He was lucky, compared to my neighbor who died under his Mustang ....

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/the-terrifyi...-wre-1787762565

Yep and always put the tire you took off under the car till at least you get the jackstands under it!

It's super easy and takes 1 sec to do.

There's a reason scissor jacks are only for emergency tire changes. Never crawl under a car supported only by a scissor jack.

I've had car shift and fall off of one of those little jacks once when changing a tire. To this day even with floor jacks, jack stands, and placing removed wheels under the car, I hate crawling underneath cars.

Giving the car a shake after it's up on jackstands is also an idea. Always leave the a rage jack under as well. When I was working under my 12,000 lb. RV, I used multiple jack stands, ramps, any anything else I could think of before crawling underneath.

What a nightmare. Good news his eye will be OK. Mostly.

Look up the thread from Gint one April a number of years ago. His ratchet-style jack stands unlatched while he was under his 914. They had to rebuild his face.

Pin-style jack stands are the way to go!

--DD

Great, I just bought two ratchet-style jackstands. I'll have to read the thread to see how it happened, hope the problem is something that can be prevented with that style of jack, otherwise, gotta get rid of them.

Brad, just be sure nothing accidentally hits the ratchet stand when you're under there (arm, leg, wrench, part being removed, etc)

No ratchets for me anymore unless its sitting on the lowest notch so it can't move.
I raised it and shook it and it fell a notch and that was it. Won't take any chance now...

I use jack stand whenever I go under the car. I also slide the removed wheel under the car as a backup. Even if I'm not under the car.

If two wheels are still on the ground, don't forget to chock a wheel to prevent rolling.

These are still on sale ....
http://www.coastaltoolsupply.com/product/ESC-10498.html

I've built arms to bolt on to my rotisserie for lifting on the sides - I lift it up then pin it so it won't drop further. About the closest I'm gonna get to a full on lift...
I agree with the jackstands with tires under the suspension for quick repairs though - never give a stand a chance to fail because the chance is too great.

That thread made me buy AC JackStands

Amen brother........ I have used the jaws of life and air bags to retrieve more then my share of dead people from under a car or semi truck.

Always put the tire under the car.

...........and for the super cautious folks here's my "double" deal:

Click to view attachment

That'll be a good Halloween costume!!!!




(I love the Esco jack stands I just bought)

Never be too comfortable lifting up a 914. I use 10 x 10 blocks under the wheels and always have redundant stands. Or else, I don't get under there.

Even when I have my 914 on the lift, it has a pole jack under it. I don't expect the pole jack to hold the car, just to give me enough time to get the hell out from under it.

The good newer ratchet jack stands have a safety pin in them. It keeps them from falling even if the ratchet is released.

If the wheels do not need to come off I use these. Solid wood.

Good reminder. I have no qualms about crawling under a car, but I chock the wheels and slide some solid non-adjusting object under the car first. Slow down, think it through, don't cut corners- live to drive another day.

I get under the car all the time without jack stands...not dead yet















Oh...did I mention I use a 2-post lift.

Some have drilled holes in their ratchet style jackstands to insert safety pins. The best thing of course is to toss them out (in the re-cycle bin of course) and buy some good quality stands.

I always keep the wheels and tires under the car as a back up.

Another good tip:

"Set" the stands by tapping them with a mallet to make sure everything has settled.
This makes sure the stand has settled flat and that nothing is holding on by that last tiny bit of friction.

I bought a orange HF deadblow hammer specifically for this purpose.

I've referenced that terrible accident many times. Every time I see a wobbly jack stand setup. If no one is under the car I shove it a bit. It always teeters more than you'd think. At the very least keep a floor jack tensioned under the car or have something under there as a secondary catch to keep the car from killing you. But then again think about that statement . Just buy good jack stands.

Seems like a great price nearly 50%, or more, off other outfits. That is a relatively huge discrepancy, any chance they are knockoffs?

Bloomberg - The Dangerous Game Behind Fake Ball Bearings http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/201...e-ball-bearings

Just ordered two, I'll use my ratchet ones as backups and these new ones as primaries, thanks for the link.

I do this all the time, It not only gets the tire out of your way but it will save your ass if the jack or jack stand fails.

Don't be a dumbass and jack up the front of a fwd car without setting the parking brake? Put the scissor jack at the designed scissor jack point? Ask an elder the right way to do something?

I only trust jack stands on a flat concrete surface. I rarely work on a flat surface so I use oversize blocks of wood. Even then I only use a jack stand if it can be put in a place that 'locks' it in. So I pretty much just ever use blocks of wood these days

And...when you're ready to lower the car back to the ground (happy day), double-check to make sure all stands and supports have been cleared, or you can create another dangerous situation where the car is supported unevenly. Which can damage the car...or you.

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

If you can find them, I use these with a harborfreight lift...Click to view attachment


They are car-o-liner wheel stands. Used in body shops with car-o-liner frame machine. Kinda old school, so body shops that have them sell them cheap. Buying these things new is crazy $$$$. Please ignore the messy garage... lol

I use the drive up ramps when a wheel doesn't have to come off. When one does then my floor Jack and Jack stands with locking pins, the I give the car a good shake - chocolate of course.

I ordered 4 of them, others on the forum have also received theirs. If they are knockoffs, which I doubt to be the case, they are darn good ones. They look just like my older Escos but have an extra pin hole which gives you more adjustment flexibility.

FYI, CTS is out of stock on them right now, they're on backorder.

If ratchet style jacks fail, it's not the jackstands fault. If they are actually latched they get locked harder the more weight that is on them.

The problem is our cars are not that heavy, (So it is possible to unload a jackstand if you are careless), people work on floors that are not level, (So one or more stands are not loaded and latched), and they don't make sure they are seated and latched when set up.

Working on a flat concrete floor, and setting the stands properly, they are safe.

Just like any tool, use it wrong and you can get hurt and/or killed!

Pretty sure many inexpensive ratchet style stands have a cast seat/center post. I could see a substandard casting could snap/crack unexpectedly under stress.

These look pretty neat, especially if you want to get a jack in close to the jack stand.

Torin T43004 Aluminum Jack Stands

http://www.niftyinterior.com/157_page_1464417.htm

these look pretty neat, especially if you'd like to get a jack in close to the jack stands..
Torin T43004 3 Ton Aluminum Jack Stands



http://www.niftyinterior.com/157_page_1464417.htm

More than that, our cars are VERY STIFF. If you put one of our cars up on 4 jackstands, it is almost guaranteed that one of them is carrying no weight and can move around. if you kick it or disturb it (and it is the ratcheting kind) it could retract leaving the car teetering on just TWO.

Another safety tip: Never use a Floorjack on a surface where it cannot roll freely.
This is especially important if one end of the car is already on jackstands.
This is the #1 cause of cars falling off of jackstands: floorjack gets caught on a rock (or ziptie) and cannot roll, then by the nature of their geometry, they pull the car off the first two jackstands.

This almost got me years ago when I was young. Luckily the car didn't fall off the stands (but they teetered pretty far) because the jack fell quick enough that it hit wheels and rolled just enough in the right direction. I also wasn't under the car, but I felt lucky that nothing got damaged (I didn't even think about safety as an indestructible teenager).

I try to be careful, but I know I could still do so much more, especially considering that my grandfather was a bus mechanic who was killed when a bus fell on him in 1957, many years before I was born.

I'm overly cautious. Better safe than sorry. Ever since I saw Gint's accident several years ago...I've been super cautious.

When I finally put mine on the ground after being on jack-stands for 3 years, I had to move it off of 9 jack stands. I had them in all 4 corners, both longs, front and rear center, and under the engine bracket.

Again...better safe than sorry.

I was at an ALMS / IMSA event wandering around the paddock a number of years ago and noticed that the factory GM teams (corvette and Cadillac) both had a stack of short 4x4 or maybe 6x6 blocks with grab handles on them.

Whenever a car went to the paddock for work between races, they put the car on stands, and then randomly tossed a few of these around underneath the car just in case

I pressure GM health and safety people had a say in that

I was in 5th grade when one of my buddies father, a surgeon was working on his Fiat 124, he had it on concrete blocks and it fell on him and killed him.
His three children were fatherless, it was horrible.

Vysoc

Concrete blocks are about the worse.

1) They don't take point loads or shock very well
2) Most people stack them the weak way (On their flat sides)
3) When they shatter it is sudden

The pin lock jack stands that are on sale at Coastal Tools are the real deal. I have ordered 4 of them, and they all got delivered quickly. They are tall, stable, and very well built - and about 1/2 the price from other vendors.

Zach