Aldous

...they don't crack, like wood.

Jon C

I looked on mine for the right spot to place my jack pad (rubber pad on large Sears floor jack) and didn't really see any obvious place... how far inboard? where (front to rear) in relation to the factory jack points that are marked?

Thanks.

Jon

Stoney

Yes, its a bit hard to see the forward positions fromt his picture (but much better than nothing!)

Aldous

...in preparation for overhauling the brake system, I was using just a small single floor jack, and wanted to get the car up on four jack stands - without it falling off of any of them in the process, ...so, I picked up the rear wheels first, with the jack centered on the differential (there's a small area of frame there you can lift from also, but look carefully, and don't put you jack on anything soft ...the differential's pretty obvious, flat, and very solid), and simply place the two rear stands under the two rear sill jack points (shown in the owner's manual, just forward of the rear wheels). I then moved the floor jack to one of the front sill jack-points (in the owner's manual), and placed a stand at the structural-frame point just to the inside and slightly forward of the lower control-arm bracket. On the S6 (speaking from memory, as it's too dark to go outside and confirm), the aluminum lower control-arm ends with a large (maybe 3" round) silver flat disk-like bracket, which is a structurally sound place to jack from, but there's also a black sub-frame area just off to the side of that, that I like better (wouldn't want to scratch the aluminum) for the jackstand. Repeat this for the other side, and there you are. There is no convenient central jacking spot at the nose of the car, so each side has to be lifted individually. From the side of the car, if you're wanting to pick up just a pair of wheels, the front sill jack point can be used (as these cars are pretty nose heavy), but, though I see S4 owners do it all the time at the track, I don't like this method, and normally I go around to all four corners individually when changing tires. As for picking-up all fours (as I've just described), I would not try to use just the side sill for the left two, then the right two, as you Really run the risk of pushing the car off the stands IMO - the back-to-front (or vice versa) method is much safer, and you don't have to go as high with the jack. One note: I have some little square blocks of aluminum I use for the jackstands on the sill points (as it's a pretty small surface area, and you don't want to unnecessarily scratch or damage any of the surrounding rust proof surfaces). Wood blocks work also, but can crack and break-down as you're lifting the other corners; and that's why I like the aluminum (soft, but it's not going to fly apart).
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/32394/jackpoints.jpg">

Stoney

Thanks! How confident are you about lifting on the differential? How is it mounted to body?

Aldous

I initially took that guidance from an Audi tech at the dealership, and have since had others agree.

Jon C

Where do you get the aluminum blocks?

Isn't it a problem jacking on the jack point? the factory jack has a "V" to fit over the seam, doesn't the floor jack/alum. block crush that seam?

thx,
Jon