How To Completely Lift A Car On All Four Jack Stands

How To Completely Lift Your Car Off The Ground (All Four Wheels)

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1. To start, make sure the car is on level ground.

2. Apply the parking brake, and place wheel chocks to ensure the car doesn’t roll. Block the rear wheels when lifting the front, and block the front wheels when lifting the rear.

3. Next you’ll need to locate the jacking points; some cars will have one at the front and one in the back. If they don’t, nearly all cars will have jacking points behind each of the front wheels, and in front of each of the rear wheels. You can refer to your owners manual to locate the jacking points.

4. First we’re going to lift the front of the car onto jack stands. If you have a front jacking point, use this, if not you can use the rear jacking points, and slide a jack stand under each side of the front of the car once it’s high enough. This will require jacking both sides of the car, to get both front jack stands underneath. Place jack stands underneath each of the jacking points on the sides up front, and lower the car down onto the jack stands. Remember, you may not want to jack the car to the full desired height; I will be starting at the lowest jack setting because I still need to be able to access the rear jacking point, and I also don’t want to have the jack stands tip over.

5. Now bring the floor jack to the rear of the car, and lift it via the rear jacking point. In this case we’re lifting by the rear differential; often times you can find a tow hook, which can also serve as a jacking point. It’s a good idea to throw a shop rag on top of the jack to ensure that you don’t scratch up the differential casing.

6. Lift up the rear of the car, place the jack stands underneath, and lower the car down onto them. Ideally you want all of the jack stands at the same height, so that the car is level.

7. If you need to raise the vehicle further, do so by incrementally lifting the front and rear to your desired lift height. You simply want to be careful to ensure that the car doesn’t cause the jack stands to tip over.

8. Once you’ve got the car level and all the jack stands adjusted appropriately, give the car a bit of a shake to make sure it’s safe to get underneath. Since I’m paranoid and also enjoy living, I like to place wood blocks underneath each of the wheels as an extra precaution.

9. Now this obviously isn’t necessary if you plan on removing the wheels, and in that case you typically will want to slightly loosen the lug nuts before lifting the vehicle, unless you have an impact wrench available to use.

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[xinic]

I have a smart car so I can just lift it with my hands onto cement blocks, and all the parts I need i can get from Toy R Us.

[Omlet]

2:10 when you shake it you also gotta say “yup, that ain’t going anywhere”

[chevinbarghest]

In England in 1970, I was taking the front suspension of a Morris Minor to pieces. They have long torsion bars for suspension instead of springs/struts. I didn't understand them. As I undid a bolt, the torsion bar released and the car collapsed and the torsion bar threw the bottle jack past my head and it landed 50 yards down the road. That made me careful for 52 years until 3 weeks ago when the 12 inch fan cover came off my John Deere lawn tractor coz I didn't have all 3 bolts fastened down... It flew like a discus and mangled the choke cable, then hit the battery and smashed a gash so the acid came out on to the concrete and reacted and it was a cloud of acid gas....Then it continued on and missed my crown jewels by 2 inches and cut a hole in my jeans a gave me a big graze on my loins... Good fun this home mechanicing !

[roijoi]

Had my car up on jack stands bleeding brake lines when my father, a professional mechanic reached in the car, grabbed the steering wheel, and stepped on the brake pedal. The side-force generated by that pressure on the brake pedal tipped the car sideways, tipping the jack stands. As a precaution, I had put the spare tire under the flat floor pan of my Volkswagon, so as the car tipped, and moved sideways about 3-ft, instead of 5ft, I didn't get crushed between a fence and the side of the car. Obviously, my father would have been devastated and never forgiven himself if I'd ended up dead or FUBAR.

Never trust jack stands alone. Chock and prop the tires as shown here. Trust jacks themselves even less. Safety always seems like an unnecessary PITA until you're FUBAR in a hospital and crippled for life. Then you have the rest of your life to regret your stupidity. "Be Safe" is the best advice you'll ever get.

[Jensen_MacD]

where's the link for the high-tech wood??

[keytothegate]

As a teenager I was changing oil on big Bonneville we drove in the 80's outside in the street on a hot summer day using just a car jack that came with the car. The black top bellow was hot to the touch under the scorching sun. I did my best to lift the car and it looked stable. With the car raised on the car jack I was reaching in under the car to unbolt the oil plug and in the back of my eye I noticed the car was slowly moving to the side. I knew this was bad and I pulled back under the car just as it sank some more and then it slid off jack . This happened because the thin framed base of the of the car jack sank into the hot asphalt after being initially stable . Yes, I was lucky to escape being pinned under or worse. Be mindful this can happen.

[royaldm]

I would also take into consideration that the shocks on the car here are decompressed... If the jack-stands fail and the wheels fall on the wood, the shocks would compress and the car will probably still give you a nice slap on the face as it falls down. Gotta account for that extra travel if the car were to fall on its wheels.

[cjfourty]

Pro tip: If you are removing the wheels slide them under the car by the jack stands to give some extra protection in case they fall or slip

[livedeliciously]

The wood blocks add so much in terms of safety.

[floatmeal]

Good to see that no one is above a Harbor Freight floor jack.

[alexanderkryuchkov]

Now take the wheels off and run before the owner spots you.

[eholmes]

Great videos and very well made. Why only 3 boards on your rear wheels and 4 in front? Also, a caution for those who misplace the jackstands behind the front wheels. You need to get the stands about 12-13 inches back from the wheel well to get the reinforced area. (look at your vehicle to find the reinforced area). Putting the stands in the other closer area will bend the cars sheet metal underneath as that area is not reinforced.

[anothersiguy]

Putting the wheels underneath the car when you take them off isn't a bad idea, also if you don't need the jack, it doesn't hurt to leave it where it is, gives you a little extra protection. Also congrats on the 1M woah!

[rmkscrambler]

Back in high school shop class, the substitute teacher was explaining lift points. When he finished with the unibody and walked over to a framed car he said all you have to do is shove the jack under and lift. The student assigned to rotate the tires on that car did just that. Who would have thought the oil pan was a lift point ;)

[EquanSimmonds]

Had to come back and like this video. I always think of it when I"m putting my car on all 4 jack stands. Literally the way I learned and it's been great

[audiophileman]

Really like the idea of putting wood blocks under the wheels. Using the jack to provide further support is helpful too. Like to use chocks on both sides of the wheel, front and back. What do you think about using the subframe to support the car with jack stands?

[shofarsogood]

Don't just shake it, shake it like you mean it! Good advice I got from a guy once. As if your worried about you nocking it over and screwing up the underbody of your car, then it probably wasn't safe enough to get under anyway! Better the car than your life.

[ImUrOBGYN]

I like the wooden blocks idea. I think I'll start using it. I generally use my floor jacks as backups to the jack stands while I'm under the car. (I have two.) And I never rely on screw jacks unless I have absolutely no choice.
For some damn good reasons I won't get into here, I'm super paranoid about working under cars, as well.

[acheesetoasty]

2:03 I'm glad I'm not the only one who has used a hydraulic jack as a scooter xD

[klepetar]

i used the rear differential on my 350z..even if i had the front wheels secured..it slid and fell.. i had put a stand on the left side, to i was lucky that i had no damage..it ended up between differential and the gas tank..i will use YOU way hare..it seems a lot more safe and secure..thank you for keeping me alive.whew..