Lost a dear friend..totally avoidable accident.

Amen on not trusting hydraulic jacks. Mine failed (USA made, 4,000# cap.) while lifting the front of my car in order to place jack stands under it ... fortunately the only casualty was the oil pan ... and my underwear.

 

sorry to hear about your friend. thank you for posting this, its hard sometimes to not skip a step, you have to keep safety a priority and now everyone who reads this will get a quick reminder, i guarantee this thread will prevent at least a few accidents.

 

Sorry to hear it but thanks for the post. I remember reading a post here awhile ago about a lot of these accidents and it always reminds me to take the time and be careful.

 

sorry to hear about that! i also lost a freind the same way was crushed under his corvair a few years back. i think about him every time i have to get ubder a car. RIP

 

I am sorry to hear about your loss. It's a strong reminder to not cut corners.


I was changing out a transmission in my old chrysler years ago and it fell on me. I had it on jacksstands front and rear but what i didn't realize is that i put one under the car with the release handle facing the inside. I was wrestling around with the tranmsission and kicked that handle hard and just right. It spit the one jack out and down it went. The only thing that saved my life was the fact that the tranny was off to the side enough to hold the car up a little. I was trapped under it for 3 hours with broken ribs and a cut up face. I am thankful to be alive everyday. I have kept that busted up torqueflight ever since as a reminder.

 

I always use jackstands, and even though my kids are very young, I always tell them that I use them... and I don't let them anywhere near the vehicles, either. My little floor jack has a pin that goes underneath that stops it in the event of a hydraulic failure. I usually get the car on jack stands and put the jack on the pin and leave it under the car, just incase.

I also tell my girlfriend to come quick if she hears a loud noise when I'm working in the garage. I dropped a rear axle down two days ago and she came running to the door. I thanked her and told her even though it was nothing, it might not have been...

 

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

How many times do we work out in the garage late at night after everyone has gone to bed? If that car falls and you are trapped, chances are no one will find you until the next morning.

I've got good jack stands and strong ramps but I've also got some extra pieces of wood. A few layers stacked and nailed together will make strong safety blocks to put under the frame of a car.

I think I just figured out my next garage project to make. Hmmm let's see, when laying down my body is about this thick...

 

No more than an hour ago I was moving the wagon to the middle of the garage with a 2 1/2 ton floor jack under the rear axle pumpkin and as I was pulling the jack the cylinder lost pressure and dropped.

Thinking I must have turned the handle as I was pulling I promptly twisted the handle and started pumping to no avail.

I always use heavy duty jack stands when working under any car and have heard of this sort of thing my whole life but never have I experienced first hand just how quick something like this can happen,,very unexpected and no harm in my case.

It is sad your friend lost his life in what must have been a horrific accident but posting this here may make others wake up and think about their own safety before crawling under a car.

Condolences to you and your friends family. HRP

 

use only jack stands with three legs welded to a bottom base plate. dick

 

When my son first got into cars and was buying tools, I bought him a set (4) of 6 ton jack stands.