The floor jack is a machine that can be used to lift an end of a vehicle of any type off a level surface. It employs the mechanism of hydraulic pressure in elevating the car. Floor jack simplifies manipulating the vehicle’s ramp far better than other typical ratchet-made jacks. It can lift small to medium to heavy vehicles and trucks.
Should you need to raise your vehicle using flooring jack, ensure that all other tools you will need are within easy reach. Then, make sure the car is positioned on a leveled ground and that the jack can lift the vehicle.
Once you have reduced the height of your car, it becomes necessary to look for a low profile best floor jack for the money that can slide down the vehicle with little hassles. If yours is a high truck or jeep, the bottle jack might be the only appropriate one to use, because it is tall and can touch the jack points on tall cars.
To ensure that you are safe, watch the floor jack before putting it under any vehicle. Inspect to know if no part is missing and use it first with no load on it to see his it fares. It will assist you to detect the flaws and deviation from the standard way it works.
Jacking Up the Vehicle – Step By Step Procedure
Immediately you are through with the arranging and putting up the floor jack; you can attempt raising your car with it. Here is the step-by-step procedure:
•The Vehicle Park on a Flat Level Surface
The first thing to do is to park the vehicle on a level surface before venturing to jack it. A substantial driveway will surely do. The ground should be so hard that the upthrust can support the jack when using it. If you attempt using the floor jack on soft ground, it might be hazardous and cause untold dangers.
•Put the Vehicle on Parking Brake
Immediately you parked the car, put it on the brake so that the vehicle can remain in one position, completely motionless. It will hinder it from moving while jacking it.
•Set the Wheel Clock Properly
Wheel clocks are among the dependable floor jack components you ought to be using. After determining the side of the car, you desire to work with, then position the wheel clock on the other hand. Additionally, put the wheel clock on either side of all the wheels you will not be jacking.
The primary aim of wheel clocks is to prevent movement of the car while jacking. Should you be doing anything at the rear of the vehicle, the wheel clock becomes inevitable. It is only the rear wheels that are held by the parking brake, so the front tires may start rotating.
•Use the Floor Jack on Trial
Before any jacking at all, it is advisable you run a trial of the Jack with your hands. By this, you will be able to know if the jack is responding to the lever turning up and down. The aim is to see that it is going up, suspending and coming down as expected. You must not run thus trial with a real load. Also, inspect the jack stands to see if they are in good shape to hold the pressure.
•Set the Jack on the Points
How well the floor jack will perform depends on whether or not it is placed on the vehicle’s Jack point. All cars come with a pointer to its jack point. They are below the structure of the vehicle and made to contain the weight of the car when lifted by a jack.
Peradventure you are confused about the location of the jack point, do well to look through car’s manual.
•Lift up the Vehicle
Lift the Car with the floor jack. However, this must come after adequately identifying the exact jack points. The jack ought to be powerful enough to be able to raise the car up to a height where you can reach the parts that are beneath to effect repairs and servicing.
It is necessary to know that you keep the jack in a stable position and ensure that the car is on a solid ground that is also level. The surface of the Jack ought to fit perfectly with the car’s jack point if you can lift it. Make sure that you shut the release valve and then begin to raise the car gently and gradually. That enables you to alter the saddle to reach the car’s center of gravity.
•Set the Height of the Jack
There are some tools which you ought to keep handy and one if them is jack stands. Immediately the car is raised to the right place, then put the jack below the vehicle. Set the height of the jack to go under the car with no hassle.
Closing Words
Both flooring jack and the jack stands will enable you to undertake various schedule repairs and maintenance on vehicles. Nonetheless, you can only achieve this if you can maintain the floor jack correctly. Safe usage of the flooring jack depends on how well you set the jack and its stand on the vehicle’s jack point.
