Are Jack Stand Pads Safe?

Hi everyone. I picked up some Jack Stand Pads from HF to use on my (non-HF) 6 ton jack stands. Looking them over, they are a hard rubber compound. I'm just afraid of them cracking under stress or slipping. They do have a larger footprint than just jack stands themselves, so thats a plus. Just looking for any thoughts on if I should use these or not, since I'll be under my Miata pulling the transmission. Thanks!

I have a set of these on all 8 of my jack stands—I figure the less metal on metal contact the better. Seem safe enough to me, haven't been killed or maimed so far.

What's the worst that happens? The rubber cracks and the car drops 1/4" onto the stand? Seems pretty low risk to me. I have some softer/thinner ones I've used in the past that didn't hold up super well but didn't cause any issues. I've pretty much accepted that the jacking points are going to get scraped up no matter what I do and haven't bothered using them much, fwiw.

dps214 said:

What's the worst that happens? The rubber cracks and the car drops 1/4" onto the stand? 

That's my thought as well, I wouldn't worry about them.

Thanks everyone! I guess Im just being overly paranoid.

I got one of the hockey puck style ones for my jack. It has a slot in it so you can put it under the unibody seam. I used it once and it split in half.

YMMV.

I think the main use for them is to prevent damage to painted surfaces and not to prevent the stand cradle from slipping off the car. I bought a set for my HF jackstands and one broke the first time I used it to hold the car on the pinchweld.

I use them frequently, since I am swapping the tires on my miata every event. No concerns, and I believe they're protecting the pinch weld and the paint.

Thanks guys! I have the car up on the jack stands with them on now. Probably won't get the chance to really work on the car for awhile due to other stuff, but at least its ready.