From driving a manual vehicle to changing a flat tyre, by the name both seem to be a bit too easy. What if we say that there is more than just following the same old routine when doing either of them? To know more about driving a manual efficiently, refer to the article here. But if it is the jacking up a vehicle, you are at the right place. So without further delay let’s see what exactly goes with properly jacking up a vehicle.
Why do you need to jack up your car?
There could be numerous reason behind lifting your vehicle. The most prominent being changing a flat or changing the tyres altogether. Rest, there are mechanics to do it for you. So let’s stick to the easy bit, changing a flat. Imagine, you in the middle of nowhere and sadly your car’s tyre decided to die. Voila! You are stranded. But hey, if you know how to change a flat the right way you are not doomed. And to change a flat you definitely need to jack up your vehicle, surely a genie will not be coming to help you out. That said, here are the precise steps involved to safely lift your vehicle.
Instructions
Drive the car on a slope, place the jack behind the wheel and back your vehicle up and it’s done. Well, okay no! this is exactly what you should not do. Long story short, jacking and lifting your vehicle sure is a fairly simple task, but when doing so should remember the tiny details. The secret lies in the small attributes.
Before getting started here are the tools you’ll require:
- For obvious reasons- A Jack
- The lifting tool for the jack
- Spanner
And that pretty much sums up the things you’ll need. Now let’s start with the process
Step 1: Park the Car Properly
Parking the vehicle on the flat surface is the way to go. An uneven surface or slope might lead the jack to topple. This could lead to serious problems and injuries. With that, don’t forget to apply the parking brakes to be double sure of the vehicle. To secure the car, even more, you can also add a choke. Well, a choke could be anything that is placed underneath a tire to prevent it from rolling.
Step 2: Prepare the Jack
This step has to do with the type of Jack you have in your car. It can either be a screw jack and in some cases, your vehicle might have a hydraulic jack. If it is the screw jack, remember to open up the jack a bit. But if it is a hydraulic one, make sure that the pressure release valve is closed. But it is recommended to have a hydraulic jack for emergency purposes instead of the screw jack. This is to minimize the risk of the jack falling over.
Step 3: Place the Jack underneath the Vehicle
Now as the preps are done, place the jack underneath the vehicle. But here is the catch, all the vehicles come with the jacking points. If you have no idea about jacking point, do refer the owner’s manual of the vehicle. Well, lifting the vehicle from anywhere could lead to serious damage to the vehicle underbody. For you to know, the jacking points are usually just near the wheels on the inner edge of the respective 4 sides.
Step 4: Lift the Car
With everything above done you can now carefully lift the vehicle off the ground slowly. When lifting the vehicle, keep an eye on the jack and make sure it is perfectly straight and not about to topple. For the ones looking go under the car to work, should place a jack stand. Though there is no harm in working on the car from underneath, the screw jack is not safe at all in doing so. The first and only reason is that the screw jack has really tiny legs and can easily topple. Adding a jack stand makes you extra safe.
Step 5: Lower the car
We presume that by now you either have changed the flat tyre or have done the work you wanted to do on your vehicle. Now comes the easy bit, carefully lower the car and yet again make sure the jack is absolutely straight and is not toppling.
With all that clear here are the things you should be aware of:
- Never change a flat tyre on the highway, especially on the extreme right.
- Restrict the use of screw jack to an only tire change. Do not go under the car that has been lifted by screw jack.
- Use the highway shoulder to change the tyre
- Put the car in park if you drive an automatic and if it is a manual do not forget applying the hand brakes.
- Do not forget to put choke on the wheels.
So, this is how you should jack up your vehicle safely and with ease.
Also, Read The History Of Seatbelts | Its Time To Buckle Up!
Informative: Explaining a Vehicle’s Drivetrain | How A Drivetrain Works!
