Tesla Jack Pads and Lifting Pucks: Fitment and Safe Use

What a jack pad actually protects

The lift point on a Tesla sill is a reinforced location with a hole in it. That hole is what a pad's post locates into, and it is also what makes a bare jack saddle dangerous: the saddle bridges across the hole and loads the thin material around it, or slides sideways under load onto structure that is not reinforced at all.

A pad solves three problems simultaneously. It spreads the load across the whole reinforced area rather than a saddle-sized patch. It locates the jack positively, so the car cannot creep sideways as it rises. And it puts a compliant material between steel and the vehicle, so a small misalignment deforms rubber or nylon rather than the car.

None of that is exotic engineering. It is simply the difference between a hundred-dollar accessory and a repair to a structural battery enclosure.

Post diameter: the one number that decides fitment

Most jack pad listings talk about material, rating and case quality. The variable that actually determines whether the product works on your car is the diameter of the locating post, and it is often buried in the specification table.

Two sizes dominate the aftermarket: roughly 0.7 inches, or 18 mm, and roughly 0.9 inches, or 23 mm. The 23 mm size covers the broad majority of Tesla builds. The 18 mm size exists because some builds have a smaller lift point hole, and a 23 mm post simply will not enter it.

The clearest published example of that split concerns the Model Y. One seller in this catalogue states that its 23 mm version covers 2016-2026 Model 3, Y, S and X including the Model Y Juniper, and then excludes 2022-2023 Texas-built Model Y vehicles with the 4680 pack, directing those owners to the 18 mm version instead. That is a more precise statement than most of the category manages, and it describes exactly the scenario owners run into: a pad that fits one Model Y perfectly and refuses to seat in another.

If you are unsure, measure. A tape measure across the hole takes ten seconds and settles the question better than any listing.

• 23 mm / 0.9 in post: the common size across most Tesla builds.
• 18 mm / 0.7 in post: required where the lift point hole is smaller.
• 2022-2023 Austin-built Model Y with 4680 pack: one seller states 18 mm is needed.
• A loose pad is as much a problem as one that will not fit — it can tilt under load.

Rubber pucks versus nylon spring-lock pads

The traditional design is a single moulded rubber puck with an O-ring around the post. The O-ring provides friction so the pad stays in the hole while you slide the jack underneath. It is simple, cheap and effective, and its weakness is entirely predictable: rubber rings stretch. After enough cycles the pad starts dropping out at the worst moment, which is usually when you are lying on a cold floor.

The newer approach replaces the O-ring with a sprung retention element in a reinforced nylon body. Nylon resists abrasion and garage-floor solvents better than soft rubber and does not carry the rubber smell, and a spring leaf does not lose tension the way an elastic band does.

Neither design is wrong. A rubber set with deep buyer history is a perfectly sound purchase, and replacement O-rings are trivial. The nylon sets are worth the attention mainly because, in this category, they tend to come with the clearest fitment statements.

Reading fitment claims in a category that often omits them

Jack pads are unusual among Tesla accessories in that many sellers describe compatibility by model name only — Model 3, Y, S, X — with no year range at all. That is not automatically a red flag, because the lift point design is stable across most builds, but it does shift the verification burden onto you.

Where a listing publishes no year range, this catalogue records the fitment as verify before buying rather than as confirmed. That is not a criticism of the product; it is an accurate description of what the evidence supports. The Chirano set falls into that group, and is included because it carries by a wide margin the deepest buyer feedback of any listing reviewed in this category.

Where a listing does publish a range, take it literally in both directions. A set stated as 2016-2024 is not making a claim about the 2025-2026 Juniper, and this site will not make one on its behalf. Juniper owners should choose a set whose listing states 2025 and 2026 explicitly.

Using them safely

Work on level, solid ground. A sloped driveway is the single most common contributor to a lifting incident, and no accessory compensates for it.

Press each pad into the lift point until the retention holds it, then check it is sitting square rather than cocked at an angle. Bring the jack saddle up until it just contacts the flat base of the pad, then stop and look: the saddle should be centred and parallel, not touching at one edge. Only then raise the car, and do it slowly.

Once the car is at height, put stands under it before any part of you goes underneath. This is the part of the procedure that people skip and it is the part that matters. A jack is a lifting device, not a supporting one, and jack pads change nothing about that distinction.

Lower the car in the same deliberate way, remove the pads, and put them back in their case. A four-piece set that lives loose in the boot becomes a three-piece set surprisingly quickly.

• Level, solid ground only.
• Seat the pad square and confirm before loading.
• Saddle centred and parallel to the pad base.
• Stands under the car before anyone goes beneath it.
• Pads back in the case after every use.

Common mistakes

• Buying one pad instead of four, then discovering a lift needs all four points.
• Ordering a 23 mm post for a car whose lift point hole takes 18 mm.
• Assuming a set stated as 2016-2024 covers a 2025-2026 Juniper.
• Loading the jack before checking the pad is seated square.
• Treating the pads as though they support the car.
• Leaving pads permanently in the lift points where they collect road grit.