Be careful Working Under Cars
- Thread starter Lubener
- Start date
Jack stands can tip over. Ramps can slide or collapse. That's why I move one of these under anything when I am working on it. It doesn't slide very well and doesn't tip over, but it rolls around for easy transport. In any place where earth quakes might be possible, I would never trust any jack stands to hold up unless they had really wide bases on them. Most jack stands don't have a wide base that could handle the sway forces.
Obviously the parking brake would have been useless if the front was on ramps and the back was on jack stands like the article suggests. The victim was working on a concrete surface that must have been sloped.
Last edited:
I think having the car on ramps and just having the other tires on the ground with the parking brake would be safer than having one set on ramps and one end on jacks. Any slip in the ramps and those jacks go right over. Probably what happened.
I think jack stands would be more effective if they had at least 2+ connecting points on the top that actually secure to the vehicle to some degree. That way they could resist the force on them trying to tip them over and would be more inclined to slide than tip if the top was very secure to the car frame with two points spanned out like how the base of the stand is spread out.
I’ve backed my vehicle onto ramps and then jacked up the front to level it out to do my rear differential fluid. I applied my parking brake and chocked one of the rear wheels which was on the ramp.
Touche. I never considered backing a vehicle onto ramps, but I did think of jacking up a vehicle and sliding ramps under the rear wheels if I had two sets of ramps. BTW we all should know that the old Rhino ramps corporation went bankrupt years ago due to consumer claims about their failed ramps., which eventually were redesigned.
I wish I had the concrete pit my Dad had in his 1880's carriage house. Before working on vehicles all I had to do is make sure there were no snakes or rodents in there.
I mentioned this story a while back but my brother went to change the oil in his pickup. He got it on heavy steel ramps that he had used for a long time. He got under it and took off the drain plug and then walked into the house for a cup of coffee as it was cold outside.
When he came back out the ramps had collapsed. He built stacked wood board ramps after that incident.
When he came back out the ramps had collapsed. He built stacked wood board ramps after that incident.
I guess it works both ways
www.thedrive.com
Catalytic Converter Thief Crushed to Death After Car Rolls Off Jack
With prices of materials like palladium skyrocketing, crooks are stealing the car component left and right.
www.thedrive.com
Stuff like this terrifies me, especially when I'm doing something that I really do need to get deep under the car.
I've also had a few "reality checks" when jacking that made hyper aware. The first was jacking my MG by the rear differential(live axle, so a safe practice generally) and having the differential slip off the jack. The second was jacking my Lincoln in my parents driveway, which has a subtle but pesky slope that I had forgotten about. I shouldn't jack anything on it, but in this particular case I hadn't set the parking brake. Almost as soon as the front wheel was off the ground, it rolled backwards and killed a 2 ton compact trolley jack in the process(bent it sideways).
My practice for a while has been to raise the car, set it down on the jackstands, and then raise the jack back up so that the saddle is touching the jacking but not bearing any weight if that makes any sense. My thought on that is that if the stand should fail, hopefully the jack will catch it enough for me to remedy the situation. Of course I also do tires under the car, etc. On the MG, though, there's a limit to how much I can do as it's not very long and I need to get myself under there too.
I keep a couple of different sizes of jackstands on hand. The little 2 ton ones are handy if I'm not lifting very high, and sometimes a 3 ton at its lowest height is too tall. The 2 tons feel too rickety to me if raised more than a couple of clicks. My 3 tons use pins, which are less convenient but also feel sturdier to me.
I've also had a few "reality checks" when jacking that made hyper aware. The first was jacking my MG by the rear differential(live axle, so a safe practice generally) and having the differential slip off the jack. The second was jacking my Lincoln in my parents driveway, which has a subtle but pesky slope that I had forgotten about. I shouldn't jack anything on it, but in this particular case I hadn't set the parking brake. Almost as soon as the front wheel was off the ground, it rolled backwards and killed a 2 ton compact trolley jack in the process(bent it sideways).
My practice for a while has been to raise the car, set it down on the jackstands, and then raise the jack back up so that the saddle is touching the jacking but not bearing any weight if that makes any sense. My thought on that is that if the stand should fail, hopefully the jack will catch it enough for me to remedy the situation. Of course I also do tires under the car, etc. On the MG, though, there's a limit to how much I can do as it's not very long and I need to get myself under there too.
I keep a couple of different sizes of jackstands on hand. The little 2 ton ones are handy if I'm not lifting very high, and sometimes a 3 ton at its lowest height is too tall. The 2 tons feel too rickety to me if raised more than a couple of clicks. My 3 tons use pins, which are less convenient but also feel sturdier to me.
To my knowledge, all jack stand instructions have a statement similar to this: "Use stands to support one end of a vehicle only. Stands are not to be used to simultaneously support both ends of a vehicle"
I'm glad these threads are made to remind me again and again to be careful. Most times a lapse of judgement has no consequences.
I'm glad these threads are made to remind me again and again to be careful. Most times a lapse of judgement has no consequences.
There are several things I don't do anymore if my wife is not home. Use a chainsaw, go on the roof, etc. I'm not an invincible 20 year old buck anymore.
I feel sorry for the fellow. Can’t imagine the pain and fear from that crushing force. I’m thinking the front wheels were on the ramps, and the rear wheels ( with the parking brakes were on the jack stands. Absolutely a deadly combination if there was a slope involve. I can almost imagine rolling up on the stands, then jacking the rear wheels off the ground. Rest In Peace.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
- Messages
- 2,847
There was this machine shop video floating around Facebook. Worst thing I’ve ever seen. Guy got sucked right into a lathe and literally spun into pieces. Just body parts flying all up in the air in this factory. Worst thing I’ve ever seen.
Trying to envision this - two ramps (front wheels) and two jack stands (presumably to get the back of the car off the ground).Just seen this article. An unfortunate freak accident when a car falls onto a guy, kills him working under it even using ramps and jack stands.
Man working on vehicle becomes trapped underneath, dies in Lorain County
Authorities say the vehicle 'shifted backward off the ramps and jack stands' and fell on top of the man.www.wkyc.com
With the back of the car off the ground, the parking brake wouldn't help.
I wonder if the transmission was in N.
Very sad situation.
I'll put my jack just under one side of my car as a third point of contact to complement my jack stands. If a jack stand fails then I'll have enough time to scoot out thanks to the jack itself.
Similar threads
