[oakster]

Saw this today about a 29 yr old guy in Massachusetts who died while working on his car and it fell on him.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO127275/
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pb...NEWS/910180322

It has been said a million times that you should always use approved jack stands when working on your car.

I just hope this story helps remind us to be safe out there and prevents it from happening to someone else.

[Stuart]

"Police say a Geo Prizm slipped off homemade blocks". Makes you wonder just what they were.

[2002Z4CSS]

I always use good quality jack stands and not the ones made in China when I am under a vehicle. I have at least 10 jack stands I use.

[Old Blue 66]

Mine are rated for 2 or 3 tons from Sears. Cant remember. I don't care how secure the car is while on stands, it still makes me nervous to be under a 3300 pound car supported by two or four small metal stands.

[Brandi Kay]

They are a pita, but they are REQUIRED.

[71 T/A]

Originally Posted by Old Blue 66

Mine are rated for 2 or 3 tons from Sears. Cant remember. I don't care how secure the car is while on stands, it still makes me nervous to be under a 3300 pound car supported by two or four small metal stands.

Exactly! It's why I hate to work under a car and will only do so as a last resort. I don't even trust jackstands. Even a concrete block can split too like what probably happened to the guy in the story. Most of the time, it's just for an oil change, which I can do without jacking up the car.

[Cobrabill]

I was searching for a set of ramps for changing the oil in my"fleet".I thought it was odd that Harbor Freight didn't carry any-at all.Finally found a pair at Pep Boys.But they are high enough just to allow a pan underneath and for you to "stretch" and reach the plug and filter.Now i distinctly remember ramps from years ago being high enough to allow you to work on the tranny,driveshaft e.t.c.

F***ing lawyers again.

[JackF]

I was changing a front tire on my 55 Studi. using a bumper jack. Got the old tire off and was putting the new tire on, sitting on my but with my legs under the car, got 1 turn on the first lug nut when the jack popped off the bumper. That 1 turn was all that kept the car from falling on my legs. I too am leery about putting any part of my body under a car even with jack stands.

Jack.

[Greg Reid]

If I'm going to be doing any real work under a car, I use a combination of jack stands and ramps for the front with a second set of jack stands under the rear axle. Sometimes I'll even lay a wheel or wood block under the rear tires for added insurance...
A large hardwood block is much more reliable than a concrete block. Those are very weak individually and only gain strength when used in a structure.

[Sirrotica]

Concrete blocks are the absolute worst things ever to hold a car up. Most people place the block on it's side to get a flat surface to work from. The block isn't engineered to carry weight this way and it collapses without any warning.

Years ago I was scraping a chevy PU and we threw a concrete block under one of the brake drums as we removed the wheel to pump up the tire. It was temporary just for a few minutes and no one was going anywhere near the bottom of the truck. I was standing there talking to someone and that block just crumpled into pieces, it was less than 5 minutes, It made a believer out of me.

I asked a fellow worker one time that was under a car with no stands under it, if the car fell off the jack or it failed, was he strong enough to lift it off himself? He went and got 2 stands after I said that.

I had a teacher in Vo Tech that told a story about a guy that had a car on a bumper jack working on the brakes. He was seated on the ground with legs spread when the car fell down pinning his privates to the ground. No one was around and he had only a pocket knife and performed surgery himself in order to free himself from his situation.
I don't know if the story was true or not but it really got the attention of a bunch of teenage boys about the dangers of working with no stands under the car.....LOL

[David Jones]

That silly gravity thing is a bitch.
I always use jack stands and for insurance stack up square pieces of 2X12 close to them. You'd never know what hit you if something gave way.

[David Holmberg]

I buy and use 6 or 12 ton stands.

It's overkill but the more HD they are the higher they can safely hold the car in the air.

[Old Blue 66]

Originally Posted by David Holmberg

I buy and use 6 or 12 ton stands.

It's overkill but the more HD they are the higher they can safely hold the car in the air.

A 12 ton stand must be HUGE!!!

I just checked, mine are 3 tons.

[Judas]

My moment of truth was this: I have the car up on a city curb and was in the pocket...literally working in the gutter. I still needed a bit more though, so I used a bottle jack to lift the Camaro more...the wheels were still on the ground so it was just "unloading the suspension".

While working I thought.."hmm...feels like the floor pan is closer". I look over at the bottle jack and could actually see the piston sinking back into the bottle.

Rarely will you ever see a person move so fast.

Since I was in the gutter, I *probably would have been fine, but I didnt want to find out.

Now I use stands and once I get the car setup, I actually try rock it a bit as a test. I'd rather it fall then as opposed to when I go under to turn a wrench. After that, I then put the floor jack(s) back under as a backup under strong points like the rear axle.

[Mr_GTO]

Sad but he should have known better. The stands he built must not have been very good if they fail under a Geo. Spend the $50 and go buy 2 sets of 4 2 Ton stands at Sears or any automotive supply store.

[bird72]

Don't buy the little puny jack stands, go for the big uns...... Buy good brand. Buy biggest and best floor jack you can. On my bird for front work, I use jack stands and the floor jack just barely tensioned to below the jack stand tension points, using it as a back up to the stands. Paranoia is good in the case of under cars...

a great alternative is old growth tree stumps and 6 strong friends.

[pcar]

I always use stands, and I put the wheel under the car as a back up support if the stands fail.

[Region Warrior]

I use HD wide base stands and also have 12" thick x 16" long Oak logs to slide underneath the frame an/or place under axles just in case.
Been do'n this for 30 some years.

Couple years ago i had to adjust a B&M shift cable at the trans.
The front wheels where already on home made 2x8 wood ramps. 10" high x 36" long(base board) for something else?
Figured it would be safe enough shove a 4x4 behind the L/F wheel(2nd from top board).
Only be a few minutes....
Sometime during the porcedure, my elbow must of moved the block.
Well...ended up have'n to reroute the cable for a better alignment.
While pull'n the cable, it wedged against the x-member.
So i tugged, and pulled, and tugged...alittle to hard.
The car rolled back, the 4x slide out. Saw it come'n and tried to slow it down by holding the x-member-n-frame while make'n sure my head was clear of the exhuast, etc.
It was slow motion. But no time to slide free.
"Oh God, not like this".....
Ended up with the frame across my chest, and exhuast across my cheek-n-temple.
So there i am pinned try'n not to panic.
Cel phone's within reach. Do i call 911(expensive) or the wife(probly panic and call any way)?

Very hard to breath and get'n sore'r by the second. Stay calm and take short breath's.
Was able to push up against the floor enough to get my head clear.
Pulled with hands and pushed with feet towards the center/front of the car where there was just enough room to squirm out behind the L/F wheel and frame.
One small bleeding scratch on my cheek. Large bruise-n-abrasion across chest.
Took several weeks for the chest to heal.
And a big reminded about safety.

[b-man]

Whenever I need to get my car high off the ground to work underneath it I use a stack of small wooden pallets under each wheel. Works great as long as you're doing something that doesn't require removing the wheels, I was washing up the entire underside of the car here to prepare it for a pretty good amount of new chassis, drivetrain and exhaust work.



This is another car supported in the rear by two 6-ton stands, I was changing out the mufflers and had to drop the rear end down for access. When I first built this exhaust system many years back I had the entire car up on 4 of these stands inside my garage, the front wheels were still on the car and thinking back I should have used some wood pallets up there instead. Properly placed, the 4 stands still held the car very solidly.



Always shake the car back and forth to make sure the stands are supporting the car securely, it never hurts put either a stack of wood blocks or a couple of wheels and tires stacked up under the chassis as a backup.

Don't be afraid to crawl under your car, just be sure you're going to be safe first. Doing maintenance under your car or getting heavily into your car projects doesn't have to kill you.

[oakster]

Glad to hear people are being safe out there. It only takes that one second for a situation to go terribly wrong.

I think a lot of us have been under a car at one time or another where a jack has slipped and we've had to rely on the stands to save us. Don't think that was the case w/this poor kid but I'm a big fan of having a back-up, just in case. I usually lower the car onto the stands and use the jack as a back up in case the stand slips.

I feel bad for his fiance who had to find him pinned under the car.