threads on mk1 Octavia jack pads but I couldn't find that many specific to mk2, assuming there is not much difference?

To be honest I have no idea if the talk about four post lifts has any substance or if it's just someone talking out of their backside.

Wouldn't be the first time someone on an Internet forum has spouted nonsense and it has been perpetuated as fact........

All I know is that I cannot see any other suitable locations for lifting an Octavia with a trolley jack.

And I sure as hell am not using a widow maker jack to change all four wheels!

So using these jack pads are the perfect solution for me. If others prefer to not take the risk in case there is substance in the rumours then fair enough but I can't see how it could cause any damage, especially if you stick to lifting just the one wheel at a time.

I have these on my Octy. I use them to jack the car up before supporting on Axle Stands and have never had any issues. I use them when taking the wheels off to clean (i don't use axle stands then) and again they have been fine.

This seems like a good mod as I have to admit I'm not happy using the rear jacking point on the seals, lucky its only ever been for 2 minutes.

Nice one

I have these on my Octy. I use them to jack the car up before supporting on Axle Stands and have never had any issues.

Any tips on an axle stand location at the rear?

To be honest I have no idea if the talk about four post lifts has any substance or if it's just someone talking out of their backside.

What are the rumours? If you try and support a car with a trolley jack on one of these pads, you'll push it straight through the floor?

What are the rumours? If you try and support a car with a trolley jack on one of these pads, you'll push it straight through the floor?

You guessed right!!!... .....

.....load of b0ll0ck5.....

......unless of course the car is fully loaded with people and concrete blocks to it's max........ capacity....... ......

The pictures in post #129 in the thread below show what happened to a different VAG model fitted with pads.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?542105-The-Official-Jack-Pad-Install-Write-Up-for-those-who-wanted-it.

The pictures in post #129 in the thread below show what happened to a different VAG model fitted with pads.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?542105-The-Official-Jack-Pad-Install-Write-Up-for-those-who-wanted-it.

Had a look but the pics are from different angles so the shadows are different etc.....looks like the pad has just "gone home" correctly.........

...I concer that the fronts take more weight than the rear...I've never had any problems jacking on the rear ones....on the fronts (i used the area for jacking before I even fitted pads)....I had a very slight bend on the drivers side...on the pad only (remember the front pad is a welded stand off plate on my car)...so still no contact with the floor pan and no deformation of the chassis etc even after 10ys of jacking from that point!....mind you I always (for long jobs over 1hr) support on the sills reinforced jack points with axle stands!......and my sills are still as straight as the day they left the factory!!!...

The pictures in post #129 in the thread below show what happened to a different VAG model fitted with pads.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?542105-The-Official-Jack-Pad-Install-Write-Up-for-those-who-wanted-it.

That was the post I read a long time ago- thanks.

Any tips on an axle stand location at the rear?

Just had a look at my Scout with a view to perhaps installing jack pads.

How about installing twin pads at the rear - there are two holes, so one pad for the jack, one for the axle stand?

Anyone knowing wether this is possible for the mk3 Octavia?

Anyone knowing wether this is possible for the mk3 Octavia?

 

Yes there is but requires parts from the current audi S3 MQB................well it fits my MK7 golf estate..........fronts but not the rears. There is a member on golfmk7 & Golf GTi called kevinM who has posted up the parts etc but the part no. for the rear ones turn up different & do not fit although they look similar!

 

Linky:

 

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=269686.0

 

a way down that page the wedge shape rear ones that I got with the part no he gives are longer & don't fit! I have PM'd him about this & will visit the Audi parts dept again! But the front do fit!

Update to above post, correct rear part no.s now found & both front & rear parts fitted to my MQB Golf estate, OP on Golf forum has updated his posts to reflect this!.

Super, many thanks for this clarification! It surely will be beneficial instead of the stupid jacking points shown as stock. :p

Super, many thanks for this clarification! It surely will be beneficial instead of the stupid jacking points shown as stock. :p

 

What gets me is that the front trim (bigger) piece is removable with one screw & two sliding lock tabs as if it is meant to be easily removable..........all this reveals is the "tower" which the jack pad goes onto.......................so when do they jack directly on the tower then? & why not just fit the jack pads????

 

Oh & I've have the car up in the air loads whilst doing work on the underneath............................jack pads rule!

Only concern I have is getting the fixed rear beam setup with these fixes. Any idea?