How to Jack Up a Car

Video Transcript

"Hi! My name is Nate McCullough on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we are going to talk about the proper way to jack your vehicle up. The first thing you want to do when jacking any vehicle, is set the parking brake that is of course unless you are working on the rear of the car. Once you have the parking brake set, you are going to want and take and place the jack underneath the vehicle on the pinch wheel. This car came from the factory with a scissor jack. Personally, I would throw them away. You buy one of these and it will save you a headache and they are lot easier to use and a lot sturdier. You look underneath the vehicle and about 6 inches in from the rocker panel, right here about the length of my hand is what you call a pinch wheel. It's a metal tab that sticks down about that far. It has been squeezed together and welded but it is one of the main structural portions on this car. That pinch wheel is designed to sit right in that slot. On some vehicles, you will look and it will even have a small picture of a jack or an arrow pointing and some are even labeled jack here. That's the spot you are looking for. Basically place your jack underneath, turn the little slots until they line up with the pinch wheel. Going to make sure the drive screw for the jack is tight, not over tight. It just has to be tight. Insert the handle and jack the vehicle up. Once the wheel is in free spin, it is high up off the ground to work on. Right there you go. "