How To Safely Raise And Support A Car
By Eric Peters, Automotive Columnist
Before you can change engine oil or do many other minor (and major) vehicle service, it’s usually necessary to raise the vehicle sufficiently to gain access. Even if all you’re doing is changing a tire, it’s important to raise (and support) the vehicle properly.
Here’s how:
* Do not use the factory-supplied tire jack to raise the car except in emergencies (such as a flat tire) and even then, never get underneath the vehicle when it’s only supported by the factory tire jack. These jacks are often marginally safe, not particularly stable, even flimsy.
* Obtain a good-quality floor or bottle-type hydraulic jack with a load rating sufficient to safely raise the car. A jack with a 2 or 3 ton capacity is typically plenty for most passenger cars. Floor jacks (the ones that roll on four little wheels, etc.) are more expensive but more stable and thus safer than bottle-type jacks. They also have (typically) a larger contact pad and are easier to use.
* Obtain a pair of good-quality fixed jack stands to support the car once it’s been raised by the hydraulic jack. Hydraulic jacks can leak or fail, which is why it is very important to use fixed jack stands to support the weight of the vehicle. (The fixed stands are height-adjustable; once you set the height you need, you lock them into place with a ratcheting mechanism or pin.)
* Let someone know you are about to do some work on the vehicle — just in case.
* Park the vehicle on a level, firm surface such as a driveway pad. Avoid surfaces such as grass and loose sand/gravel, etc. which may shift or be compressed by the weight of the vehicle.
* Be sure the transmission is in “Park” and the parking brake fully applied to prevent the vehicle from rolling.
* Look underneath the vehicle and locate a structural hard point such as a frame rail. Be careful not to place the jack underneath non-structural sheetmetal (rocker panels, etc.) or relatively delicate suspension components. Never place the jack underneath the engine/oil pan. On unibody-type vehicles there will usually be an easily identifiable notched area on the underbody intended as a jacking point. Many owner’s manuals also will tell you where it’s safe to place the jack. Be absolutely sure about the place where you’re about to try to raise the vehicle. If it’s not a structural hard point and you try to jack up the car, you may cause damage.
* Be sure the jack’s pad — the part that contacts the vehicle’s frame/hard point — is centered on the jacking point.
* Gently raise the vehicle to the working height you need. Only raise the vehicle high enough to gain access as the higher off the ground it is, the less stable it may become as weight shifts, etc. Observe the jacking point as you proceed; if you see signs of crimpling metal or hear unusual sounds, stop and immediately release pressure on the jack. Re-check your hard point.
* Once the vehicle is at the working height you want, carefully slide a fixed jack stand underneath the frame/hard point and gently lower the hydraulic jack until the weight of the vehicle is on the jack stand, not the hydraulic jack. For maximum safety, it’s a good idea to use jack stands in pairs, so that the front (or rear) end of the vehicle is supported evenly.
* Be sure the car is securely supported and stable on the jack stand(s) before you crawl underneath.
* When you’re finished working, use the hydraulic jack to raise the vehicle enough so that you can safely remove the jack stands. Gently lower the vehicle.
You’re done!
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How do you guys feel about using something like Rhino ramps? Are they safer than jack stands? Obviously you can’t use them to change your tire or do any brake-work…but for things like changing your lambda sensor or doing an oil change, would the ramps be more convenient and/or safer?
As long as they are solidly built (I have friends who use 2×8′s, stacked and screwed together – but good brand-name ramps would be just as good or better), and the car is centered on the ramps, they are just as safe and more convenient than using a jack and jackstands.
Another point to add is that if you don’t have jackstands on hand, you can use a spare set of wheels – position them behind the wheels being raised. That way if the jack slips the wheels will support the weight of the car – not your head.
It depends, 8,000 lbs or 12,000 lbs Rhino Ramps?
The 12K ones are better built.
They were no 8K Rhino Ramps years ago. They took the 12K ones and made them cheaper.
http://www.rhinoramps.com/product.html
I just want to clear up that my bicycle needs work several time a month, and I’ve never ever taken it into a shop. I don’t have a car, since that would be too dangerous.
Spoke too soon. Just took my 3-speed Schwinn into the shop because I wanted an upgrade to a 4-speed cog so that I could do reverse like they do with cars.
All done. Now I can reverse by just pedaling! Ye-pee!
They need to talk to George about safety changing flat tires. He is the one that seems to have a lot of them.
I am surprised you are not noting the dangers of disregarding the laws of physics when changing a tire. ;)
good article.
mithrandir what was good about the article. The only possible person that did not know what was already in the article was possibly a 16 year old that had no drivers training or seen a jack before.
Believe it or not there are some people that may be ignorant about the proper and safe way to lift a car for maintenance.
Sometimes people who should know better need some reminding.
mithrandir if they are ignorant about safely lifting a car I would hope they are not doing any work on the car in the first place.
Sometimes necessity will cause some to try their own hand instead of paying another.
I also think it is a good idea for people to learn a little about their car. Someday the skill(s) learned may come in handy.
No flat tires this year.
Don’t forget about a decent torque wrench.
mithrandir I do all the work on my vehicles. My point being is that if you do not already know the common sense things in this article I would not trust you working on any other part of the car.
If anyone thinks that everyone knows what they are doing, simply take a ride along a highway and look for people changing tires. I’ve seen countless times people placing the jack on soft grass/dirt rather than pavement, or parked right on the shoulder line trying to change a tire with traffic speeding by inches away from them.