I heard this story on the radio yesterday, and they reported that the car fell off its jackstands. No such mention in this article.

http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaysto...amp;format=html

Quality jackstands will save your life.
But nothing is ever assured.

Zach

damn that sucks... because I can totally put myself in that position. i always chock the wheels, but nothing is assured. i still use the ratchet jackstands and i'm always fearful of the things. i have floor jacks on the donuts as well, but i'm just paranoid about getting garroted by the engine mount bar or some such. scary. i need some pin-thru jacks. any sources guys?

I got my pinned jackstands at Autozone. Each one is rated at 2 tons. It is overkill. I don't care.

Zach

When I pull my wheels off, I slide them under the pan.
they are then out of the way and doubling as a safety stop.

Modify your ratcheting jack stands. Just get a couple 1/4" bolts from home depot - drill hole in the narrow side of the shaft at your favorite height setting. Insert bolt and - instant piece of mind. Visuals not available - I have a two post lift. But I did this in the past. Brers method is also effective. Safety first...

According to the article the car rolled forward as the tires were not blocked. Good example as to why it is good to always get all tires off the ground. It would matter what you do to your jackstands if they fall over from the car rolling forward.

Proper Car jack Procedure?

Please note that the mechanic is not using ratcheting jacks!


Click to view attachment

I don't think I've ever read of a jack stand failure. Seems most accidents are from poor or dangerous practices such as not blocking tires, questionable placement, and so on.

the 914, the jack pad donut is not conducive to mating well with most jackstands, so I made up something that ensures the car will not slip off. Donut fits nicely inside the tube. I feel much safer with this arrangement; heck the car's been on stands longer than I care to admit

Andys

You need to look up the thread on here about Gint's experience with ratcheting jack stands. Then you'll have heard of a failure...

--DD

Ive done some really dumb things when I was a bit younger.
but now I go a little overboard when the car is in the air. can never be too safe.

but this is why my garage will be getting a lift of some-sort soon.
for safety and the fact Im getting too old to keep crawling on the damn concrete.

The article says that it fell off of the jack, not jackstands.

i remember that... as a young wrench working at a general repair shop i was under an r.v., the pavement sunk under the stand it came down fast. luckily it had enough clearance and i only had to view the sewer storage tank up close and personal before it rebounded and i shot out from under it.

Okay, is it just me, or is the weight balance way too far back on a 914 to mount on the donuts? I've tried it before and it seemed unstable as hell! I usually set the car down on the trailing arm pivots in the rear, and the A-arms in the front. That seems to be the most stable setup, but I also put a couple stands under the mount bar as a backup.
Mark D.

I was just looking at pin set jack stands on Eastwood.com! They are pricey, but so is reconstructive surgery!

(not that I have much to reconstruct, like Messix does, right Troy)

that's because the donuts are *NOT* supposed to be used to jack up the car or hold it up with a jackstand !!!
Andy

I would have to agree that based upon the the structure they are attached to, they were not meant as jack points. Especially the front. I am guessing that they helped locate the body on a jig as it was welded up or for some other purpose.

Richard

The donuts work just fine for me.

--DD

the rear donuts are close to the frame rail, but the fronts have no support what-so-ever. they're on an unsupported part of your floorpan!

don't use the donuts ...
Andy

PS: here's a picture of what they were used for, to suspend the chassis on the assembly line ...

We had a bodyman localy killed when one side of his lift suddenly dropped with him under it. There was an auction at the shop for his equipment and the lift area was roped off and NOT up for bids ( obviously )Still under investigation as to WHY it failed.