How To Safely Jack Up Your Car In 10 Easy Steps? Update 2017

Have you ever tried to lift your beloved car up by yourself? Do you want to jack up your car by adopting simple and easy ways? If we talk about changing of flat tires alone or swapping the braking pads, all such types of motorized activities require lift up of the car. Well, you can simply raise your car up using limited tools such as jacks and stands.

All you need to do is to consider a few safety measures and instructions before heading for the jack-up process. For your ease, here is the piece of information regarding the process of lifting up your car without getting it damaged.

1. Prefer Hard Strata for the Parking of Your Car

There are many possibilities of the car slipping off during the uplifting through the jack. This may result in a big tragedy for you and others. If you want to avert the mishap of the car rolling, then park your car on the hard surface. It should be away from the vehicles and diversions. Moreover, the sturdy and flat surface will enable greater steadiness for the vehicles.

2. Use of Chocks for the Stability of Wheels of Your Car

Metal or rubber blocks are apt for supporting the rear wheels during the jack-up. These chocks enable greater resistance against rolling or slipping off. Set these chocks near each wheel, which should be oriented at the opposite edge of your car.

All in all, place the chocks in the opposite direction from where you aim to jack up your car. Also you can also use boulders, wasted bricks, concrete blocks, and wooden blocks instead of metal chocks.

3. Set Your Car into the Lowest Gear

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Before heading for the process, turn your hand brake or parking brake on. The transmission must be set in ‘P’ in the case of automatic transmission, whereas setting your car in the lowest gear in case of manual transmission.

4. Additional Safety Measures

If you find difficulty during the application of above suggestions then here are some essential safety measures which you should take into account while jacking up the car:

Jack up on soft, clayey soil: It is quite difficult to lift up the car in muddy soil. It happens because your car tires will subside in the soil. Are you wondering how to jack up in such a condition? The safest way to deal with these odds is to place a wooden plank on a surface before you start to jack up. This will help to hold the car’s tires on the surface.
Jack up on hilly areas: Parking of cars should be done near the curb of the hilly road. After turning the handbrake on, turn your car’s wheels into the curbs. It enables more excellent safety for other vehicles and prevents your car from slipping off or rolling.
Jack up in traffic zone: You should avoid parking your car on the shoulders of the roadway, especially for the jack up the process. However, you can park on the road in case of urgency using hazard lights. You can also use pylons and flares to draw attention towards your vehicle from the other moving vehicles.

5. Locate the Jack Point

The outer body of your car comes along with certain points from where the car should be lifted. If you do not use these points, then you may end up damaging your car. The self-weight of your car can be the reason for damage.

You should follow these steps which are explained below to lift your car safely:

Find those jack points in your car. They are mostly located at the back of the front wheels and front of the back wheels. However, you can simply find the points using the owner’s manual which enables convinced Gen regarding the locations of Jack points of your car.
There are several possibilities of the location of central jack points at the back of the front and rare bumpers.
If you are not aware of the locations of jack points, then discover the even metal space area parallel to the pinch weld. However, many times the jack points are marked on your car body. Hence, it is easy to locate the jack point in case of labeling of jack points.

6. Place the Jack underneath the Jack Point Location

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Fix the jack below the jack point after discovering the location of it. You can simply slide the jack all around the place until its frame touches the body of the car.

Consider the right side of the jack before lifting up your car. Normally the jack comes with a label or indication for correct side. If it does not hold any indication for the correct side, then refer owner’s manual to head into the right direction.

7. Raise the Jack Up

The adoption of a suitable way to lift up the Jack certainly relies on the type of jack that you use. There are two types of jacks that are used for the car jack-up procedure.

Scissor Jack: This jack comprises two metal plates. These plates, whose shape resembles a diamond, are attached to the tool. The metal hole located on the either side of the jack is attached to the screw drive. Raise the jack using a rod that pulls the side surfaces out, which results in the jack-up of your car.
Hydraulic jack: It is aka floor jack. It appears more like a metallic section with a wider base more akin to the shape of the lever. Turn the bar upwards and downwards which aids into the pumping of Jack fluid to uplift the car.

8. Jack Up the Car from the Ground Level

Raise the attached jack up to the optimum height, which enables enough comfort to deal with the issue in your car. This lift-up process produces a few odd sounds. Hence, you should make sure that it does not get slipped off from the surface.

9. Use Jack Stands

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If you make efforts to deal with the problems found beneath the car then use of best jack stands is necessary as a part of your safety. Elevate the jack stands up to the lower portion of your car. You can also pull down the jacks to raise the stands up to the surface.

10. Detach the Car Jacks and Jack Stands

Slowly bring your car down after resolving the problem found underneath the car. If you use the jack stands, then first detach them carefully. Lower the car progressively after removing the stands. In the case of a scissor jack, simply turn the rod in the opposite direction of the action which you perform during the installation of Jack.

Indeed, you just cannot raise the pounds of weight without considering the safety criteria. However, it is not a big deal to uplift your car since all you need to do is to follow the above procedure bit by bit. As mentioned above, you can simply jack up your car using limited automotive tools in any earth condition.