I had a jackstand bend and cause the truck to roll off it while I was under it. Didn't get hurt just scared the you know what out of me. It was a cheap one so I'll blame it on that.
We lost an acquaintance, close friend of my sister-in-law a few weeks back. He was crushed under a car in the garage where he worked. The shop owner had left on an errand and he was working alone...
Two more things to remember. Jack stands don't work on dirt and don't work well on asphalt as they sink into the dirt and if it is hot the asphalt gets soft and they sink into it.
It's a wonder some of are alive today. I remember going to see my girlfriend one Saturday morning and when I pulled in her driveway I notice her younger brother sitting on the right rear tire that he had just removed preparing to do a brake job on his fairlane. He is in the yard and there is no sign of a wheel chock and whats more the car is teeatering on a bumper jack and leaning,he had his head under the car looking as he was trying to loosed the brake drum. I hollered at him and he turned around and looked up at me,almost as quick as he did the bumper jack sank further in the soft yard and the car fell barely missing his leg. This was a prime example of not thinking about safety,I went and bought him a couple of jack stands and a small roll around floor jack,,his dad had some paving stones and I helped him get the car back up as safely as possible working in the yard. This was over 40 years ago and I was at his house a few weeks ago and lo and behold his Model A roadster pickup was up in the air with the same two jack stands I gave him years ago. HRP
Shop I worked in had a couple sets made out of old 40's Ford axle tubes. Very sturdy, but I'd cry if I saw somebody cut a set up now.
That's neat, HRP. I don't have much in the way of tools or anything from my late father...my dumb youngest brother sold it all right after dad died ...but I do have the jackstands he bought me for Christmas about 30 years ago.
I was a reporter for 17 years, and one afternoon went out on a call where a mobile home had fallen on a guy because the cinder blocks he was using crumbled. Took them two hours to lift up the mobile home and him out. Cinder blocks were rubble.
as a back up to jack stand , which i have had slip, i use a couple of railroad ties cut to about 3 ft long and i stack them double high so when the jack stand fails or slips the ties catch the car and keep me getting crushed
Changing a clutch with only two bumper jacks while the car is parked on a hill in the street.We felt safe with two bumper jacks instead of one
I always give the car a shake when I put it up on jack stands. Then if I have the tires off, they go under the car too.
Redundancy is a good thing when your supporting a vehicle to work under. I like to toss a wheel, wood block etc..under the frame in addition to the stands and Jack.
I've also always shake the car on axle stands before pulling the wheels. The old saying "Safety is no accident" is very true!
while working on semis we had to do alot of roadsides with soft ground or soft asphalt , we made 18" square pads 2" thick from plywood with ropes to drag them with they are glues and screwed together with rounded corners they are lighter and cheaper than plate steel . great for spreading the weight out so the truck don't sink . and the jack stands we welded 2" square pads on the bottoms to help from cutting into the wood . I have a set at home that are 16" square for working in the dirt on my brothers 4x4
I'm not fond of cheap jack stands.... I made some wheel stands which allow me to raise the wheel 12" off the floor and provides additional work space under the car!!
My old man reinforced the idea at his Texaco station on a winter Saturday night in 74'. I'm finishing the engine/tranny transplant in my 62' Impala and installing the new Hurst Comp Plus and hooking up the driveshaft. After a Friday 3rd shift and playing with the car all day, I fall asleep UNDER the car. It's got a floor jack under the pumpkin,stands under the rear axle, and NO chocks on the front wheels. I KNOW better than this.........the Ol' Man has drilled it into my head many times! Dad finishes wrenching for the day and as he starts to lock up and head home for supper, notices I'm snoring and my half assed setup. Usually, I'd have gotten a shout with a swift kick in the arse. Not this time...... He chocks the front, blocks the frame on both sides, and lets the pumpkin down. I've slid in from the back and sacked out with my hands under my head and the left axle tube above my chest. I wake up cold, hungry, and having to piss like the proverbial racehorse all the while feeling like a beaver in a connibear trap! Dad shows up at midnight to find........I couldn't hold it.
I have a big asphalt driveway. I use a piece of 3/4" marine plywood under each jack stand. I've been using the same pieces since 1982 or so. I was with a buddy in 1976, he was changing the clutch in his car on a hot as hell day on an asphalt driveway. The car was up on jackstands and the rear wheels chocked... the stands sunk into the driveway before we realized it and the car fell on him. Lucky I was right there and he was a big guy. He had a cut on his arm that severed an artery, which was pinched flat with the indentation of a bolt thread. A trip to the local ER and they picked right up on it. Bob
Oh those tubular ones... I asked my soon to be ex-wife for a pair of jackstands for Xmas one year. I even said where to buy them. What do I get? ONE tubular one. I should have bought them myself, she was a serial cheapskate... Never used it and it went into the steel scrap pile one day, cut in 1/2 with a torch so nobody could use ever use it. Bob
I have drummed it into both my boy's heads about always using jack stands and I am happy to tell you that none of us goes anywhere near a car unless it has at least two jacks stands under it whenever it is even a inch off the ground. You do not get a second chance at this if you screw this up the first time. Jimbo
I walked into a friends shop. Looked and the car had wheels on the floor. His head was crushed. Looked like the jack failed as he was going under to set the jack stands, One was under the car with him and the other was on the other side beside the car. To this date I am very careful when setting the jack stands.. Years ago when racing in fla I saw the plywood and steel plates on the pads. Its a great idea and I use it when on sand or dirt. One last thing on some of the chineese made jack stands the welds need to be checked. I have re welded several....................................................... My other safety thing is safety glasses.. I have them every where. Its odd but in a lot of Jungle Pams photos she wears safety glasses when working on the car. I look at other thing on her also..
I always use jack stands when working on my 1956 buick station wagon. They are 30 years old but that when steel was good .I also like to throw a tire on the rim under the car just in case .I usally am working alone so better safe than sorry. Bruce.
My first experience with working under a car was back in 1969 when I tried to change the springs to the front suspension in my '54 Chevy. The carport was off limits so I decided to change the springs in the lower yard. We didn't know about hydraulic jacks so we used a bumper jack. Things went well until I tried to reset the new springs. In an attempt to pull the A-arm back into alignment, the bumper jack (which was on grass) slipped out and I am looking at a oil pan heading my way. I turned to my side and closed my eyes. All of sudden the car stopped falling. So I wiggled out from underneath very shaken from the event. As it turns out, either my friend who was helping or possibly me set a jack stand under the frame. It caught the car and saved my life. My friend was partially under the front fender cutout trying to assist in moving that A-arm. The fender's edge came within 1/4 inch of breaking his neck. To this day, we have never forgotten that incident. And when my dad got home and saw how the car was positioned, I heard an ear full. Needless to say the car was put in the carport on concrete to change out the other side. And I, like others have stated, always jiggle the car once on jack stands. And I do not stay under there any longer than needed. Too many bad memories from back in '69.
The Jalopy Journal
