I frequently jack a car up, them place an empty rim under any wheel thats off the ground. If the car were to fall, it wouldnt go very far
I spent most of my 19'th year on this planet with the imprint of 455 Buick flywheel teeth tatooed across my chest. If I hadn't just lifted the front end of my '67 GS 400 I'd be dead. I didn't own a set of jack stands back then. I have about 5 sets now.
Dont use those cheap ass stands either, get you a pair of good solid, a little more expensive ones. The life you save may be your own. Skullz
SHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiTTTTTTTTTT........... I'm glad he's OK. Good for you......Glad you where their..........
Sound's like God was watching over him in more ways than one, sounds like your showing up when you did was less than coincidence. Glad you both are O.K. but he should still get himself checked out. I can just see him going to the Dr. in a month with strange chest pains and the Dr. asking if he'd suffered any recent trauma, "Well Doc, there was this incident with my truck..."
Wow, good job man! I am trying to remember how many people (and times) I have bitched out over the past few years about not useing stands... A wheel or tire under the car is a great safety measure that I would like to say I always do but that would be a lie. This thread is a reminder that this is more than just a "good idea". Anyone who works on cars and reads about that mail man who found those four dead guys under cars and does not think about the stuff we do under cars..... ABOUT THOSE RAMPS mentioned earlier, I have heard reports about those things colapsing... maybe ramps AND stands might be in order...
You and him are dumbasses!!!!!!!!!! Car fell on him and no trip to the ER to get checked out!!!!!!!!!???????????WTF? Hope his internal organs are allright and he makes it to the morning! Basic First Aid is a lost art.
Man, he's lucky you showed up just then. I use stands and still get nervous when tugging on shit. I try to put the tires under the frame rails between the stands as a second chance just in case the stands go south. I'd rather get stuck than killed. Punch him in the eye tomorrow for being a dumb-ass. Glad he's ok though.
i shove a couple of wheels under the car also. DON'T USE BRICKS!! they can shatter. seen too many people do this. be careful with cheap ramps, and for gods sakes don't use those plastic shits they sell at walmart. i don't care what they are rated for,they are dam plastic. i have a really strong set of ramps a friend gave me a on a permanent loan. you could park a full size truck on these things. They look like something made in the 70's,they don't make stuff that sturdy anymore.
I agree!!!!!!!! A good friend's wife was in a wreck. She appeared to be just brused up, but they brought her in anyway. Because we were active duty (USAF) they kept her overnight for observation. The next day she crashed, turns out her spleen was ruptured and she was bleeding out. Would have never known it by the way she was acting. If she would have not been at the hospital, she would have died. They did emergency surgery and she came out of it alive and well. Some of those bad internal injuries, bleed out slow and sneak up quick. Get him in to see a doc and get checked out. -Dave
alex1954chevy, Bravo... If I may lend a safety "habit" learned from 40 yrs of wrenching, block the wheels(front of tire/rear of tire) on the "non-repair" end. and unload the weight onto the jackstands... LEAVE THE JACK INPLACE in effect neutralize movement. you now have 5 contact points with settled weight .... cut/weld/ GBFH/ Porta Power/ frame puller...etc etc etc bottom line ... "edumakate" your friends, they have talents to lend keep em alive so they can do same
I once had a 40 Ford pick up with the front tires on ramps, and jack stands under the rear end. I was pulling on a rear brake drum trying to get it off when I noticed movement. The thing rolled right off the ramps skidding the jack stands along the floor. It stopped as soon as it was off the ramps and never tipped the stands over. I've never used that combo since!
I had a cousin working under a car without stands. The jack collapsed and his arm was completely shattered from the elbow down. He still has almost no use of it after 3 years.
the good ramps will have a deep recessed area for the tires. makes it nearly impossible for it to roll off.
This is the fourth thread on the HAMB this year of cars falling on people. Use jack stands people!!!!!!!
If you cant afford jacks or just plane dont have any , Use some things most of you will probably have laying around and make your own . Not hard to make them with some thick pipe and steel and a welder and drill press . An old valve works great as a pin to hold the jack at different hights . I havent personally made them before but I know a mechanic who has made them and uses old intake/exhaust valves as pins and they have managed to hold alot of weight.
My old man is an old mechanic. When I was 13 he caught me under my brothers MoPar without a jackstand - the resultant beating I copped ALWAYS reminds me to NEVER get under ANY car without chocking the front/rear wheels and securely supporting the car on QUALITY jackstands. Always leave the jack under the car as a safety precaution in case the car falls off the stands. Im happy to say that if I ever catch my kid under a car without stands, he would cop the same beating..... Rat
you can never be TO safe in my book..........you only have ONE set of eyes.......and you only have so many fingers........
I have one rule for my shop, you get under a car without a jack stand and you will never set foot in my shop again for life and I hope its a long one. Don
Man I always use jackstands and a spare tire, and I try to knock the car off them with a few damn good shoves and thumps with my ass.. if it's gonna fall it's gonna fall because I pushed it over. Even after all that I still try to stay out from under to lowest parts of the car, which would be the first parts to hit me or the floor. My wife's BF lost her kid brother working on his mustang back in the 70's. ...AND TAKE THOSE SHEET METAL, SPOT WELDED JACKS YOU BOUGHT FOR 5 BUCKS AT KMART 20 YEARS AGO TO THE DUMP!
Maybe we should set a day aside for safety tips,To make everyone aware of some of the close calls and ways to prevent them.
If I'm under a car, I ALWAYS use jackstands & heavy wooden blocks as a backup. Life is too good to throw it away being stupid.
did a similar thing a few weekends back. driving my roadster with my friend's son after picking up a wheel for his bicycle project, a lady is running into the middle of the street on a real quite neighborhood, something told me she wasnt just crazy (in Miami we get this a lot so i usually fly right on by). this lady looked scared, so i turn off the roadster and leave it in the middle of the street, run past her and find her husband under a 90's BMW 3 series. all the wheels are on, but the guy has a big gut (typical hispanic 50 - 60 year old man) and the only thing you can see are from his knees to his feet. he was way under with only the stock BMW stick jack on a 3x3 brick on the grass. Big mistake!!! took a minute to catch the cop i had seen coming down the road, called for back up cause he couldnt find his jack in his cop car. when he finally found it rather than taking action he hands me the jack! wow. luckily more cops had shown up in that moment and we decide to just lift the car, so they did and me and another cop grab a leg and pull the unconcious guy out. honestly i thought he was dead. had throw-up on his face and was just out. after a few seconds his blood started circulating and he took the smallest of breath. rescue was on its way, so i got back in my roadster with my bud's son and went on our way. far as i know we saved his life that day. be fucking safe! i always use a jack stand or 2 depending, now i also shake the car real good before i go under it to make sure i wont be nocking it off a stand by hammering or pulling on something while down there. it takes an extra minute or two, BE SAFE!
Had a similar thing happen to me this summer. I had just put the rear wheels back on my '39 and had just taken the jack stands out from under the car. The previous owner had included a late-model car 'scissor jack' with it when I got the car. I had just slid back under the car and was lowering it down a rivet in it collapsed and the car came down on me. Luckilly the wheels were set on so it didn't cursh me. I'll never use any jack again unless I know it's rated for the weight of the vehicle. Only reason I used it that time was because I didn't want to take the time to dig the big 3 ton roller out of the corner. Stupid! When I was in Vo-tec the teacher told us to always use jack stands and not just a jack because if the jack fails what is someone else going to use to the car back off you? Lesson learned. Jay
It's also important to be sure your jackstands are square on the floor and not tilted and to chock your wheels in both directions. Most floor jacks are not linear up-down but actuate on an angle, causing the car to creep forward/backward especially if the wheels of the jack are turned or otherwise prevented from rolling by debris like a pebble. I've lowered cars onto jackstands and had the jackstands tilt from angular motion of a floor jack.
If you are not on a flat, level concrete surface, use more than jackstands and wheel chocks too! throw the wheels under the low parts, move the project to a safer area or something! Oh, and if you are removing anything that weighs more than 100 pounds, consider how it will balance before and AFTER it's removed. Think about what you are doing out there guys! If you are going under a car, consider your escape route, how hard you are moving the tight bolt/part and how close emergency help is. Shove that thing around harder than you will from underneath BEFORE you get under it, in a couple different directions!
I have six pair of GOOD jackstands...and I carry one with me in the trunk just in case I have a flat out on the hiway...uneven surfaces are not kind to a jack, of any kind. Good job on saving your buddy...still don't know why people trust a "factory" bumper jack... R-
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