Jack Stands (Auto Repair)

If you plan to work under your vehicle, you also need a pair of jack stands (refer to Figure 1-2 in Chapter 1). With these, you jack up the car, place the jack stands under the car close to where the jack is, and then remove the jack so that the weight of the vehicle rests on the jack stands, and not on the jack, which can collapse or roll over. The stands keep the car off the ground with less danger of slipping and enable you to jack up more than one side of the vehicle at a time. Get two jack stands and read the instructions in Chapter 1 before you use them.
Substituting boxes, stones, or bricks for jack stands is very dangerous. They can slip out or break while you’re under the car. A jack can do the same thing, so if you’re going to work under your vehicle (and you will if you plan to do your own lube jobs), be sure to buy a pair of jack stands. The money you save by getting under there yourself will easily pay for the stands in no time.