An automotive floor jack is a tool which should be included into each and every car owner’s toolkit. Most times car manufacturers provide a specific jack with the cars they produce, but you may lose or break it or even not get it at all if you buy a used vehicle. Be careful, when choosing a replacement for your former car jack because different jacks serve different cars.

What an automotive jack basically do is raising up a part of a car. It is often used when one needs to change a tire, but that is not the only way of using an automotive floor jack. You can lift only on corner of your car with a standard automotive floor jack. If you need to lift the entire back or front, use specialized jacks.

The most popular type of automotive jacks which are provided by car manufacturers is a scissor jack. For lifting the car up and down it utilizes the central screw mechanism. You can use a tire tool or a specialized handle (if you have got one in addition to your car jack) to turn the mechanism.

For larger vehicles like trucks you will have to use a high-lifting jack with a tall metal pole, large base plate and a ratcheting mechanism, because lifting such a weight is not an easy task.

Hydraulic automotive jacks are very popular as well. There are both wheeled and non-wheeled versions of hydraulic jacks.

Automobile mechanics often use big automotive floor jacks, which roll under a car, at their shops. Such a car jack is very helpful for lifting the entire back of a car.

There are some safety features in every automotive jack which will prevent you from being injured. With large bases a car jack will never tilt or sink into the ground. Car jacks are equipped with a special handle in most case, but many of them can be operated with a tire tool as well. Every automotive jack has its stop point, which stops lifting if you have risen the car too high.

So, you'd better have a car jack at hand when you travel on your car. With a car jack you can quickly and easily change a tire in a situation when there is no one to help you or when you think that calling for assistance will be too expensive. It helps fulfilling other, not-so-emergent tasks, like changing oil, brake pads or oil as well, if you prefer to maintain your car by yourself. Taking all the above into consideration one can tell without doubt that a car jack is a very helpful tool which every car owner should have.