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Whether to fix a flat or check your brake pads, knowing how to lift your vehicle using a common car jack can come in really handy. In this tutorial, we’ll share some of the essentials of how to safely jack your car off the ground and some important tips to ensure you stay safe.  

Best Way To Jack Up Car

It’s the nightmare of many roadtrippers: You’re on the road and you hear a loud popping noise. Oh no! You’re going to have to pull over and fix your flat on the fly. 

 

But don’t worry! By knowing how to ‘jack your car up’ -- a relatively straightforward job that enables you to do a number of tasks, including changing a tire and accessing anything near the undercarriage -- does not have to be as scary as it seems.     

 

The act of lifting all or part of your vehicle off the ground -- or jacking up your car -- is an important step in servicing your automobile. While it can be a relatively easy process, there are a few important things to know before you begin. Here, we’ve put together a few tips to help ensure you do not cause any damage to your car -- and make sure you stay safe! 

 

There are a few essential pieces of equipment you will need before you begin. First, of course, is a car jack. There are two types of car jack: a pneumatic jack and a scissor lift. The pneumatic jack, or pneumatic bottle jack, is the more professional of the two types. It allows the operator to lift very heavy objects -- like, say, an automobile -- without using much effort at all. It uses a hydraulic piston to raise the jack when the operator pushes down on a lever. 

 

The more common and less expensive option is the scissor jack. This simple device uses a mechanical screw housed inside two jointed pieces that ‘scissor’ from nearly flat to an extended position. While the fulcrum allows for cranking up a mass as large as a heavy vehicle, it does require a little more exerted effort to crank the handle.       

 

You will also need two jack stands. While your jack is rated to lift large objects, it is not made to hold them steady while you work underneath it. In order to prevent an accidental calamity, be sure to place these jack stands on each side of the car jack to keep it steady. 

 

Consult your owner’s manual for the designated areas on your vehicle to place the jack and jack stands. There are particular points on the vehicle that are well suited to support the pressure of the jack stands and support the weight of the vehicle on the jack stands. Always make sure that these are properly placed so that lifting your car will be a success. 

Safety Tips

It is important to keep safety in the forefront of your mind when lifting your car, especially if you plan to work underneath a potentially deadly load. Make sure you keep these safety tips in mind when using a car jack to make sure you don’t damage your vehicle, or worse, put yourself into a potentially deadly situation. 

 

• Never jack your car or climb underneath it on the shoulder of a highway. This is one of the most important pieces of advice to consider before you begin. Roadside accidents claim the lives of hundreds of motorists attempting to service their vehicles on U.S. highways each year. If you do find yourself in need of urgent repair and cannot reach an exit or service plaza, your safest move is to pull over and call roadside assistance or place a white flag in the window if you have to abandon your vehicle.  

 

• The ideal place to jack your vehicle is on a hard, flat surface, such as a parking lot or driveway. Asphalt or cement is the safest surface. Never jack your car on a soft surface -- like a grassy yard -- or on ground that may shift, such as gravel. And, if you have to park your car on a slight incline, make sure you use tire blocks to stop the wheels from moving. 

 

• When using your car jack, make sure you secure the vehicle with jack stands once the jack is extended. These extendable units will stabilize your vehicle and ensure it doesn’t fall. While your jack is great at using physics to allow you to lift heavy loads with little exertion, they are not meant to hold your vehicle up -- especially if someone is working below and could be crushed by weight. 

 

The next time you need to change a flat or your oil, have the confidence to do it yourself using the tips in this guide!