Car Jacks 101: Types and How It Works
4 May, 2021
The jack is one of the automotive equipment used to jack a car or lift the car body. The jack is one of the mandatory equipment that car owners must have.
Jacks are commonly used to help the car service process, check the car’s bottom, and wash the car. Jack is also a tool that can help you in emergencies, such as when you need to replace a flat tire with a spare tire. At least several types of jacks need to be known and understood on how they work.
1. Bottle Jack
The bottle jack is one type of jack that looks like a bottle, and the use of this tool is very simple. As the name implies, this type of jack looks like a bottle. It’s very simple to use; you only need to move up and down the lever for the car’s hydraulic system to work properly.
This jack also has a rather simple and small shape, making it really easy to carry anywhere. Before you use this jack, make sure you have tightened the small valve next to the lever.
Conversely, if you want to lower the jack, you turn the lever in the opposite direction until the jack drops to the bottom. This type of jack is perfect for private car types.
2. Scissor Jack
The scissor jack is the simplest of all the jacks. This type of jack does not use a hydraulic system, so the user must use a lot of force to lift the car.
Although this jack is very draining, it is very suitable for private car types. The shape is very small, so it is easy to carry anywhere. Additionally, it comes with a very low price.
Small cars with loads below 2 tons are very suitable to use this jack. If you wanted to lift a heavy car, it would be very cumbersome. If forced, of course, you need to spend a lot of energy.
3. Crocodile Jack
The crocodile jack is one type of jack with a very large size, so it is pretty heavy. Owners of this type of jack are very rare in Indonesia. Most of the owners are only authorized car repair shops.
Not only large, but this jack also has a high price. The crocodile jack also uses hydraulic technology to lift weights, so it’s very safe to use even for large cars.
4. Support Jack
The support jack is a type of jack that a repair shop usually uses to lift the motorbike. This jack is shaped like a box with a lever on one side. The use of this jack is very easy to carry everywhere.
5. Train Jack
The train jack is a type of jack that is widely used to lift off-roads that have a large weight. Train jack can lift 20 tons of load. Most of the owners of these jacks are repair shops.
6. Crocodile Bottle Jack
This one is a combination between the bottle jack and the crocodile jack. This combined jack has a larger lifting capacity. However, the drawback is that it has a large size, making it very difficult to move around. Most of these types of jacks are only owned by authorized repair shops.
That’s a complete review about the types of car jacks and how they work. Hopefully, the explanations above can be a useful reference for you and your family.
