If you ever find yourself in a pickle with a flat tyre, or you’ve seen a car jack lurking around in your car boot but are unsure exactly what it’s for, or what to do with it, know that you’re not the first (nor will you be the last) in either of these situations!
Or you may just have a fascination with car jacks. And fair enough, there are actually many different car jacks to choose from, and if you’re in the automotive industry, it’s important you know your stuff when it comes to equipment.
Basically, there are three varieties of car jacks. You have mechanical, hydraulic and electric ones available.
Mechanical jacks
These jacks use mechanically operated screw arrangement to lift and lower the vehicle, also known as a ratcheting system.
Scissor jacks
Scissor jacks are the most common jacks that you’ll find these days. They use a central threaded screw to adjust two connection scissor-action arms. They’re not too bulky and are super easy to operate, making them a favourite for everyday drivers. They only downside is they do require a bit of elbow grease to operate.
High lift jacks
High lift jacks are essential for off road vehicles, or basically any vehicle that needs be significantly higher off the ground. The jack is constructed with a long beam and a series of holes along its length, with a plate and ratchet system. The only downside with these jacks is that they can be quite heavy and unstable, so take extra care if you’re using a high lift jack.
Hydraulic jacks
These use an oil-filled hydraulic cylinder to lift. Oil is forced inside a compartment and the pressure causes the cylinder to rise – magic! When the jack is released, oil disperses back into the reservoir, ready for the next pump.
Bottle jacks
Bottle jacks are very popular owing to their versatility. It’s easy to use with a straight up and down pump action. The downside here though, is that bottle jacks are often too tall to fit under small vehicles – so choose wisely!
Floor jacks
These are the jacks you often see in a mechanic’s workshop or garage, rolling around on wheels. Floor jacks come with a large bar to pump the oil and are quite often an absolute pleasure to use (depending on who you ask, but we’ll point out that you’re the one reading an article about car jacks). You can get them in different sizes, although it’s fairly rare to find an everyday driver who’s carrying a floor jack in their car breakdown toolkit.
Electric jacks
A scissor jack has an electric motor (yes, we saved the best ‘til last!) which plugs into the cigarette lighter port. You plug it in, then kick back as your car jacks up, basically on its own.
How do you correctly use a car jack?
Hopefully this is a helpful bit of information for someone out there, because we’ve seen some absolute shockers over the years!
- Make sure your vehicle is in a safe area, on level and firm ground
- Find your car’s jacking points, typically behind the front wheel and behind the rear wheel, under the sill. Honestly, don’t overlook this! Check your owner’s manual if in doubt.
- Place the car jack under the jacking points and raise until it starts to feel like the jack is taking on the vehicle weight. Check stability and proceed with caution, but also confidence!
- Support the car with car stands as well. If in doubt about the safety of your car jacking methods (okay, that sounds really illegal), it’s probably best that you reach out to a qualified mechanic.
Stay safe out there, and remember if you do find yourself more puzzled than ever when it comes to how to safely operate your car jack, you can head to the My Auto Shop service area, give us an idea of what needs doing, and we’ll point you in the right direction.