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How to lift and jack up safely a car

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  • OVERALL DIFFICULTY INDEX: 2/10
  • IF YOU HAVE NO TOOLS YOU SPEND $ 150 TO GET THEM FOR THIS JOB
  • IF YOU HAVE NO EXPERIENCE YOU SPEND 30 MINUTES TO CARRY OUT THIS JOB
  • RISK OF INJURIES OR DEATH  FROM A FALLING LIFTED CAR. ​​
BEFORE YOU START
  • Make sure to secure your vehicle on jack stands when working underneath. Never intervene on a car lifted on a hydraulic or mechanical jack as it is not designed for prolonged or secure lifting.
DISCLAIMER:
Our pictorials are of informative nature and do illustrate works carried out by ourselves at our own premises for our own use and satisfaction.
Readers who envisage to carry out similar works inspired by the below method shall do this at their own risks and liability.

Material needed for safely lifting a vehicle

A jack to lift the vehicle other than the one supplied with your car will be much useful for several reasons:
  • No need to remove the one in the car which could be of a difficult access if mounted within the spare tire beneath the vehicle
  • More practical than the one provided in the vehicle 
  • You would need anyhow more than one jack at a time for some interventions

The wheeled hydraulic jack remains the most useful (left) and safe but the ones available in supermarkets for $ 25 are of bad quality. This type of jack has to be purchased from a tool and hardware shop.
Piston jack can be found everywhere for $25 with an acceptable quality (middle) but is dangerous if not used on a horizontal and flat surface.
Original SUV jacks (right) are also to be used with care for being vertical and unstable like the piston jacks.
You also need to block a back wheel if you're lifting the front of the car or a front wheel if you lift the back.
A solid triangle made of a wooden profile that has been cut at a 45-degree angle is ideal.
Some vehicles are equipped with a steel foldable blocking triangle so use it if available.
Or use a large hammer or whatever can securely block the wheel from rotating.
Always block the wheel to the opposite side to the one you're lifting.

The jack stands

After lifting the car, you need to insert your jack stands to secure it.
See first how a piece of wood is used here to avoid that the hydraulic jack damages the lifting edge:
2 different types of jack stands are shown here:
Lift the vehicle high enough to be able to insert a jack stand beneath a strong point like:
  • The silent blocks of the triangle holding the wheels
  • The bolt of the sub-frame
Lower the vehicle slowly until it touches the jack stand.
You can now move the jack to the other side in case you need to lift both sides and repeat the procedure.
After lowering your vehicle so it stands on the jack stands you inserted, add one more jack stand on each side as a safety jack.
Set its height as close as possible to a strong car sub-frame or suspension point and leave it there.
If for any reason the jack stand on which the vehicle weighs breaks, it will still hold on the spare one you added.
Now you can go underneath your vehicle safely and in full confidence.