How to Put a Car on a Jack Stand

The safest way to work underneath a car, change a tire or inspect anything on the underside of your car is to set the car on jack stands. Trusting a jack to hold your car up while you crawl underneath it is not safe. Jacks can quickly and easily fail, dropping the car down on top of you. Place jack stands underneath your car before working on it. Placing a jack stand in the wrong place or on unstable ground can lead to severe injury or worse.

Instructions

1

Park the car on a flat, level surface. Concrete is the safest surface because of the strength and stability it offers.

2

Put the car in Park and engage the emergency brake. Place a chock behind and in front of one of the wheels that will remain on the ground, so the car can't roll.

3

Use a jack to raise the vehicle. Place the jack under a section of the frame and lift the vehicle slightly higher than the jack stand. Make sure the jack stand is locked into position.

4

Place the jack stand underneath the frame of your vehicle. Make sure the frame of the vehicle is centered directly on the top of the jack stand. Some unibody cars have a designated spot for jack stands just behind the front wheel. There is a 3-inch pinch-welded section of metal that runs parallel to the car. Place the jack stand under this spot so that the pinch weld sits in the center of the jack stand.

5

Lower the jack slowly until the vehicle is resting on the jack stand. Keep the jack in place or place a tire underneath the edge of the vehicle as a backup in case the jack stand fails.