If You Don’t Own a Floor Jack, You’re Doing It Wrong

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Cheap auto-parts-store floor jacks are good to have around in a pinch, but if you’re serious about your DIY, you should own a heavy-duty low-profile floor jack. In addition to helping you get your car up in the air quickly and safely, a quality floor jack makes other repairs quicker and easier. If you don’t have one in your arsenal, you’re doing it wrong.

As much as full-on two-post automotive lifts help with wrenching, most people don’t have the space or funds to own one. Finding access to a lift isn’t easy either, unless you happen to know a guy. Ramps are a good way to get easy access to the underside of your car for basic stuff like oil changes, but they limit the sort of work you can do. With a real jack, and of course a couple of trustworthy jackstands, you can do almost anything you can do on a lift, though admittedly with a lot less space. Suspension, brakes, wheels, engine, you name it: a jack makes so many things possible.