The best jack pads!

While I would love to take credit for the unique 'pyramid' design, I cannot. Unfortunately I don't know who to credit the design to, but I believe it was an engineer that came up this unique idea for a jack pad. You do not need a square block of wood for a pad, this design has a very sound engineering principle behind it (but since I'm not a mechanical engineer, I don't know what to call it!)

My requirements for a jack pad are:

Durable - won't break or deteriorate
Effective - won't bend, provides height
Large footprint - reduces the psi load on the ground (won't sink)
Easy to stow - I designed these to fit in my left side compartment
Simple to build - these can be built with a circular saw and driver drill
Not too heavy - these turned out to be heavier than expected, but version 2.0 will be lighter
Cost effective - the two pads cost maybe 30 bucks plus I had plywood left over

Materials

One 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" pressure treated plywood
Waterproof glue
Exterior deck screws

Design

Plan your design - start with your base dimension first. My left side storage bay is about 22" deep so I decided to make the base of the jack pad 20" square so it will easily fit into that bay; that's a very healthy footprint which will resist sinking into softer ground. I made each higher piece of plywood about 1.5" smaller than its mate, but I think that could be 2". When you are designing yours, figure out the dimension of the topmost pad - the metal foot of the jack should be fully supported by your top wood layer.

The build

"Plan your work, then work your plan.." Once you have your design figured out, make a cut sheet for your 4'x8' sheet of plywood. Have every part sketched out on a scale drawing of your plywood. Cut the plywood, then assemble. I just 'eyeballed' when I was assembling each layer. Use some waterproof glue and a few screws and build your cake, er, jack pad, layer by layer.

Here's what Version 1.0 looks like:

Home brew jack pads

Simple, effective, inexpensive!