Lost a dear friend..totally avoidable accident.

That's a good reminder too: WHEEL CHOCKS
Jackstands still won't save you if the car rolls/tips off them.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend,

R.I.P

and God Speed to him...

Prayers to the Family.

 

First off I'm real sorry for the loss of your friend.
Perhaps our stories will save someones life.

This is my story. We'll title this "JACK STANDS"
For some unknown reason that morning, I put 6 jack stands underneath a long boat trailer instead of the usual 2 or 4. My son Greg removed all the tires and wheels. He started doing some brake repairs while sitting on the ground with his legs under the boat trailer. We had a huge earthquake happen, the trailer moved violently back and forth on the jack stands. For a big guy, Greg moves real fast when the adrenline kicks in. Oh man that was exciting. The trailer stayed on the JACK STANDS.
My point is think safety first. You never know when something strange might happen.

 

Man that really sucks! As you stated in your title "totally avoidable accident"
Nonetheless, it can serve as a safety reminder to us all.
I'm sorry about your pal...RIP

 

Sad to hear about this,

 

Thoughts and prayers to the family. That is tough!

 

i wont even crawl under a car with air-ride if the wheels are on the ground-hydraulics either. damn shame. sorry for your loss.

 

Very sorry to hear about your friend. Not to diminish his loss buy WHY, WHY, WHY in this day and age do people still do that?!

I even use jack stands when changing wheels if more than one wheel will be off the ground and I ALWAYS chock the wheels regardless. When I was a kid I blocked one up on concrete blocks and the blocks cracked while I was under it. I heard them "pop" and saw dust coming off them so I grabbed a handful of back bumper and pulled as hard and fast as I could. I had everything out but my legs from the knees down when they let go. I was lucky as the wheels were still on it so all I got was some bruises. My very next paycheck went for a GOOD pair of stands which I still have and use religiously 35 years later.

 

I hate seeing these threads. Makes me a bit paranoid, which isn't a bad thing.

 

He was a local guy, I didn't know him, but I hear he was an absolutely awesome person.

 

X 2: I always put something extra under them, not just jack stands, because I nearly lost my dad two years ago when the car rolled back a little even though it was in park, and the stands fell over. He was pinned under the car, but luckily there was people there to help get the car off. A real I opener. Very sorry for the loss.

 

Prayers for his family and friends. May God ease all of the pain they feel now.

 

I wish there could be one place to access all the HAMB threads on this subject. I'm not full of shit. Being poor, we hoisted cars routinely on whatever surface we were forced to work with, and at times under awful weather conditions. Yes, I've had cars fall a couple of times, BUT the safeguards worked (though I can't say I laughed off my dad's advice!). I'll leave out all the times I knowingly risked my OWN life.

Once, all I had to do was put my spare on to get to work the next day. Simple, right? A little neighbor boy came over to see what the "big" man was doing. I had been in a hurry and had loosened the lugs. I went to jack the car up a notch or two so I could lift the tire off, and the boy went around and stood between the car and our other car. Right! The jack started keeling over, and he'd have been mashed between the two cars, if I hadn't seen what was happening and jerked him out of the way. He was surprised at the rough way I treated him and never came over again. I sat down on the wet ground and thanked God. And, I don't ever treat any "simple" operation as just "routine" any more.

If we can save a few lives by getting guys to take extra precautions (OR even wait 'til the next day some times), threads like this will be more than worth the time guys spend telling what they know, instead of having to speak condolence.

But, again, so very sorry to hear of a good man gone too soon. Like all HAMBers, I pray for his loved ones.

 

always sorry when this happens, I get choked up, so I'll add a couple more horror stories.

1. 5th grade I had to go home at lunch time, I heard a loud noise and saw this 47 lincoln contintal had fallen on the owner. he was still kicking. I went and knocked on the door no one home. went next and got a neighbor. I couldn't stand to look again and went on home. found out later he had died.

with that memory in my head. 30 years later I was working on my 65 T-bird. both front wheels off doing the brakes. sitting on a bumper jack. decided to just look for a exhaust leak while it was up. while under the car the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I rolled out real fast. Nothing had moved and I heard no sounds. I was still on the ground. I couldn't figure what had spooked me. then came the noise as the whole car crashed to the ground. I layed there stunned. I was by myself in the shop would have been two days before someone found me. I left went and bought my first two sets of jack stands. I now own 8 sets.

I've lost two friends since. not everyone gets a second chance like I did. don't fuck with fate. simple to avoid. don't use you head for a jack stand

 

I hear about this kind of accedent way too often, jack stands are easy to install.

 

Sorry about your loss but what kind of low life would not only rate this thread but give it a low rating ? Some weird people on the Hamb lately.
You guys are right, Jack Stands save lives. I know too many people that crawl under cars with just a hydraulic jack holding up a 4000 Lb car. Not good.

 

he sounded like a great guy. sometimes people get to comfortable when they've done certain things over and over...never get comfortable. it sounds cliche, but always expect the unexpected. sorry again for losing a fellow el paso-in.

 

First;sincere condolences on the loss of your friend.

I've had a car('68 Chevelle-they're effin' heavy)come down on my chest when I was 16. Same situation;cinder blocks instead of stands,and on dirt. Used up at last two of my nine lives(I'm a cat owner;I can relate) on that one. Lesson learned!

Sabrina the Sport Fury spent last winter on eight jackstands while I replaced the front and rear suspension and rear axle. Held my breath and plannned my escape every moment I was under there. I think she likes me;accomplished what I set out to do with no incidents. Must have had a hot-rod angel watching over me;there was some serious wrenchin' going on.

 

I almost got crushed between two pick-ups when I asked my wife to pull the hood latch and she pulled the brake release by mistake.

Why manufacturers put both releases in the same area, down low, in the dark, where you can't read them is beyond me.

They also have a tendancy these days to make the brake pedal and gas pedal close together and nearly the same height. It's easy for my big foot to step on the brake and hear the motor rev up because my foot is hitting the gas at the same time.

 

I feel terrible whenever I read this kind of stuff.

I spend hours and hours under my cars, dropping pans, changing rods and pistons, etc. I use 2 sets of stands AND leave the jack in place if I can work around it. I also kick a spare tire, rim, whatever I can find under there. I lock the garage door so no one hits the remote and drives in next to me either. And I make sure someone knows where I am.

Being under there is like riding a motorcycle towards a motorist who has his left turn signal on. I never trust them.

 

When I am in a cage getting ready to turn left, I always keep my wheels cut straight ahead as body language telling on-coming bikers and others that I'm not going to jump in front of you. I don't think things like that are taught in Driver Education.

You would think insurance companies would want to pay for TV ads with driving tips that would help cut their loses and save lives. But I guess with government mandating insurance they really have no real loss. They just raise the rates and we have no choice but to pay it.

 

I lost a friend that way when I was a teenager. He was in his late 20's and knew better. He died trying to change the exhaust on his '68 Cougar. His young daughter found him. Very sad. He was a great guy.

My sympathies to you on the loss of your friend.

 

First my prayers go out to his family and you, we really don't know how much time we have to spend with those who are most important to us.

This would not be hard to do, just some effort. Set it up like scooters hemi tech threhave

On to another thought, I own several hydraulic floor jacks, I don't trust any of them. I have one designed for motorcycles and it has an extremely simple, highly effective and over built ratcheting safety lock on it. If for any reason the hydraulics should fail it will not come down.

When I was in high school I had a Sears floor Jack fail while lifting before stands could be placed. Both of the side rails bent horizontally and then the lifting arm folded over. Left me with a lump of scrap metal going in three directions that used to be a Jack. For my senior shop project I built a floor Jack. My shop teacher told me it was too ambitious and didn't want me to do it until I "show and tell" ed him the story.

After it was finished, demonstrated, evaluated, and graded the shop teacher said amazing project, but the safety devices were redundant. No sense having locks on a Jack since Jack stands would also be necessary. Jack was too heavy to be put up on a shelf.
Separate Jack stands was a better idea. The amout of time a Jack is actually working as designed is minuscule compared to how long the job takes to do. Still would not protect in a slippage or tip. Got a "B" but lots of respect for skills and a great job offer from it.

Moral to the story is even if the device is designed to protect the user in every way imaginable, it still can't protect the user from the user its self. GOTTA HAVE SUPPORT

 

Terrible and Yes it happens WAY too often. My bud Randall died under his 64 Tbird. Rear wheels on flimsy ramps and a bumper jack up front. Yes he knew better. peace

 

I'm sorry for your loss. It happens far too often and I've heard of people getting killed even using jack stands.

 

Sorry to hear about your friend. Maybe it'll save somebody else.

 

a slippin bottle jack under a 60 chevy almost did me in back in 70
Never been under a car since that didnt have stands

 

sorry to hear about your friend, its a stupid mistake i make all the time, after reading this im making shure i always use them stands under my car!

 

Sorry to hear about ur buddy, when I bought my car a dear friend of mine told me two rules for being under a car.#1 always use jack stands #2 always have a buddy by ur side when ur under a car. Again, sorry to hear about ur buddy.

Sam

 

I think that keeping your wheels straight until you're actually moving/turning is so you don't get pushed into oncoming traffic if you're rear-ended.