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A word about jackstands

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by foolthrottle, Jun 16, 2011.

  1. foolthrottle
    Joined: Oct 14, 2005
    Posts: 1,402

    foolthrottle
    Member

    Incompetent, stupid, careless, but lazy? maybe. When I run low on jackstands, I get the chainsaw and go get a few more. Here in Colorado they also make good firewood.
     
  2. Exactly. Therre are never enough and if there were you wouldn't have enough room for the rest of your tools.

    On a side note one pair of my jackstands are ratcheting and the other are the old fashioned tube and pin type. The ratchet jackstands have a saftey chain that I tie around the ratchet handle.

    My granduaghter works on the cars with me as a reward for doing well in school and because she needs to knw when she grows up even if she isn't going to me a mechanic. Anyway sharp kid that she is she asked what the chain was for. So I put the car up on the stands and then went over and kicked the ratchet handle, the car came back down.

    I found that one out the hard way, I bumped one one time and down it came, the car had wheels and tires on it so all I got was bruised and I was able to slide out but still it is good to know.
     
  3. Jim
    I am glad that we haven't met on your terms. :D

    The firt sime I was wallered by a car I lay under it for 3 or 4 hours until the wife and my mom came home from shopping and got some help to get me out. All I got out of the deal was a beuised shoulder because I had a whole my dog dug to roll into when the car started comming down.

    Second time could have been really bad, the brake hit on the side of my chest and skirted me out. My left arm ended up bent and holding the car up. I have a pretty good scar on my forearm and it chiped my elbo. I still dig a shard out on occaision and that happened in '87.

    I have been lucky if you look at it in the right light, in '99 I had a friend that was changing shocks in his driveway, near as I can guess he was pulling too hard on something and it managed to knock his car off the stands. It drove a screw driver though his forehead and out the back of his head.

    I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt at something that I have suggested for sure. The bottom line is do whatever it is that you have to in order to keep your vehicle from wallering you.
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2011
  4. phukinartie
    Joined: Oct 8, 2008
    Posts: 965

    phukinartie
    Member

    Dont get me wrong I have 4x6 and 12x12 blocks in my shop But jeez is trying to save 50 bucks really worth your life??? I have done alot of backyard repair but never came close to losing a car off jacks....I think I have too much to live for....others not so much
     
  5. I Drag
    Joined: Apr 11, 2007
    Posts: 883

    I Drag
    Member

    PnB your screwdriver story reminded me of something related to this...

    ...a guy in my area didn't want to pay my friend's shop to replace a rear u-joint. He put the car on ramps in his garage. Pulled the rear of the driveshaft, and the car rolled off the ramps and the pumpkin crushed his skull, killing him. We still talk about that at the garage. I never liked ramps.
     
  6. badsix
    Joined: Sep 26, 2010
    Posts: 131

    badsix
    Member
    from oregon

    a young man was killed here about a year ago useing cinerblocks their a death trap
     
  7. About 10 yrs. ago I need to change the rear end in my 74 Power wagon.
    My jack stands were about 9" to short, so I built a set out of 18" disc blades and the support jack for the floor of a house ( the one in the basement).
    I have been using them ever since.

    Lee
     
  8. Just depends on how you use them read the entire thread. If you are not comfortable with them and don't know how to use them you shouldn't use them period.
     
  9. mwhistle
    Joined: Feb 19, 2007
    Posts: 314

    mwhistle
    Member
    from sacramento

    I have 5 and use them all the time. Don't feel comfortable without them. Also, even when hot rod is up on jack stands, I still slip a couple wood blocks underneath each wheel just in case something happens, so the car can only fall a few inches before it hits the blocks of wood.
     
  10. hotdamn
    Joined: Aug 25, 2006
    Posts: 2,383

    hotdamn
    Member

    I know a ding dong that had a AD truck held up with jack stands under the rear end while he was taking off the leafspings, he couldnt quite figure out why the nut was so tight on the ubolt until he turned that last thread and dropped the ass end of his truck on himself...

    I call this natural selection...

    and yes he lived, only to do more dumb shit...
     
  11. I went to a buddy's funeral after he trusted a pair of homemade wooden ramps. He died from suffocation with the car on his chest.
    I don't trust concrete, bricks, rocks or wood to keep me alive and I damn sure don't trust stamped sheetmetal so-called "stands"..My stands are the best steel because [like the haircare commercials say] I deserve it.
    That said...I found placing even the finest stands in the wrong spot is just as dangerous. Was working on my 51 vicky one hot afternoon in my garage with a polished [slippery] concrete floor. I had jacked the front of the car up as far as my floor jack would go and put a pair of stands just behind the front frame kick-up...well, ok, the stands may have been placed a little far forward and may have just been on the edge of the kickup.
    I was lying full length under the car with my feet down under the third member...front wheels and tires off the car and placed under the rockers.
    My arms got tired and I put them over my head and closed my eyes for a minute. I was almost asleep when I heard a giant noise and felt wind on my face. Opened my eyes to see the oil pan was 1/2 inch from my nose!
    The stands had slid forward, up the frame rails and the car had come plummetting straight down. Luckily the stands stopped moving when they got to the next flat spot...
    Took about 1/2 hour to get my ass off the creeper so I could slide out from under that car.
    I went in the house for the rest of the day.
     
  12. V4F
    Joined: Aug 8, 2008
    Posts: 4,382

    V4F
    Member
    from middle ca.

    the best part of a car falling on you is , the pain will stop ....................
     
  13. Smokin Joe
    Joined: Mar 19, 2002
    Posts: 3,770

    Smokin Joe
    Member

    1 other rule around me that hasn't been mentioned is I always limit who's around when jacking things up or placing supports. It's amazing how kids can dissapear when you're not staring directly at them and move things around or pop out from under the car you're setting up. Anything they see you do they'll try to imitate. Once my brother jacked up a car, turned to grab a stand to put under it and his grandkid in front of the car figured out he could turn that jack handle just as my brother was sticking the stand under the car behind the front wheel. Luckily it just wasted a fender when the car slammed down and nobody got hurt. Well, except for the welts on the kid's ass...

    There are times when you may not want your little buddy right there...
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2011
  14. Gruizer54
    Joined: Apr 23, 2001
    Posts: 84

    Gruizer54
    Member

    Good point Smokin Joe. My four year old knows how to use a floor jack and it's just a matter of time before my 2 year old learns without me knowing. I like the coment about nobody getting hurt except for the welts on the kid's ass. I feel like i'm the last guy on earth that still spanks his children. That's the only down side to living in California...all the "time-out" parents that look at me crazy when I'm trying to teach my kids a lesson.

    Are the craftsman floorjacks that you buy at Sears made in U.S.A? or China? Cause that's what I have.
     
  15. sedanbob
    Joined: Apr 19, 2011
    Posts: 110

    sedanbob
    Member

    Slightly off topic, but related. Check the wheels/rollers on your floor jack from time to time. Normally, when I jack up the car, the jack moves on the floor, as the arm comes up. Recently, I was jacking up the car, and instead of the jack moving, the perch on the end of the arm was sliding (almost off) the cross member! Luckily, I noticed it in time, and let the jack back down. Turned out the roller on the front of my jack wasn't turning, so the jack wouldn't roll. Having a car come off a raised jack can ruin your whole day, or in my case, a radiator, grill shell, and a few other things as the jack pushed up through them.
     
  16. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    Pork'n'Beaner (the original) said:
    I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt at something that I have suggested for sure. The bottom line is do whatever it is that you have to in order to keep your vehicle from wallering you.

    Jimi: Right on, Beaner.:cool: 3,000 or 4,000 pounds is just a number until it's on your chest or head. Guys may have individual preferences on how to block up their car, but the important thing is chock those wheels and use a backup, or even two.;)

    Safety may sound boring:(, but thankfully some guys don't want to see fellow HAMBers hurt just trying to enjoy this hobby (obsession).:D

    No sooner this this thread on "jackstands" wind down than a spirited exchange took place on come alongs as engine hoists. Anybody who found THIS thread thought-provoking, might find that one worth a look, too. If so, just search: come-along as engine hoist?
     
  17. bigalturk1
    Joined: Sep 23, 2010
    Posts: 367

    bigalturk1
    Member

    Thinking back about Jackstands....
    I was replacing the L/rear leaf spring on my 52' Chevy (First car) using a bumper jack and a sizzer jack...in the sand. I couldn't finish the job because it was getting dark and I had school the next day (I was 15). Anyway, The next afternoon I deceided to finish up. I walked out to the yard to find my bumper jack and my sizzer jack laying sideways in the dirt....guess I was lucky!
     
  18. Pops1532
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 544

    Pops1532
    Member
    from Illinois

    I have 12 or 14 jack stands of various sizes and capacities. I wouldn't think of getting under a car without them AND a back up. I always use at least one of the following in addition to the jack stands....floor jack, wheels, 8X8 wood....well you get the idea.
    I always give the car a good shake to make sure the stands are stabil before I crawl under. What got me thinking about extra support in case a car came off the stands was when an old racing buddy told about when he and his first wife had a heated argument about how much time and money he was spending on his race car. He went out to the shop and was working under his car.Awhile later he heard the door quietly open and close. Asked who was there. No reply. Then he saw his wife tip toeing over to the car. Luckily he saw the car moving in time to roll out the other side. Needless to say he didn't stay married long after that!
    I don't think I've ever pissed off anyone enough that they'd push a car on me, but I always use redundant supports in case someone accidentally knocks a car off the stands.
     
  19. jimi'shemi291
    Joined: Jan 21, 2009
    Posts: 9,499

    jimi'shemi291
    Member

    Pops, great back story! Sad and funny at the same time. But, it's real life! And it illustrates the point about using all available resources to be sure the vehicles STAYS up in the air! THANKS!
     

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