Hot Rods Jack stands? We don't need no stinking jackstands

Had a friend trapped under the car he was working for 10 hrs..his wife had just left for work...it crushed the jack (cement block) while working on an exhaust..broke 3 ribs dislocated his shoulder and was stuck there all day till his wife came home..he was using hollow cement blocks..(dont use for jacks)

 

A neighbor 25+ years ago was crushed changing his oil because of no stands just hydraulic jack.

 

I have a bunch of good jack stands, totally trust them all. One set is from Sears bought back in my stock car days. When I graduated college, my soon to be ex-wife, she asked what I wanted as a gift. I told her a pair of good jack stands, told her what to get. So what do I get? ONE cheap stamped steel stand with holes and a pin to set the height. That went right into the scrap pile.

 

I feel safer doing this than jack stands, getting the Merc up on them is the scary part.

 

We do need jack stands. My buddy had his '71 Chevelle break his collarbone
when his bumper jack (!) collapsed. He knew better than that.

 

about 5yrs ago, a friend's father was using the other son's garage/ shop at his, (son's) house to do some repairs while the son was at work. Was just using a floor jack on a nova with the wheels off, floor jack must have slipped and his torso was crushed and was found dead. Quite literally a dozen jack stands along the wall a few feet away and the son had to come home and find his dad that way. I was pretty safety conscious in that regard before, but after that, I've been strict to the point of kicking people out of my shop for it, as in a friend came by to do his front brakes on a daily driver, wheels off, legs under the car and hammering away on a caliper bracket with only a floor jack. brought him over a couple stands, said he didn't need them, and I said he could leave because it would be my problem if something happened and his legs were pinned under a car. My next door neighbors, single income family with 2 kids, and I have done with some car repairs for them before to save some money, and be neighborly. wife is a diy'er and was asking about a pretty badly leaking radiator. I tell her i'll shoot down to my shop to grab some stuff to take a look at it, come back to see that she had tried to drive up on a pair of rusted to hell sheet metal ramps that were stored outside, 1 of which collapsed sideways, folded part of the fender, somehow punctured a brake line, and just made a mess. I had told her on a prior job that I wouldn't use the ramps she had so im not sure what her plan was but im glad that the ramp gave way before anyone had gotten underneath the car.

 

Forklift stands
Pretty much the same design as what @Blue One made.
Work great! Around $400 for a set of 4
Also have 3 and 6 ton trip angle stands
I have 4 pieces of 1” plywood I put under them to help level them out on the floor and provide some grip.

Also have a good hydraulic high lift jack for getting stuff in the air.

Don’t like the tube stands, cinder blocks, or the cheap folded steel stands.

Jacks and stands are cheap in the long run you buy good stuff and it last your life time easy.

 

In my advanced age, I'll drive my car up on ramps and them jack it up to put stands under, then remove the ramps. It saves lots of jacking under a low car. Drop it down? Same thing, raise it a bit, take the stands out, put the ramps back & back the car down.

My buddy from work, a real DIY guy with about zero car skills. He had his car jacked up at the curb, on a conglomeration of crap. A passing cop made him take it down while he waited. I gave him a set of jack stands that I got cheaply at a garage sale.

 

I can't imagine how that could happen. HRP

 

If you try really REALLY HARD !!
You might get it off those stands !!


Like I posted I use pretty much the same stands that are originally made to lift forklifts up.
Once it’s in place it’s not moving.


These stands and the hard wood cribbing under the wheels is, I think the safest way to keep a car in the air.

 

52 years ago, my high school auto mechanics teacher taught us to grab the sides of the car front and back and shake it like hell before you get under it on stands. Doing that, only once did a car fall off the stands as I was shaking it. One stand was not seated on the frame properly. I've taught my son and grandson to do the same.

 

Two people I knew locally died years ago who were under a car using cinder blocks.
Now that I've made it to 66, all the crazy stuff I did years ago, I won't get under a car now without wheels on blocks, six jack stands, and a jack as well (No pressure on jack, just close to frame). Sounds crazy but jack stands take 30 seconds each to put in place.

Sent from my Bell Candlestick

 

Along with a bunch ( 8 sets ) of good jack stands, I also have made a set of 4 of the wooden type of stands like the ones under "zz top chop's " merc. they work well, and I inspect them every time I use them, before I put them under a car. I also store them inside, in a heated garage. even when I use the wooden blocks, I still use jack stands for back up

 

I was told the same exact thing and still do it to this day.

 

I was coming home from work one day and rolling down a long hill when I see this lady jacking up the back of her Lincoln with a bumper jack in an effort to change a tire. The base of the jack was in the dirt and as soon as it reach a height of about 18 inches the car rolled to the right and settle into the dirt. The lady was dress up like she was going somewhere so I decided to give her a hand. I took the hydraulic floor jack and place it under the pumpkin of the rear end that also was on the hardtop of the road. As I was loosening the lug nuts, doing the kimchi squat in front of the flat when I notice a pair of black shoes right next to me. It turn out to be a cop, who was park in an unused driveway hidden for the road (I guess to catch people going over the speed limit). So the cop asks me if I am going to be there much longer because I am blocking his exit route. I told him I would be only a few minutes and went back to working on removing the lug nuts. You all know what happen, those lug nuts were a real bear to get off and the cop came over several times to check my progress, and he was starting to get upset. The lady on the other hand, was not saying anything just watch as the cop was getting more and more angry at me. Finally, I got the tire change and was loading the jack and four way into the back of my truck when the cop decided that he needed to run me in for obstruction and preventing him from doing his job. So we started going back and forth, when the lady finely step into the conversation, she told the cop to get his Chief out here. Then the cop starts to give her a hard time and asks for her license and registration. She gives him her license, registration, and a business card. Once the cop review the business card and the license he change his tune and became real polite and told me that I was free to leave. The lady offer me some money for my effort but I said that I just wanted one of her business cards like the one she showed the cop. She gave me one and on the way home I read it over, it read, first her name, then the second and third lines it read, "Assistance Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire".

 

I bought some vintage rims. I wanted more so went to spring shop the guy worked at only to be told he was crushed to death working at home on truck when his blocking method failed. He was only 24.

 

Butch,
You are so right! Since I am so paranoid about being under my 57 without it being properly supported, I have gotten rid of all my cheap jack stands. I have nothing but 6 ton jack stands (8 of them). Long story short, I had the body and frame supported with 4 of them while installing rear housing. I had floor jack under car for extra support, needed a little extra height, gave jack 1 pump and car slipped of 1 forward jack stand and body/frame fell to garage floor. Scared the hell out of me. Always double check,never assume it’s safe.

 

As well you should have apprehension. I've got about 6 of that style jack stand, out of the 6, on one the cast rack piece broke under load. May have had a flaw, I don't know, do know it scared the shit outta me when it broke. Luckily, I was sitting the car down on it when it popped. Car only dropped 3 or 4 inches, but that was enough to get my attention fast. Now when I use them, I double them up on each side.

 

Posted by sliceddeuce on the vintage shots thread.
"More PT, Sergeant!!"

 

I had a pair of wooden ramps built by another high school student as a class project. He probably got an A but they almost killed me, My own fault completely. Ramps were built entirely of 2 x 14 planks including internal bracing. Heavy? Yes, but they would have held up a Mack semi tractor safely. I laid them on the lawn in the shade an ran the 57 Ford up and did the lube job, slid out to get the pan and filter. I was about 3 steps away when the ramps rolled to the right and dropped the left wheel right where I had been laying 10 seconds before.
I had both wheels off center on ramps and the right edges sunk in the sod. I never used them on grass again!

Regarding the axle housings nickthebandit mentioned, they were good and commonly used everywhere, but a friend was under a Pontiac at a dealership when the salesman started running the new cars in for the night. Only the front end had stands under it and the salesman tapped the rear bumper enough to rock the stands almost, but not quite, to the tip point. Friend Irv said he grabbed the chassis but being on a creeper it didn't help, and by then the stands clunked back to vertical. Like Marlin Perkins used to say " That was a close one "

Fireball Five

 

I have build several of them. Even welded the first set with 6010



I ran out of hooks the U.S. flag is folded and no longer just flopped on the ladder!

 

LOL - jackstands from the Kooky restoration. BTW, one can obviously reinforce the "split tube" type jackstands, and add a flat plate on the bottom. Myself, I dont trust the chicom "cast whatever" stands (they have a history of bondo-ing over casting flaws...)

 

The bigger the footprint on the ground, the more stable it is as it spreads the load better. I used these HD Blackhawks with ratchet feet. You can safely support the weight and gain the required work height. NEVER rely solely on a hydraulic jack, it can fail with nothing then supporting the weight above. Safety first, always use Personal protective equipment (PPE) and practice safety, it's not discretionary IMHO but common sense. 2" RHS steel bolted to body mounts F&R allowed the frame to roll out easily.




I also use the shorter stands with adjustable pins, the right tool for the job

 

Don't use these options if your hanging sheet metal as frame flexes.

 

Only going to roll of if you use them on a hill.

 

My biggest paranoia is working under cars...I always use wood blocking as a backup to jack stands....always and I still get the creeps....just do...guess all the stories I've heard through the years sunk in...

 

I'm a survivor. I was 17 and bought my first car (a '54 Chevy). The front springs were shot. So with the help of a friend, a decided to change them. My folks had dibs on the carport. So I was relegated to the lawn. Back then, the only places with hydraulic jacks were service stations or repair shops. The bumper jack had to work. Somehow I acquired a couple jack stands and placed them under the frame. Putting the new coil spring in place without a spring compressor became a challenge. I needed to lift the car a few more inches. Never thought about resetting the jack stand height. My friend nestled his body under the front fender and I under the engine. My plan was to pull the lower control arm over to the bolt holes in the frame. But I needed a little more leverage. The lawn wasn't working very well. Without looking what my leg had hit, I pulled on the control arm with all my mite. It was the bumper jack and my leg managed to pull it out from under the car. As I'm watching the oil pan head straight for my face, I turned to my side and closed my eyes and prayed. And the car stopped. I opened my eyes to feel that I was pinned in. I yelled for my friend and there was no sound. I'm thinking OMG! please be alive. So I wiggled and eventually got out from under the car. Blue sky never looked so good. As I looked over to where my friend was, he was flat on his back and white as a sheet. Yes, he made it through the ordeal without injury. But it took both of us a good hour to regain our composure. He was positioned such that the fender could've snapped his neck or back. Although the jack stand ended up getting pounded into the ground a couple of inches, it save our lives. When my dad came home from work, he saw what had happened and yelled at me big time. And I deserved it. We're both married and retired. He's a grandfather a few times over. When we're together, this incident never gets discussed. Someone was looking out for us that day.

 

A miracle for sure.

 

EVERY time I get under a car or truck I think back on the two hot rodding teenagers that lived down the alley from where we lived when I was 2 to 7 years-old. I recall that they had a car up on oil drums and if fell off somehow. I only remember the ambulance being there, but I definitely remember the car on the oil drums.. This happened around 1960, so my memory is hazy. I know that one of them died. There was also an incident where they "blew up a car" by adding something to the fuel. I vaguely recall my dad saying that they put chlorine tablets in the gas tank, but he was no mechanic (draftsman, yes.) I don't know how he would have known. I STILL THINK OF THIS EVERY TIME I JACK UP A CAR AND WORK UNDER IT 59 YEARS LATER. I also need to put new disc brake pads on my Chevy pickup this week. NOW I HAVE TO GO BUY GOOD QUALITY JACK STANDS AND THROW AWAY MY (most likely) CHINESE ONES!
I still talk with my best buddy from those days, so I am going to ask him what he remembers about the hot-rodding guys at the end of the alley.

 

Something I would like to add.
How many have worked under their car hauler or travel trailer with just the crank up jack on the tongue holding it up?
A few years back I was working on my 71 Banner travel trailer. Spent 2-3 months gutting and restoring. My buddy was stopping in almost every night to give an extra hand when possible.
In the final stages of the work I plugged it into my truck to check the lights.
Of course they don't work. Test light in hand I climb under the front by the tongue to start cutting into wire. The frame was close to my chest. It was a rare night my buddy wasn't there. I remember thinking, Damn I wish Ronny was here to give that jack a couple cranks so I could have some room. I crawled out from under the trailer to crank it up. Grabbed the handle a cranked maybe 1 1/2 times and something let go inside the crank. The tongue dropped all the way to the dirt! Scared the shit out of me.

Now if my my buddy Ron was there the 4500 lb trailer would have crushed me.
I was a lucky man he didn't stop over that night.

I have climbed under many trailers over the years with just the tongue jack holding them up. Never gave it a second thought. Never again!