Correctly jacking my car

sentient_6

Ok firstly i apologise for this extremely noob question. But please bare with me.

I've been using a jack i bought out of lidl the last while but im not sure if a) im using it correctly, or b) its designed for the type of jack point on my car.

When i set it up like this:



It ends up bending the rail like this:




So i got out the jack that comes with the spare & the part that makes contact is shaped differently & fits either side of the rail like this:




Should i only use the jack with the spare anymore? Is the lidl jack resting on the rail the wrong way of doing it & is the rail bending a problem?

Viper_JB

sentient_6 wrote: »

Ok firstly i apologise for this extremely noob question. But please bare with me.

I've been using a jack i bought out of lidl the last while but im not sure if a) im using it correctly, or b) its designed for the type of jack point on my car.

When i set it up like this:

[IMG]It ends up bending the rail like this:[/img][IMG]So i got out the jack that comes with the spare & the part that makes contact is shaped differently & fits either side of the rail like this:[/img]

It's pretty much normal with these trolley jacks, your best bet to avoid it is to put some wood between the jack and the jacking point in your car to distibute the weight a bit more and it should stop any further indentations.

I'd hardly ever use the jack with the spare anymore(unless stuck at the side of the road which thankfully has not happened yet )....takes so long, the trolley jack is so much handier. Just be careful, never stick your head under a car just being held up by one of these, make sure you have some good axel stands to support the weight of the car too.

sentient_6

Ok cool thanks man, i thought i might have done damage or was lifting it wrong.

tossy

Best point for jacking a car is where the wishbone meets the chassis leg much more solid than a sill.As said above though if you are unsure about finding this point then a block of wood is your only man.

alanmc

Viper_JB wrote: »

It's pretty much normal with these trolley jacks, your best bet to avoid it is to put some wood between the jack and the jacking point in your car to distibute the weight a bit more and it should stop any further indentations.

I'd hardly ever use the jack with the spare anymore(unless stuck at the side of the road which thankfully has not happened yet )....takes so long, the trolley jack is so much handier. Just be careful, never stick your head under a car just being held up by one of these, make sure you have some good axel stands to support the weight of the car too.

+1 on all of this. But in my case I can barely fit the trolley jack under the car. Never mind with a chunk of wood on top. I usually use the the scissors jack to raise the car enough to get the trolley jack with the aforementioned block of wood (which I cut a groove in). Takes a little more time. but it saves my rails from those nasty rips and tears.

Some people use a chunk of vulcanised rubber on top of the trolley jack saddle. Something like a hockey puck I guess. You have to be carefuly here though. Very easy to slip.

+1000 on the axle stands. Never *ever* depend on a hydraulic jack to support the car as you shuffle underneath. The jack seals can pop without warning dropping the car immediately. <shudder>

Slidey

Get a couple of scaffolding planks and drive the car up on them first, will make it easier to fit the trolley jack in.

As tossy says, aim to get it to a chassis point under the car. Not the floor though, that won't take the weight either