Car + Garage
Following these steps could save your life!
Jacking up your vehicle? Following these steps could save your life.
You can save quite a few bucks by doing your own car or truck repairs and maintenance. But if that involves jacking up your vehicle, and you want to live long enough to spend all the money you’ve saved, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to bone up on jack safety.
Start by parking your car or truck on flat concrete. Trucks and most full-size SUVs have steel frames that support the entire vehicle. Nearly all cars and crossover vehicles, on the other hand, have “unibody” construction; that is, they don’t have a frame. Each type of vehicle requires different points of support for jack and jack stand placement.
Consult your owner’s manual to locate the recommended lift points and support locations for your vehicle. Before jacking, engage the parking brake and chock the rear wheels to prevent car movement. Start jacking from the front of the vehicle. The front end of four-wheel-drive trucks can usually be raised by placing the jack under the differential. For two-wheel-drive trucks, place the jack beneath the jacking pad under the engine.
Place the jack so the cross member or differential lines up with the recessed area of the jack saddle. Slowly pump the jack handle until the front wheels leave the ground. Then stop jacking and double-check the jack placement. Look at
IF YOU PLAN TO REMOVE YOUR TIRES, LOOSEN THE LUG NUTS SLIGHTLY WHILE THE CAR IS STILL ON THE GROUND. THAT WILL KEEP THE WHEELS FROM SPINNING WHILE YOU TURN THE LUG WRENCH ONCE THE CAR’S RAISED.
the front of the vehicle to make sure it’s not leaning to one side. If it is, lower and recenter the jack. Otherwise, continue pumping until the vehicle reaches the desired height.
Support the front of a truck by placing the jack stands directly under the frame. Support the rear of the truck with a jack stand under each axle or location listed in the owner’s manual. Turn the handle very slowly until the vehicle starts easing down. A quick release will result in a sudden drop. Lower the car or truck until it almost touches the saddle of the jack stand. Then doublecheck the frametojack stand alignment before lowering the full weight onto the stand. Remove the floor jack and move it to the rear of the vehicle.
Locate the recommended rear lift point and repeat the jacking procedure at the rear of the vehicle. Place the two rear jack stands in proper support locations and lower the rear onto those stands.
With the vehicle up on all four jack stands, gently shake the vehicle side to side and up and down. This tests whether the vehicle is sitting squarely on the jack stands and the jack stand saddles have full contact with the support points. If the vehicle wobbles, stop immediately and reposition the problem jack stand before crawling under the vehicle.