Before you decided to purchase and use a floor jack, whether it is a 5-ton floor jack or 20 ton, you need to maintain some safety procedures. As you might buy and not return to read these safety instructions, I mentioned these even before you reach my best product section.
Working with a 5-ton floor jack or 2 ton seems easy even to newbies, but that is a somewhat risky attitude to take. That’s because using a hydraulic floor jack can be dangerous and even fatal if you undertake it wrong and you ignore the genuine safety issues. At least, you may damage the vehicle as well.
So concerning your safety (and possibly of the safety of people near you), here are the top five safety tips you should follow.
Use the Proper Tools
In case you’re likely to raise your car in your garage to swivel the tires or even to work under the car, here’s a list of the tools you need:
- An ideal floor jack. Meaning its lifting capacity is equivalent to the weight of the car. You must read trustworthy reviews to ensure that the floor jack can undoubtedly lift the vehicles they’re supposed to be competent to raise. In addition to this, you might want to get a floor jack having a lifting capacity score that exceeds the bodyweight of your car. So if the car weighs around 6,000 lbs, you might want to get a floor jack with a 7,000 lbs rating.
- A pair of jack stands. Again, they will be capable of handling the weight of the car. The Hydraulic Jack stands are significant, particularly if you’re thinking about sliding beneath the vehicle to work on it.
- Two pairs of wheel chocks. This is to ensure that the car doesn’t roll down when you’re attempting to lift it. It doesn’t matter if your floor jack is relatively stable while the car rolls when you’re raising it.
- Glasses (eye protection) and gloves. These are generally needed when you’re likely to work beneath the car.
- Plywood. These particulars will come in useful if your work surface is a lot less than ideal for the floor jack and even for jack stands.
- Check the Work Surface.
If you have the car in your garage, the bodyweight is spread out throughout the contact patch of the car tire. This contact patch is compact when using a floor jack, as the weight is supported just by the tires and casters. So a gentle surface won’t do, as the floor jack could sink erratically on it, which can damage the car.
Typically, you’re good if you’ve got a concrete area to work with. It’s a different matter if the surface consists of dirt, clay, grass, and even asphalt.
You may either change location til you have a concrete work surface. Alternatively, you can use the plywood beneath the floor jack. Does the plywood need to be at last? Of an inch thick for you to bear the extra weight of the car. It would be best if you also employed plywood for the hydraulic jack stands.
Lock the Car in Proper Place
You don’t want the car to roll while you’re using the floor jack and jack stands. That will certainly result in damage to the vehicle. Also, it can even lead to physical injuries for you personally and others.
For this purpose, you need to use tire or wheel chocks to wedge the wheels in place. This means you place them in front and behind the tires to make sure that it doesn’t roll either backward or forwards. If you’re putting wheel chocks around the rear tires, ensure that means covering both the right and left rear tires.
You now may think that using your parking brake and placing the car in 1st gear (if your car is regarded as a manual transmission) are sufficient. That’s simply wrong. Yes, it would be best if you did all the things. However, you might also want to utilize the wheel chocks to wedge the tires in the proper place.
Lift the Car Slowly Using the Right Lifting Points
The lifting points of the car are the exact spots where the saddle of the floor jack (and of the jack stand) gets in touch with the vehicle. These spots are built to handle the contact with marginal (or no) damage to the car.
So how are these spots? The best choice is to check the owner’s manual to get the info in the Emergency section usually. If, for some good reason, you can’t find the copy manual, search online and get the PDF manual. When this isn’t possible, go on the web and find the info in trustworthy car forums. You may also trust your expert mechanic and ask them.
Using wrong lifting points may damage your car; for example,, if you work with the side frame of the vehicle instead, you’ll damage the sheet metal. The wrong raising point may also be unstable. That’s the reason why you shouldn’t raise the car too soon, as you may wish to make sure that you’re using the proper raising point.
Replace the Floor Jack with Jack Stands
This is perhaps one of the most neglected safety tips of them all, and it’s the mistake with the most severe repercussions. You need to understand that a floor jack is designed to raise the car and not support it for a very long time. You have to assume that it will fail, which is why you need jack stands.
There are plenty of reasons why some people don’t bother to use jack stands when they’re just changing a tire. Many heavy-duty floor jacks are so rugged that they will lift the car long enough to allow you to change a tire. The problem is that you really can’t assume this. That’s why you need to replace the floor jack with a jack stand. At the very least, you won’t overly stress your floor jack as well.
You can do the stupidest thing to go underneath the car while the floor jack supports the vehicle. You’re risking life and limb just because you don’t want to take the time for safety.
So lower the car gently onto the two jack stands while you also make sure you’re using the correct lifting points. Then shake the car firmly before you remove the tire or go underneath. You need to test how it will react when the vehicle is accidentally bumped, especially if you’re working under the car.
These are the Five basic floor jack essential safety tips you have to remember. Take them all so you minimize the danger to your car, floor jack, and your overall health.
Here is Our Best choice section for 5 Ton Floor Jack, 20 Ton Bottle Jack, and 3 Ton Aluminum Floor Jack
5 Ton Floor Jack
20 Ton Bottle Jack
3 Ton Aluminum Floor Jack