You do not need a repairing garage at your home to get some of the minor issues of your car fixed. Likewise, you do not need to struggle that much when learning how to jack up a car with a floor jack.
You see, jacking up a vehicle is an essential thing that you would need to do once in a while. And floor jacks make things easier.
However, if you do not know how a floor jack works and how to use a floor jack, the tool will be nothing but a showpiece for you. And if you do not rely on jack for lifting your truck, you will be putting yourself and your car at risk.
But the good news is that you just came to the right place to know all about it! Yes, we will cover it all!
Jump To Contents
What Is a Floor Jack?
Before we get to the other parts of the guide, let us first ensure that you know what a floor jack actually is. So, the floor jack is a manual hydraulic lift. Floor jack is one of the jacks available in the market and most commonly seen in the mechanics' garages.
Now, as you might have guessed, the tool is mostly here to help you with lifting vehicles off the ground. That means you can state that the tool is mainly for maintenance and repairs.
Nonetheless, unlike the other versions, floor jacks are low-profile, enabling them to effortlessly roll under the vehicles. Also, these will usually come with a long handle, which is yet another distinct feature of a floor jack.
How Does A Floor Jack Work?
Along with just knowing what a floor jack is, you should also have a proper idea of how they work. So, unlike most of the other types of hydraulic jacks, this version will sit on a pair of wheels. Those wheels will be fixed, and there will be another pair of caster wheels. These make it easier to move the jack around.
As an operator, you would roll the tool until the saddle is underneath the lifting point. And when you pump the handle up and down, the arm of the jack will lift up, and the saddle will make proper contact with the vehicle.
On that note, the cylinder of the unit is mounted horizontally. And the shape of the cylinder makes it look a lot like a bottle jack, which is lying on its side.
6 Steps To Use A Floor Jack On A Jeep Wrangler
With all of the things aside, let us get into the thing that brought you in the first place. So, the steps that you would need to follow are bellow:
Step 1: Read the Owner's Manual First
Before anything else, you will need to go through the manual. Why? Each of the jack is different. And they will have a different using procedure. For example, you can learn the general process of how to release a floor jack, but what you have learned might not apply to your model.
Considering that, you should go through the owner's manual carefully. Pay extra attention to the safety section and ensure that you are handling the right jack for lifting your jeep wrangler. And for this, you need to see the capacity of the jack. Then, match it with the total weight of your Wrangler.
Step Two: Ensure That Your Workplace Is Safe
Next, you will want to check whether the place you have the car parked is suitable for lifting the vehicle or not. Do not prompt to raise the vehicle when you are in a soft or muddy area. Instead, park your jeep at a solid and stable surface and then attempt to lift the jeep with the jack.
In this case, a garage would be a pretty good choice. However, a flat driveway would be great too. Also, ensure no kids or pets are around when jacking the Jeep Wrangler up. In fact, you should attempt to raise the vehicle only when you are out of the hearing range of anyone.
Step Three: Check the Wheels After Parking
Get your Jeep parked after finding a suitable spot for raising the car, and chock the wheels. For this, you can use a heavy stone or brick if you do not have access to full-fledged wheel chocks. Those will work like a charm when it comes to holding the wheels in place.
Step Four: Find out the Right Place to Set the Jack
With everything taken care of, you will need to work to figure out the right place to set the jack. Generally, you should target the most stable and durable part of the Jeep.
And to find such a position, you will need to check the owner's manual of your Jeep. It should have a clear marking of where you should set the jack.
Now, if you think that any part of the Jeep will be good for setting the jack, you might damage your Jeep. And that would mean more repair costs. So, you should not set the jack up in any location other than the ones that are stated in the manual.
Step Five: Raise the Jeep
After getting the jack set up, you should work on raising the vehicle. For this, you should take things slowly. Carefully align things up and slowly raise the car by pumping the handle.
Some of the floor jacks will even have a button. For those, you will need to press the button, obviously.
Again, ensure that the alignment is correct when the vehicle rises. If the Jeep moves a bit, you might end up damaging it.
Step Six: Work on the Underneath of the Jack and Then Lower It
The final step would be to lower the jack. Again, refer to the user manual and check if you need to drop it in a regular manner or if you have to do anything extra.
For detailed instructions on lowering a floor jack, check out This Article
Why Should You Use A Floor Jack?
Now that you know how to use a floor jack, you might be wondering if you should get one or it. If you are still confused, you should know the floor jacks' benefits bring to the table. And even though you will enjoy a lot of advantages with the floor jacks, these are the most significant ones:
1. Lifting Force
One thing that makes floor jacks stand out is the lifting force that they provide. And the great thing about their lifting force is that you do not have to work too hard to achieve that force. So, using the floor jacks is comparatively easy.
2. High Raising Capacity
Usually, the floor jacks will have a maximum height capacity of 20 inches. But you will not have to struggle that much if you want to get something with a higher capacity. You can easily find the ones with 30 inches of lifting capacity.
In comparison, finding other types of jacks that offer such a high lifting height will be pretty hard for you.
3. Easy to Work With
You can easily move underneath and around the vehicle by using the floor jacks. There will be no need to worry about tipping the jack out of place while moving, as these will be attached to the corners. Also, you will not need to worry about having limited room to work with either.
What Type of Jack Should You Use for a Jeep Wrangler?
When it comes to using a floor jack on Jeep Wrangler, you first need to select the right jack. In fact, it is the first thing that you will see at any floor jack on a Jeep Wrangler user guide. That said, the right kind of floor jack for the wrangler would be the ones that have a 3-ton capacity.
In some cases, you can get away with the 2 tons or a little higher ones. But to be on the safe side, we would recommend the floor jacks with at least 3 tons of capacity. Now, when it comes to the height, you should be okay with those that offer a maximum height of 18 inches.
However, if you want something that will offer you more height to work, we recommend getting the ones with a max height of 20 inches or more.
Final Words
Learning how to use a floor jack is not like learning rocket science. You just need to get the right floor jack for your vehicle, go through the manual properly, and carry out the aforementioned steps correctly. If you do not mess up while following the steps, we can ensure that the lifting and lowering process will be smooth.
Related Helpful Links for Floor jack Users:
