To do anything underneath a car, you have to jack it up first. The process is pretty straightforward: Drive the car onto a hard and level surface, place a<\/span> car jack<\/a><\/strong> under a suitable spot (individual jacking points can be found in your owner\u2019s manual), lift the vehicle, place stands underneath and lower the weight of the vehicle onto the stands, removing the jack altogether. If this seems complicated, you may be wondering if you can just use the jack to keep it up? No! Maybe there is one exception \u2026 but let\u2019s review the basics first.<\/span><\/p>\n There are two<\/span> main kinds of jacks<\/a><\/strong>: mechanical (like the scissor jack you may have stored with your spare tire) and hydraulic (a floor or trolley jack).<\/span><\/p>\n Most modern mechanical jacks use a manually turned screw that threads through two sides of a flat diamond-shaped frame, bringing the outside ends closer together to lift the load. Hydraulic jacks use two cylinders connected by hydraulic fluid to convert some force on the operator\u2019s side (amplified even further by a lever) to produce major lifting power.<\/span><\/p>\n A scissor jack is more dependable on uneven ground or gravel \u2014 hence the inclusion in your spare kit \u2014 but it\u2019s not meant to hold weight long term. Hydraulic jacks are designed with internal seals to keep the fluid from flowing back into the chamber and lowering the load, but seals can rupture or take on small leaks that will gradually lower the jack if there\u2019s a load on it.<\/span><\/p>\n If you need to lift the vehicle to do work underneath it, you must properly place jack stands and let them carry the brunt of the load. Not only do you risk mechanical or hydraulic failure by only relying on a jack, you also create a potentially unbalanced, very heavy load by only jacking up one point. Leaving a vehicle on only a jack for any amount of time unattended means anyone could come over and accidentally drop the whole thing.<\/span><\/p>\n One possible exception to this rules is changing a tire. If you are stranded or don\u2019t have jack stands and need to get a tire changed, you may use only a jack, but this must be done with caution. Don\u2019t \u2014 at any time \u2014 place hands or feet directly under the car, and finish what you start as soon as possible. In a pinch, dense pieces of wood stacked lengthwise can be used to support weight in lieu of jack stands. Cinder blocks should NEVER\u00a0be used, as they are not weight rated and could crumble without notice. Another emergency solution is setting the unused tire between the chassis and the ground as you change them out. That way, just in case the vehicle falls off the jack, you might still have a little room to react.<\/span><\/p>\n The bottom line is that a jack is a lifting tool, NOT\u00a0a support. Jacks alone are not a safe way to balance a load or a reliable means of holding it up. Definitely don\u2019t leave a vehicle suspended on a jack for longer than it takes to change a tire, NEVER<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0go underneath a vehicle only supported by a jack and don\u2019t leave a load unattended. You\u2019re always better safe than sorry.<\/span><\/p>\n For more information on\u00a0using a car jack, chat with a knowledgeable expert at your local<\/span> NAPA AUTO PARTS store<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n Photo Credit:<\/span>\u00a0LD on jack stands<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>by<\/span> lw5315us<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(<\/span>CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a><\/strong>).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n This article has been reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder, National Automotive Parts Association. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Click here for more<\/span>\u00a0<\/i>automotive tips and stories<\/a><\/i><\/strong>\u00a0from NAPA, or here for more information on<\/span> the next Pomona Swap Meet & Classic Car Show<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":9571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[805],"tags":[4152,5379,5370,5381,5371,5383,1946,5378,5382,5384,3491,3037,3026,5373,4253,5380,5372,5375,5374,5376,5377],"class_list":["post-9567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-classic-tips","tag-blair-lampe","tag-changing-a-tire","tag-floor-jacks","tag-how-to-jack-your-car-up","tag-hydraulic-jacks","tag-jack-points","tag-jack-stands","tag-jacking-up-a-car","tag-jacks","tag-leaving-a-car-on-the-jack","tag-napa","tag-napa-auto-parts","tag-napa-know-how","tag-scissor-jacks","tag-spare-tire","tag-spare-tire-kit","tag-trolley-jacks","tag-using-a-floor-jacks","tag-using-jack-stands","tag-when-to-use-a-floor-jack","tag-when-to-use-scissor-jack"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tJack Types<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Risks<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Emergency Situations<\/strong><\/h3>\n