Technical Safety blocks...

Years ago I made some stands of 1988 Chev full size van seat bases. They are about 16" square and have bolts at each corner so I cut 2 thicknesses of 3/4 plywood and bolted them on. They are very handy for standing on to reach things, paint the roof of a car etc. and are strong enough to hold a car. I gave away a lot but still have a couple around.

At the time I worked at a conversion van shop, every van came with 1 (driver's) seat made of cardboard on a standard seat base. These were always discarded and captain's chairs installed so I had lots of seat bases. I suppose you could pick some up at your local junk yard if you wanted to.

 

Pressure treated? If so the pressure treated lumber is not necessary for indoor use, it was probably left over offcuts from building a deck.

 

Thanks !


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A 4x4 block sits in the saddle of my floorjack and just slides under the 3rd member. That gets the back end up to height. The front's pretty low so I jack it up, place it on stands then add a 4x4 block and go up the rest of the way. The nice part about it being up so high is I can wheel around in an old office chair to work on it! My old knees are forever grateful!

Exactly!!

 

Good welders are artists! Check out this shop stool I bought when we were in Texas on vacation a year ago. It was near Corpus Christi at a museum. $150. I couldn't fabricate that if I had to.

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Fairly sure it refers to "pressure treated."

 

Sorry about that, should've used Wheeliedave's reference in my "pressure treated" reply.

 

At times, some of us have done things so incredibly stupid that they are almost beyond belief. I take no pride in the following story but I hope that it will serve as a horrible example of why you don't rush jobs or use the wrong equipment. In 1970, I lived in a small town in California near Vandenberg AFB where my wife worked. Her car was down with an engine problem so I took her to work and returned home to replace the front brakes on my 65 LTD. I wasn't in any particular hurry so I stopped at a friend's house to check on his projects. Time passed more quickly than I thought and all at once, I realized that I was going to have to get moving on the brake job in order to be back at the base and pick up my wife. I rushed home, grabbed a single screw jack and stuck it under the middle of the front cross member and got the tires off. Popped both drums off, replaced the shoes, replaced the tires and slid under the car on a creeper to adjust the brakes. I was laying on my side when the car came off the jack. Fortunately, I had the tires on but the impact of the car hitting me drove the creeper wheels into the asphalt driveway. I was pinned but again, fortunately, a friend just back from 'Nam drove up, saw what had happened and by himself, snatched the car up far enough that I could slide out from under. I was out of commission for several weeks with three 6" stainless pins in my shoulder. I now have one of the most reliable weather gauges in existence. Every time the weather changes, I'm reminded of how it could have ended. It could have all been avoided if I had just taken the time to use just one of the three pairs of jack stands in the garage.

 

Thanks for the story. This thread could easily save someone's injury or death.
Point is every accident I've ever had, and I've had a lot ,concussions, screwdriver in eye (I was lucky, I have good vision now), broken bones, all in a rush. A few minutes of caution can save a lifetime of misery.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk... Gary from Virginia

 

The only two people I know or knew of that were killed under a car/truck was due to hydraulics and no backup. One was a dumptruck bed unfortunately, good guy. The other was a little more sinister, involving a second party releasing a jack, or so the story went. Wasn't there or friends with either party on that one.

 

Pressure Treated.

Made some wood feet as well years ago, on my second set. Original set was fine but neighbor borrowed them and somehow soaked three of them in gas and another in oil, they burned well after.

2"x12"x8', cut it into four equal lengths. As well as a 4"x4"X8' cut into eight equal pieces. Together they will raise the bottom of the tire 5" above ground level. Maybe not much, but perfect for working under most vehicles. Enough room to remove the TH700R4 from an '84 Sierra from the bottom comfortably.

Built these after one too many times under a car on jackstands and a roller(quake) would come through dancing the car across the concrete on the stands, and another time on asphalt the stands sunk into the tarmac. On the wood stands the car just does a jiggle at most when a quake comes by. The open 'U' shape also allows them to be stacked inverted so not much space is taken up. They also make handy mini step stools.

 

I worked for a guy that braced the dump box open with a cinder block.
I drove by on the tractor and told him it wasn't a good idea, and I'd be glad to help him rig a chain, or get a wood block.
On my way back, I noticed the bed was down.
Coming around the curve, I noticed it wasn't a good idea, in a big way.
I have always been a big fan of jackstands. I made ramps out of a 10X10 that was 5 feet long.
Cut a nice angle, VOILA!

 

All I can add is if you are going to use cement blocks after reading all of the posts here. Put a 2X6 flat on top of the cement block so the car rests on the wood. The wood spreads the weight of the car over the whole block so it is less likely to fail. But like said DON'T USE CEMENT BLOCKS TO SUPPORT A CAR YOU WILL GET UNDER.