How to jack a car on a 4-post lift without a bridge jack

Four-post lifts are good for car storage and working on cars, but many advise that you need ANOTHER center/sliding jack, which typically costs over $1,000!
This DIY step-by-step video shows you how to jack up your car onto jack stands on top of a 4-post lift safely and relatively easily.
#cars #diy #carrepair #automobile #garage

[@frankm2385]

Brilliant! You just saved me $1K on a bridge jack. Thank you

[@ianscarhole6992]

Awesome!! You're welcome 👍👍

[@fishsquishguy1833]

Another reason for buying a 4 Post lift is the thickness of your concrete pad and if has rebar and is structurally sound. A 2 post lift could tip on a weak pad

[@ianscarhole6992]

Great point! I have not thought of that. Thanks for mentioning it. I am definitely happy with my four post lift

[@anthonythomas1162]

This is a neat method. I personally use a bottle jack in the jack tray and then jack stands on the sides.

[@ianscarhole6992]

Thanks! That sounds like a nice method too. I wasn't sure about a jack on a jack thing especially when I was new to using this thing

[@anthonythomas1162]

@@ianscarhole6992 I was in the same boat when I got my lift last year. The tray is meant for bottle jacks so it's completely fine to throw one in there and use it to jack up the car. The harder part is finding a bottle jack with low enough clearance if you have a low car (I use a Big Red 4 ton bottle jack). If you do try out the bottle jack method definitely throw a piece of wood or something on the jack to spread the load, the contact point on them is so small that it can easily leave an impression where it's lifting (ask how I know). Ultimately I want to buy two of the bridge jacks but can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on it.

[@ianscarhole6992]

Awesome! Thank you for sharing! I feel like so much of car stuff is like, don't do x.. ask me how I know that's a bad idea haha.

[@cmorales6]

I appreciate your video man. Thank you.

[@ianscarhole6992]

You're very welcome! It's kind of niche but I was hoping that it would be very useful for at least a few people 🙂

[@BellyUpFish]

So, as a guy trying to decide between a 2 and 4 post lift - do you ever find yourself wishing you had a 2 post instead of your 4 post?

[@ianscarhole6992]

Not really. The four post lift has been fantastic. It's not too hard to put some jack stands under it like I've shown in the video. I think a four post lift is much much better for me

[@cacapupucabesa3498]

You should check the cables on then jacked end, if they are really loose doing this either you have to watch closely that they don’t hop a pulley or over time go out of lock alignment. Interesting idea, I just bought an air bag Jack for lifting while on my 4 post lift because I don’t want rolling Jack or Jack tray in the way all the time and they aren’t cheap like you say.

[@ianscarhole6992]

Awesome, I am glad you figured out the solution for yourself too.
Also I thought that the cable should be loose when it is in the locked position. That shows that the car and lift is fully supported by the locking mechanism and not at all by the cable.
Maybe I am misunderstanding your comment?

[@gobabygo48]

can you not use the jack you have when the car is down all the way? even if you put a 4x4 block on the jack under the rear diff and pump it up about as high as you got it there?

[@ianscarhole6992]

That's a good idea. You might be able to do that! I think that the Jack I have will not go high enough and it's hard to pump it up from far away, but if you could get that going then it would work just as well, and probably more convenient than what I showed in the video