You Will Need
* A car jack
* Your vehicle owner's manual (optional)
* A jack stand (optional)
Park car : If you have an automatic transmission, park your car and put on the parking brake. If you have a manual transmission, put your car in first gear or reverse and put on the parking brake.Make sure the car is on solid ground, like cement.
Make sure no one's in car : Everybody out: make sure no one’s in the car.
If care is on incline : If the car is on an incline, place something sturdy, like a block, a brick, or a rock down slope of the wheel diagonally opposite the wheel you plan to jack up.Make sure to wedge something in place securely, even if it’s just a large branch—seventy people die every year when a car rolls off a jack.
Locate car jack : Locate your car jack in the trunk; it’s usually under the mats. The jack and the handle used to raise it are usually two separate pieces. The jack may be screwed in place in the trunk.
locate jack point : Feel along the car frame near the wheel you want to jack up until you locate an indentation, known as a jack point. Place your jack on the ground under this spot.Check your vehicle’s owner’s manual for the correct placement of the car jack before you begin to raise the car, as a wrong position could damage the vehicle—or you, if the car moves!
Follow jack's instructions : Follow your particular jack’s instructions to raise the car. Most of today’s car jacks are scissor jacks; just turn the knob at the end of the jack using the hand crank that comes with it.If your jack doesn’t seem to be working, try turning the handle the other way, or see if your jack has a switch you need to flip marked “L” for lower and “R” for raise.
Raise jack to desired height : Raise the jack to the desired height. For changing a flat tire, this is when the damaged tire is 6 inches off the ground.For extra safety, invest in a jack stand, which can be slid under the car after it’s been jacked up. It holds more weight than a jack.
Perform work : Perform whatever work you need to do—changing a flat tire, draining the oil, etc. Slide out jack : Carefully lower the jack until it is not supporting any weight and can be easily slide out from under the car.
Return jack to storage : Return the car jack to storage so you can be sure to find it when you need it next time.
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