Lifting my car to a jack

this makes me angry

You'd probably have to lift the car with a proper trolley jack. If you're working on the car more than once a trolley jack is an invaluable tool.

Here's a guide to where to jack the car when placing jack stands.
focushacks.com/mod/Jacking:_Raising_and_supporting_your_Focus

...

>tfw jacking a one and a halt ton b-class on this shit
worst is the car has no real spot to jack it up, just a little plastic mold where the plastic part of the """jack""" fits

Do you even lift?

It relies on friction with the ground, which is a serious problem if you're on gravel.

this is my favourite kind
lifts one entire side of the car very easy
(Pic does not show it fully inserted into lug)

this is my favorite kind

put a strong plank of wood between the two points on one side
this should allow you to lift the car from the centre and place stands under the points
the car will tilt slightly but this can be compensated for by carving a bevel into the points where the jack and stands make contact
notches can also be used to secure the x and y axis
note that while wood has good resistance to compression
this same effect makes it very dangerous

the wood is sort of spongey and stores alot of energy
if it slips out this energy plus the weight of the car falling on top of it will propel it at high speed or cause splintering
I know people have died from head injury's as a result of this because they were using more than one peace of wood in a pile

There is generally a spot where the lower control arm connects to the subframe on most cars.

Anyway, this is a huge source of pain for me - it's fine on Honda shit - Civics, Integras, etc, but with other cars you often have to get creative.

It fucking sucks.

this kind of shit is why i'm so afraid to change the tyres myself

>jacking up a car on gravel

I seriously hope you don't do this.

thanks satan.

those are rather bulky and I don't trust them not to move about
bottle jacks do take a little longer to set up but I feel they deliver the superior lift
some of the older 4 tonne models will lift 6 tonne without issues

you reallu gotta pick your poison on a unibody car, personally i wouldnt jack up a unibody car on its subframes or suspension ive heard from mechanics it can ruin alignment or even bend suspension parts permanently out of spec, not good to do.

you should really get a good jack if you wanna start putting your car on jack stands, once you have it up there you can even set up the lifting jack as an extra support.

Can you fit those under a regular car?

Honestly if you live in buttfuck nowhere with a gravel or dirt driveway and you don't have a garage, what can you do?

Straight on gravel Isn't advisable but if I stick a sheet of 10mm plywood and a 3mm metal plate underneath before jacking I feel safe enough to do a small brake job or whatever, it's as even as it gets where I live

I'm gonna die aren't I :[

>There is nothing wrong with this jack
If you're in california and a tremblor occurs, it is a widow maker despite how careful you were at not making the car shake or move sideways while you worked on it underneath.

this jack is only for changing a tire
you don't go under the car with that kind of jacks that just stupid

>Can you fit those under a regular car?

While lifts and jacks are under a car, an aid doesn't have to be under a car.

the jack is only for lifting, not keeping the car up there and stable.

I have a heavy scissor jack from a full size RV, I welded a 21MM Nut onto it and use my electric impact wrench to jack my vehicles up. I of course put jack stands underneath.

Probably not the safest thing, but it's way faster than my harbor freight 3 ton low-pro jack I bought several years ago.

You mean you use a scissor jack or something to lift initially, but then lift higher with the bottle?

>I know people have died from head injury's as a result of this because they were using more than one peace of wood in a pile

Since you know of more than one case of fatal injury (and there were probably non-fatal injuries or maimings), this method seems to be too risky for wimpy super safe members of Veeky Forums to use.

The fear of getting under the car safely without risk is what stops most people from the simplest of things such as changing their own oil.

That picture's solution to the jacking problem seems worse than the original problem in terms of fender and roof line damage. I wonder how many of the car's fluids (battery acid) will leak out when tilted like that.

This is what's up.

If you go to a military surplus store, you can actually find 3 ton rated military scissor jacks that already have a nut built in on the end. All you need is an impact and it's way faster than using a traditional jack, and you actually have more control going up and down. My only suggestion is to use a decent length extension when doing it, so you have some stand off in case the car decides to hop off the jack.

something from the 1990s yes
but perhaps not a modern car

a two tonne jack is smaller and can be used on a corner jacking point given the tires still on the ground hold the rest of the weight
but I like to go overboard with the tonnage rating

the older models of jack I described are from the uk and made around the 1970s
so they were rated around 30% over what they are advertised as being able to lift

the main trouble with using wood is that it has to be the right size and shape with no imperfections or dampness
it really backfires when people rush preparing the lifting points and selecting wood

>this method seems to be too risky for wimpy super safe members of Veeky Forums to use.
its really old fashioned and time consuming to get right
so not something that should be a first resort

>The fear of getting under the car safely without risk is what stops most people from the simplest of things such as changing their own oil.
oddly enough I only get this feeling from 2 post car lifts
something about the arms and the lifting mechanism is unsettling

could be just that I have witnessed worm drive failures and arms popping out of place
even cars strait up falling off the lift for no apparent reason (floor bolts on adjacent corners coming loose ?)
where as I have yet to see any problems with gantry or inspection pit

Just get a portable lift. I was planning on sinking the non-portable version into my garage floor, but you can't beat the versatility of the MD-6XP.

OP here, i think i will get a second shitty trapezoid lift, lift the car on the recommended lifting points on both sides and then put a safety jack stand next to the lifts but the weight will stay on the lifts and the jacks will be below the lifts by a mm/0.1" so the car wont fall much if the lifts fuck up.

just dont put any body parts where they can get crushed and it should be fine

Impact will wreck the threads in short order. Enjoy your broken jack and dropped car

women detected, these work just fine.

>while you worked on it underneath

>just get a $2000 piece of equipment instead of your $20 jack

>just get a new car you dumb fuck

>just post something completely irrelevant and use meme arrows
>2000+1+2+1+3+5+1+2+1
:^)

Can this be lethal? (there are no earthquakes here)

Volvo too, just don't get under the car with this (or any jack by it's self)