Jacks, stands and ramps: which one carries the car

Lifting and holding are two different jobs

A jack is a lifting device. It raises a corner of the car so that something else can be placed underneath, and it is not built to hold that load for the length of a repair. Treat it as the tool that positions the car and nothing more.

Whatever carries the weight — stands, ramps or a lift — has to be rated for the vehicle and has to stand on hard, level ground. If that surface is not available, the job is finished before the first tool comes out, because the surface, not the equipment, decides whether the job goes ahead.

• A jack lifts; stands or ramps hold.
• Check the printed rating against the vehicle weight and leave margin rather than matching figures.
• Chock the wheels that stay on the ground, leave the car in gear or park, and set the brake.
• Nothing in the job should put any part of you under a car held up only by a jack.

Ramps, stands or a jack: pick by the job

Ramps suit work reached from below with the wheels left on: oil changes, exhaust parts, a look at the underside. They need a gentle approach angle, enough clearance for the front lip, and the same hard level surface as everything else.

Stands suit anything where a wheel comes off — brakes, rotation, suspension. They need the support points listed in the owner manual, a surface that will not sink, and a second look at the locking pin once the weight is on them.

• Ramps: wheels stay on, quick access, needs bumper clearance.
• Stands: wheels off, adjustable height, needs solid ground and the correct support points.
• A jack on its own: lifting only, never support.

Read the rating, then inspect the tool

The rating is printed on the frame or on a label, and it is the first thing to compare with the vehicle weight. Equipment worked at its limit flexes, and flex repeated often enough is what cracks a weld.

Before each use, look at the parts that fail: welds, the base, the saddle, the locking pin or ratchet bar, and the release valve. Bent, cracked or field-repaired lifting gear is scrap rather than a project.

• Rating legible and higher than the load, with margin.
• Locking pin seats fully in a defined step.
• No cracks, no straightened bases, no missing parts.

Finish with the fasteners

Any job that removes a wheel ends with the nuts tightened to the figure in the owner manual and re-checked after the first drive, as most manuals advise. That is the job a torque wrench exists for.

Tightening by feel is a guess, and both directions of that guess cause trouble later: too loose works the studs, too tight stretches them and can warp a disc.