Automotive Floor Jacks – Safety Tips
Whether you’ve already bought your automotive floor jack or you’re still searching through all the automotive floor jacks available on the market it’s important to look at some of the safety tips you should be aware of before using your new automotive jack.
If you only read or remember one tip this is the tip to remember. Never trust a jack no matter how new it is. I don’t care if it’s the first time you’ve used it or the one hundredth and you trust it completely, don’t. Automotive jacks can fail at any time and this includes when you’re under the car. That’s why it’s so important to have at least one set of jack stands around at all times to stick under the car after you’ve jacked it up. That way if the back does fail you won’t be crushed by the car.
The second tip isn’t quite as important, but still is worth mentioning and that’s to always have another person around when using an automotive jack. I know it sounds like when you’re a kid and your parents tell you that you need to be supervised, but it really could be a matter of life or death.
Doom and gloom aside, a nice set of jack stands is really important when working on your car. There will be times when you need to leave you car up over night, whether you’re having some parts refinished or are waiting for a part to be delivered. It’s important not to leave the car held up with the floor jack over night. This is when having the jack stands is great, you can put them under the car to support it and then relieve the pressure on the automotive floor jack. Having that weight on the jack for extended amounts of time, as in over 24 hours is bad for the jack and greatly reduces the lifespan.
Hopefully I haven’t sounded to much like a parent telling their kids what to do. This post comes from me seeing automotive floor jacks fail many times, luckily nobody has been under the car when it happens in my case. Companies like Craftsman have seen how safety is important and they actually make a great package that you can purchase that comes with an automotive floor jack, set of jack stands, and a creeper for just over $100 dollars. If you take nothing else away from this do your family a huge favor and use jack stands when you’re under the car.