There are many different types of jacks in the market. Today MexicoTrucker.com will try to clear up any misunderstandings or mistakes you might have related to jack when deciding which one you need.
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Different types of Jack
It’s easy to know why consumers can become confused when trying to choose the best jack for their needs, there are more than 8 different types of jacks. For our purposes, there are 5 main types of car jacks.
Different types of automobile jacks
- Scissor jacks
- Hydraulic jack – including Floor jack and Bottle jack
- Hi-lift jack – also known as Hi-lift floor jack or Farm jack
- Motorcycle jack
Scissor jacks
A scissor jack is probably the most common type of jack you may encounter because these jacks come in your car!
They are often near your car spare tire and are used primarily for roadside repairs, primarily for tire changes.
Scissor jacks are weightless and reasonably small, making them simple to store and use for the average consumer/car owner.
A scissor jack is also known as Jackscrew, sometimes they are called that, due to the way they work. They use a mechanical action to twist on the sides of the jack in a tight, scissor motion to lift the car.
Today, there are even electrically operated scissor jacks that run on your car’s battery. This makes plugging in your car to change the tire is a very simple process. They usually come in a neat box like below.
Floor jacks
Hydraulic jacks are often called floor jacks, garage jacks, car jacks, or service jacks. A hydraulic jack is better suited to a garage or workshop than at the back of your car. This is primarily because of the large weight and size of these jacks.
The floor jacks are operated by rolling and sliding the jacks under the car (these jacks have wheels and coasters, so they are easy to maneuver. You need to make sure the ground is as flat and hard as possible). When in the position below your vehicle’s designated lifting point (refer to your owner’s manual), the arm of the device is continuously pumped. This pump-action draws oil out of the jack’s oil tank and forces it into the lift chamber, creating an increase in oil pressure and resulting in the jack arm of the jack increasing and lifting your vehicle.
Release pressure in Jack by turning slowly screw/pressure relief valve will see the car, slowly and safely back to the ground after the repair is complete.
Check out the video below for a demonstration of jacking of hydraulic decks (jacking of trolleys).
These jacks are far superior to the towing jacks for a factory or garage because they are subject to many penalties, wear, and rarely occur, even after decades of use!
If you drive a low-profile car, there are even dedicated racing jacks that fit your vehicle, check out our low floor jack reviews.
To find out more about hydraulic jacks visit the link here https://mexicotrucker.com/hydraulic-jack-and-buying-guide/.
Bottle jack
Another type of hydraulic jack you may be familiar with is the bottle jack or whiskey jack. So named its actual appearances like a pitcher or old-style whiskey.
Instead of having a lifted hand like a trolley jack, the bottle jack has a single lifting bar, acting as a piston. It’s a very simple mechanism, you just pump the arm of the jack and the piston will rise.
They have a huge lifting capacity of 50 tons and are often deployed in rearing houses in a group of holes.
When used on a vehicle, many people prefer to use a block of wood to help impact on the relatively small body (compared to the saddle on the floor).
A major drawback with the bottle plug is that its height of the collapsed height is usually only half that of its extended height, which means it doesn’t fit into many conventional vehicles, but ideally for vehicles with higher openings, such as lifted trucks and 4wds. The range of height is also much less than the garage jack, but again for vehicles with high ground clearance this is not a problem.
On the contrary, one benefit is that they are usually stronger, take up less space in your car when compared to the trolley jack and can safely lose weight.
Hi-lift jacks
Hi-lift jacks, also known as High Lift and Farm Jacks (mainly because they are an invaluable tool for farmers because they can be used for an almost endless number of tasks) is a flexible extremely jack when lifting, leveraging, pulling or hoisting.
The jacks are not suitable for conventional vehicles, but for off-road or agricultural vehicles, this is perfect.
Hi-Lift jacks were originally developed for farm work, they are made of a pair of climbing pins, climbing to the height of the jack (sometimes as high as 6 feet) with a rugged action, achieved by Manual pump mechanism.
How to use hi-lift jack to improve safety
The safe use of these jacks cannot be overstated, due to the fact that they often lift heavy vehicles to a considerable height. Always use it on the flattest surface possible and also apply a range of advertisements that can be purchased to help stabilize the jack and the vehicle it is being used. Read more about Hi-Lift jacks here.
Motorcycle jack
The last type of jack we will consider is the motorbike jack. As the name implies, this jack is used to steadily lift a motorbike to allow cleaning, modification, or repair on your motorbike to be done easily.
These special jacks are often called motorbike lifts.
These jacks are specifically designed to safely lift motorcycles and most ATV 4-wheel vehicles.
They keep their backs secure so they can work at an altitude.
