How To Use A Jack For A Car

Do you want to start up your car and don’t know how to use a jack for a car? If that’s the case with you, let’s find out how to do this easy and effectively

Below are some tools that you will need to lift your car:

• A jack of enough capacity that can easily raise your car
• At least two jack stands for holding the weight of your car
• Some chocks for blocking the wheels that stay on the ground.

How to Use a Jack for a Car

Source: homedepot.com

Now let’s jack up your car with the simple steps below. Make sure the jack which you will be using should have enough load capacity to lift a car. And if you want to get under the car, don’t forget to install a jack stand beneath.

• Park your car on hard ground. A garage or a road is the best place to jack up a car. The car may sink into the soil if you jack it up on the soft ground. So make sure to find a level and hard surface.
• Block the wheels that will stay on the ground using chocks. If you’re lifting the front end of your car, block the rear wheels and vice versa.
• Locate the jack points beneath the car. Most vehicles have jacks points near each wheel along the pinch weld. An instruction manual will be helpful in finding Jack’s points.
• Now, slide a jack under your car and position it beneath the jack point you’ve located.
• Pump the jack and see your car rising up.
• After raising the car, install a jack stand near where you’ve jacked it up. For doing so, you need to raise the vehicle high enough so you can put a stand under it. Once that’s done, the load will now rely on the stand.
• When you’re done with your job and want to remove the jack, just slowly rotate the jack’s handle, and it will come down and so is the car.
• If you’ve installed a stand before, you will need to remove that first. You need to further jack the car a few inches so the stand can be removed.

What Jack Should You Use for Lifting a Car?

Before deciding on that, it is essential to know the types of car jacks which are mentioned below.

Floor jack

Source. ifixit.com

A floor jack is the best tool of all car jacks for lifting any car, SUV, or truck. Floor jacks have a low profile which makes them perfect for vehicles with low ground clearance. Such jacks come with two-piston pumps that allow you to lift a car quicker, thus saving time and energy.

Bottle jack

Source: allttbuy.tw

These jacks have a higher load capacity than floor jacks. They can lift up to a 50-ton load. Bottle jacks with 3 to 6-ton capacity are also available but they won’t be effective for low-profile cars. Because bottle jacks have around 7+ inches min-height. And they can only be fit under trucks or other vehicles with higher ride height.

Scissor jack

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Scissor jacks on the other hand are light and occupy less volume which can easily be placed on the trunk of a car. But its operation requires a bit of handwork as you will need to rotate the handle to lift a car with it.

Electric jack

Source: amazon.com

As the name sounds, electric jacks are operated with power and they can lift up to 5-ton loads depending on their load capacity. Such jacks have rare use since it needs electricity for the operation.

You can find here more about car jacks, their use, types, and brand.