The beauty of using a floor jack for jacking up your car is its ease of use. A floor jack uses hydraulics to lift the car and can be easily positioned by a set of wheels on one or both sides of the jack, which makes it very versatile and convenient.
Park the vehicle you are jacking up onto a flat, hard surface. Jacks are virtually useless in soft ground and because they have wheels, can run the risk of shifting while jacking the vehicle, which is very dangerous. If you are on an incline, be sure to use a brick or chock to keep it from moving.
Check the wheels of your jack before you begin. Make sure any rocks or dirt are out from underneath the area to avoid shifting during the jacking process.
Use WD-40 or another lubricant to prevent the wheels from locking up. If your jack is difficult to move, positioning correctly underneath your vehicle can be extremely difficult depending on how heavy the jack is. Larger vehicles will require larger jacks that will in turn weigh more, and without the use of wheels they are difficult to shift underneath the car.
Move the floor jack into place. Consult your vehicle manual for approved jacking locations. Most cars can be jacked on the outside frame, or the thin lip around the bottom of your car. Position the jack so that the side where the metal bar is inserted is facing you and the side which will jack up the car is positioned squarely beneath the approved jacking location.
