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Mechanic gets crushed by car

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by LOW LID DUDE, Dec 5, 2009.

  1. ironandsteele
    Joined: Apr 25, 2006
    Posts: 5,918

    ironandsteele
    Member

    i don't get how people could do that.
    you couldn't pay me enough to risk that. so stupid.
     
  2. greazhonkey
    Joined: Oct 28, 2006
    Posts: 889

    greazhonkey
    Member

    Had a friend crushed by a car and killed. He was using jack stands, but did not have everything stable. Car fell on him and killed him instantly.
     
  3. RichG
    Joined: Dec 8, 2008
    Posts: 3,919

    RichG
    Member

    I was at a friends shop b.s.'ing with him while he was working under a car. He's a professional mechanic, well equipped shop with a front end air lift, but he always puts a tire under the frame just in case. That day as I sat on the bench the jack broke and folded sideways, dropping the car. The tire gave him the room to scooch out of there the extra few inches, had it not been there the rocker panel would have nailed him right in the face! Yeah, jackstands are kinda important!
     
  4. flatheadhero
    Joined: Feb 17, 2006
    Posts: 273

    flatheadhero
    Member
    from California

    Hmmmm.....
     

    Attached Files:

  5. cowboy1
    Joined: Feb 14, 2008
    Posts: 914

    cowboy1
    Member
    from Austin TX

    So who makes a really good jackstand?
     
  6. The Mandrill
    Joined: Nov 11, 2009
    Posts: 191

    The Mandrill
    Member
    from Tulsa

    Cast stands (Snap-On if you can swing em not the Blue Point Jap Crap) with the jack under it and I use wood blocks as back up since I am almost always working solo. I raced cars for 25+ years and alot of guys who have burn marks, gnarly scars, and funny twitches had always asked me why I spent so much on safety gear? We are an interseting species....
     
  7. My cousins husband jacked up his motorhome, slid underneath it and it and the jack failed, no stands. Didn't kill him right away, gave him just enough time to let his wife watch him struggle vainly to get out. Taught me a HUGE lesson. If the stands can't hold up a bus, they won't get the chance to hold up my car.
     
  8. Even the best jack stands can tip over if they are not plumb, such as on a sloped driveway.
     
  9. c-10 simplex
    Joined: Aug 24, 2009
    Posts: 1,371

    c-10 simplex
    Member

    This sucks; i didn't have the guts to click on the link.


    1) As mentioned by others i ALWAYS lay tire/wheel assemblys down flat and slide them underneath the car if i have to get underneath a car for any reason. You should too. (those unused tires and wheels we all have in the garage finally have a use). i also use jackstands and wheel chocks, but i feel the wheels are a last failsafe guarantee.....

    YOu might still get trapped, but at least you won't get flattened into paper. Always Keep a cellphone handy.

    If you do not do this---what i mentioned in #1, then you should immediately:

    ----change your name
    ---- move to another planet.

    2) i have those harbr freight jackstands? Are they ok? i'm thinking no?

    3) What do you think about this product?
    http://www.creepex.com/indexEN.html

    4) one time i was working on a friend's car and i /we didn't use jackstands or chocks and it was on the driveway which was angled downwards and yes, it fell off the jack. Fortunately it was a situation where i/we needed to get the car raised so i could get to something but the wheels were still mounted. My friend got hyserical because i could have gotten hurt and started beating the quarter panel with a crowbar ( i didn't care all that much since it was a generic 80's mustang) (ford jack!).
    i said don't worry, it's not that bad---all the wheels are still on, so the possibility of me getting hurt was minimal.

    Now, that i think about it, i could have gotten seriously hurt---what if i was directly undeneath the differential or something?
     
  10. 39 All Ford
    Joined: Sep 15, 2008
    Posts: 1,531

    39 All Ford
    Member
    from Benton AR

    Wow, what a dumbass, any moron can see that the cinder block would be a LOT STRONGER turned the other way.... :D

    OK, that was fun..

    There is no way, given the chance, I worry about walking under my 2 post lift.


     
  11. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,829

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    Harbor Freight has some good heavy duty jackstands. won't do you shit for good if you are not smart enough to use them.

    I always give my car a good shake before I get under it. if it is going to fall, I'd rather be standing next to it than under it.

    the guy in the shop next to mine has a small forklift. his helper was working on his acura and used it to lift the car OVER HIS HEAD and was working on it as if it were on a lift. nothing at all to keep it from falling. this is an older fork with probaly no maintenance for who knows how many years.

    people just don't think.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2009
  12. Caddy-O
    Joined: Aug 8, 2006
    Posts: 1,644

    Caddy-O
    Member

    Personally know someone this happened to. Truck fell 2" before it was held by the other jack stand. It was enough to snap his neck and kill him. It was a lifted 4 X 4 and he was sitting up underneath it. A life snuffed out because he got in a hurry.
     
  13. fleetside66
    Joined: Nov 20, 2006
    Posts: 3,003

    fleetside66
    Member

    Back in '67, I worked a summer job as an orderly in E.R. of the Atlantic City, NJ hospital. One of the first dead guys I had to take to the basement morgue was a guy that tried to steal a trans & only had the car supported on a jack. Things didn't work out for him & he was just flat out crushed. I saw the aftermath & it was enough to make me remember every time I go under a car.
     
  14. fearnoevo
    Joined: Nov 28, 2009
    Posts: 218

    fearnoevo
    Member
    from Iowa

    One of those miracle strength stories. Way back when in high school, my cousins '65 Chevelle fell on him. His girlfriend lifted it enough for him to get out. She didn't weigh 100 pounds soaking wet. Trust me I know, I had her soaking wet a couple of times
     
  15. oilslinger53
    Joined: Apr 17, 2007
    Posts: 2,500

    oilslinger53
    Member
    from covina CA

    They must have never seen what happens when one of those valves fails, and the fork drops like a rock.

    My grandpa had a cylinder block fail, and the car fell on his chest. He was a very large very strong man though, and was still able to yell for my grandma. No injurys, just scared shitless.

    Had a friend who had a jack that would slowly go down. about an inch every five minutes. One day he was workin under his honda prelude with nothing but that faulty jack. he would slide out every few minutes and pump the jack. One day I pull up to his house and start up they driveway and he see's my feet. He goes to slide out and finds thet they car has sunk too low, and he's now trapped, he wasn't being crushed yet but was unable to get out. He instantly starts freaking out. screaming for help like a little girl. Good thing I pulled up when I did, he could have been SLOWLY crushed to death, I don't think his neighbors could have heard him.
    unfortunately he still uses that jack, and still uses no stands. He don't learn to easy
     
  16. kaboom
    Joined: Oct 29, 2009
    Posts: 74

    kaboom
    Member
    from STL, Mo

    This was the pic i was going to post.

    what a Dumb ass.
     
  17. smarg
    Joined: Nov 18, 2008
    Posts: 1,069

    smarg
    Member

    Moral of the story don't by a jack "Made in Taiwan".

    And be patient and grab a jack stand.
     
  18. DRUGASM
    Joined: Dec 16, 2008
    Posts: 2,817

    DRUGASM
    Member

    ive been lucky...on a road trip my new exhaust kept loosening off at the manifold and it was too hard to get from over the fender. On the side of the road in a dirt parking lot I dove under the car and had it jacked up in the front by the frame and a jackstand under the frame behind the tire on the driverside.

    Well as I layed there I looked over just in time to see that narrow ass jack start to bury one of the wheels in the dirt and pull the other off the ground. The whole car was shifting to the passenger side and I barely had time to yell "oh FUUUU__" as the whole thing slammed down. My buddies saw it happening and luckily were able to grab my ankles and pull me out. As soon as I was out the jack stand started leaning too.

    Never again....hard lesson learned. Pack more clean underwear. And have a good surface to jack off.
     
  19. Ha ha!
     
  20. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    I don't care HOW many times safety has been brought up before. These "alerts" need to POP up every now and then. Why the f--- ? 'cause ALL of us get tired, sweaty, in a hurry. And we do something that could cost us an eye, our breathing, a hand, or our life. No drama intended, but I think I'd prefer to go down on the Titanic in freezing water than to have the life slowly crushed out of me -- and no help in earshot. Almost had it happen to me, and read & heard too many sad stories.

    Even on the 'net, I've seen pix of guys with ALL FOUR corners of their car up on jack stands. Like even a young teen kid couldn't run into that hard enough to accidentally bring the whole car down?

    As others have said here: Use a good, sturdy jack; good jack stands, PLUS back-ups, and by that I mean chock your tires, and at least put an inflated tire under the car or the butt off an old railroad tie. You might get "pinned," yet survive until help comes. You don't wanna hear all the stories I've heard from EMTs.
     
  21. i remember being trapped under my AD truck after some sheetmetal stands folded. i have some stands that are made of forklift wheels that are really a bitch to move but i can roll them if needed. they will hold anything i work on.
     
  22. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    i have pair of super heavy duty ramps made in the 70's, friend of mine gave them to me, you can't buy ramps like that anymore. i couldn't get the car high enough, so i put a 4x4 block of wood in the wheel depression on each ramp and set the car with one on each side, i could probably park a bus on those ramps. I wouldn't put anything on the chinese ones made today.
     
  23. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    What Jitterbug said on Post 39. Working underneath a car is the part I hate the most, but we all have to do it. TAKE THE EXTRA COUPLE OF MINUTES TO MAKE THE SET-UP IS SAFE. Even one needless death of a car-loving 'rodder isn't worth time or effort "sacrificed" for safety.
     
  24. DIRTY_WHITE_BOY
    Joined: Jun 1, 2008
    Posts: 134

    DIRTY_WHITE_BOY
    Member
    from Tennessee

    AS I read this it brings back a memory, I was under an old Monte Carlo,a bulletproof teenager,2am in the morning. The car was on a bumper jack,got out to get a wrench. The car leaned over and smashed my light flat. I never get under a car without some solid wood blocks or something comparable. Looks like most stories were when we were younger,so if anybody has a young auto enthusiast in your family it may be a good time to discuss this. I did not realize I had this survival in common with so many people.I guess we were the lucky ones!! Gus
     
  25. lostforawhile
    Joined: Mar 23, 2008
    Posts: 4,160

    lostforawhile
    Member

    came back to him didn't it? don't mean to sound harsh but i hate thieves, anyway, I see people putting cars on those cinder blocks all the time, ever hit one a little with a hammer? it shatters, want to put your life on that? they are very weak when used like that.
     
  26. 100% Matt
    Joined: Aug 7, 2006
    Posts: 2,747

    100% Matt
    Member

    Here's a good one. I can tell you that death didn't come quick. He struggled for sometime trying to get the car off himself....

    A Darwin Award Nominee....


    Man crushed to death trying to stealing car part


    By Matthew Engelhardt
    Journal Inquirer
    Published: Friday, May 1, 2009 10:08 AM EDT

    EAST HARTFORD — A man crushed to death during an attempted theft at a Tolland Street auto shop was the same man arrested months ago when he fell asleep trying to saw a catalytic converter off a vehicle, police said today.

    The man, Gary Gaudet, 51, of 94 Columbus St., East Hartford, was killed late Wednesday or early Thursday when a minivan fell on him during an attempted theft at Asian Motors LLC, 268 Tolland St., according to police,

    Gaudet had the van propped up and was attempting to saw off the catalytic converter when the vehicle slipped off the jack and crushed his face and chest, police said.

    The shop’s owner discovered the body on Thursday morning when he saw Gaudet’s legs sticking out from underneath the minivan, they said.

    The East Hartford Fire Department arrived on the scene shortly after 9:30 a.m. and extricated Gaudet from under the vehicle, according to police. EHFD Paramedics pronounced Gaudet dead on the scene and his body was taken to the office of the state’s chief medical examiner in Farmington for an autopsy, police said.

    For Gaudet, the attempted theft of the catalytic converter wasn’t his first try. He was arrested in October after he fell asleep while trying to pull off a similar crime at another Tolland Street auto lot, according to police.

    Gaudet admitted to police that he hopped the fence at A&M Towing and Recovery at 430 Tolland St. in the early hours of Oct. 24. With a hacksaw, Gaudet set to work trying to remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle when he grew tired and fell asleep underneath the car, police said.

    Later that morning, an employee arrived at the shop and noticed Gaudet’s legs sticking out, according to police. At first, the employee was concerned that Gaudet might have been trapped and was unresponsive, they said.

    But after being approached by an officer, Gaudet pulled himself out from under the car and admitted he had been trying to steal the part to sell it to a scrap yard, police said.

    Gaudet was arrested without incident and police said at the time that he didn’t appear under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but had simply fallen asleep during the attempted theft.
     
  27. cadillac nut
    Joined: Oct 2, 2008
    Posts: 560

    cadillac nut
    Member

    i heard this guy WAS a good welder ...haha... dumbass !
     
  28. reverb2000
    Joined: Apr 17, 2005
    Posts: 441

    reverb2000
    Member
    from Houston TX

    Use jack stands, then a secondary safety, cinder block, old tire, anything in case the worst happens, you would have a few extra seconds to move.
     
  29. True, but looking at the car, what do you expect?


    I'm guilty of having ill-supported cars fall off of jacks, enough times I won't even crawl under one if it's jacked up on a dirt surface, anymore. Has to be level and on a hard surface and generally I put a jackstand under and leave the jack under it, and block a wheel on the opposite side. Even then I get out and push the thing and see what it's going to do before I go under.

    Hell, even the jackstands Harbor Fright sells are better than those damn tin things, I have a pair I picked up because a guy threw them away... looked them over and I've never used them.
     
  30. Rattlepopbang
    Joined: Sep 11, 2008
    Posts: 62

    Rattlepopbang
    Member
    from Va beach

    I only use stands if Im not gonna be under the car like changing tires,doin brakes or something.If im gonna be under it I use steel ramps and block the rear tires.
     

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