A Reminder to be Cautious

[qwikz28]

http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=785922&st=0

Cliff notes:

An active S2000 forum member was changing the diff on his car (those cars are notorious for that). He only had the rear on jack stands, car rolled forward and fell, lungs collapsed, he died in the hospital.

Gonna buy legit wheel chocks for the next time I work on the rear of my car. I usually use a brick or something, but sometimes I don't.

[Frosty]

:( You just don't know when it's your time. Scary stuff. This is an unfortunately reminder that we all need to be careful when working on our cars or do anything in life for that matter.

Sucks :(

[LS1Hawk]

What a terrible turn of events, and something that you hear all too often happening.

[sweetbmxrider]

thats terrible

[deadtrend1]

Its a shame.

Harbor freight sells wheel chocks, we use these style for the tractor trailers that dock at our shop. (Its required by law before a forklift is driven onto the trailer)

http://www.harborfreight.com/rubber-wheel-chock-with-eyebolt-65320.html

[NastyEllEssWon]

this is one of the reason i own multiple sets of jack stands. wheel chocks are a good idea though. 20-45 minutes under a car suffocating is a really ****ed up way to go. i feel for his family.

[Mike]

harbor freight also has an almost permanent run of coupons to get their jackstands for 14.99 a pair.....you really cant go wrong for that kind of piece of mind

[69BirdX]

you dont only just want wheel chocks but proper jack stands.

[chevyt454]

So young. Sad

[enRo]

I needed to work under the car the other day... I had so much **** under that car just to be on the safe side. All I had to do was flip the fuel line brackets. Your better off safe than sorry. My father had a car collapse on him when he was younger and sent his left and right ulna bones (one of the bones in your forearm) through his hands as well as fracturing both femur's, so I always have that etched in my brain before I get underneath a car.

Good point though. Be safe guys.

[NastyEllEssWon]

yup i bought a low profile jack last year. first time i got to use it was just gonna be a quick measure of the u joint bearing caps when i was getting the new d.s. jacked the car up and figured what the hell i dont need stands just left the jack under the car. really was a bad choice in hindsight. i was under it measuring and the jack had a bad valve and started letting out slowly while i was under it. scared the crap out of me....even though i got out from underneath with plenty of room...just the thought of the valve giving way all at once and i was toast.


never again.

[edpontiac91]

There is a saying that goes "THERE IS NEVER ENOUGH TIME TO DO IT RIGHT, BUT ALWAYS ENOUGH TIME TO DO IT OVER"!

[nj85z28]

yup i bought a low profile jack last year. first time i got to use it was just gonna be a quick measure of the u joint bearing caps when i was getting the new d.s. jacked the car up and figured what the hell i dont need stands just left the jack under the car. really was a bad choice in hindsight. i was under it measuring and the jack had a bad valve and started letting out slowly while i was under it. scared the crap out of me....even though i got out from underneath with plenty of room...just the thought of the valve giving way all at once and i was toast.


never again.

was it the crapsman 4 ton low profile?

same thing happened to me.

[NastyEllEssWon]

nah but i know of the jacks you speak of.



edit: i think it was called ''blackjack lowprofile'' or some crap

[T69SS]

Thats a shame...

[BonzoHansen]

Here is another one:

...last Friday night I was cutting on a car with my plasma cutter and had a small (this is an understatement per my wife) fire ball and explosion that rocked houses 1/8th mile away. The ensuing fire ball has allowed me to replace a window, put new siding on the house and completely remodel the garage due to smoke damage, not to mention $12k ( not a total estimate yet) of repairs to the inside of the house to clean smoke damage and repaint every room. However my camaro was unscathed except for residue from the fire extinguishers. The car had been sitting 20+ years with open fuel line, no drive train or gas cap. I have been cutting, welding and grinding for the last 11 years with the car sitting in the garage. Luckily the blast blew out the back of the tank as I was in front of it. With help from concerned neighbors and too many fire extinguishers to count, not including mine which by the way had lost it's charge, we were able to pretty much put the fire out before the 7 fire trucks arrived....I was not injured except for minor smoke inhalation and singed hair...Moral of the story is make sure your fire extinguisher is fully charged and no matter how long a gas tank sits, it still may contain explosive fumes.
Your takeaways:
*Fire extinguishers should be all over the garage. And charged.
*Fuel vapors explode.
*Don't assume.


I really wish I had a detached garage.

[SteveR]

yup i bought a low profile jack last year. first time i got to use it was just gonna be a quick measure of the u joint bearing caps when i was getting the new d.s. jacked the car up and figured what the hell i dont need stands just left the jack under the car. really was a bad choice in hindsight. i was under it measuring and the jack had a bad valve and started letting out slowly while i was under it. scared the crap out of me....even though i got out from underneath with plenty of room...just the thought of the valve giving way all at once and i was toast.


never again.

About four or five years ago I had to do some work under my old '72 F-100. I jacked up the rear and crawled under. As I was crawling out from underneath the truck on my hands and knees the pressure in the jack let go and the back of the truck came down instantly and the back bumper hit me in the back of the head. At least that's what the neighbor told me when I woke up. The bumper came down so quick and with so much force that it bounced my face off the driveway and knocked me out cold and left me with a nice bloody mess.

[Featherburner]

I guess it's all what you're used to. I was taught to never go under a car with out jackstands and doing the shake test. Now that I have a lift, I go through the same process. Lift the car, put in tall supports and check for stability. It really doesn't take that long compared to the rest of your life.

[BonzoHansen]

Shake test is a must. I even did them on lifts, mostly because I didn't want to be the guy that dropped a customer's car..

[NJ346]

THis is exactly the kind of thread I want to be reading while I'm in the middle of doing a rear on an f-body....

I have a wheel chock in the front and 2 jackstands almost as far up as they can go on the back frame so that if the car every did roll, i would have a second or two before it completely fell of the stands.

[MyFirstZ]

yeah sometimes on those jacks the seals blow out, i get nervous working with a car just on jack stands, you never know

[BonzoHansen]

yeah sometimes on those jacks the seals blow out, i get nervous working with a car just on jack stands, you never know

Never get under a car with just a jack. Not even swinging you legs under while doing brakes or something.

I've never had an issue with a properly placed strong jack stand. You gotta watch hot pavement, pavement at an angle (like a sloped driveway) and never dirt/gravel. Shake test is deadly important. I grab the bumpers on my Z and shake like its an earthquake.

Attached Harbor Freight coupon from flyer I got in the today's mail.

[NastyEllEssWon]

what store was that flyer for? i have a few sets, but for 11 bucks i can always use another set :nod:

[Tru2Chevy]

Attached Harbor Freight coupon from flyer I got in the today's mail.

what store was that flyer for? i have a few sets, but for 11 bucks i can always use another set :nod:

RIF!

- Justin

[NastyEllEssWon]

Last edited by BonzoHansen; Today at 07:36 PM. Reason: doh! forgot the store name



yes it is ;)

[Tru2Chevy]

yes it is ;)

Meh....the coupon says Harbor Freight on it too :p

- Justin

[jims69camaro]

you dont only just want wheel chocks but proper jack stands.

too true. no more cinder blocks or whatever you're using. get jack stands for your vehicle's weight and chocks. they have a new type of solid plastic wheel chock/stand that works as a system with wheel ramps... damn, where'd i put that link... ?

while this is not the product i saw, this link can get you started. of course there are more cost-effective ways to go, but how much should it cost to keep the car off of your chest?

http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=race%20ramps&dds=1

[NastyEllEssWon]

too true. no more cinder blocks or whatever you're using. get jack stands for your vehicle's weight and chocks. they have a new type of solid plastic wheel chock/stand that works as a system with wheel ramps... damn, where'd i put that link... ?



your talking about the one that you drive up on the ramps, then the two backside of the ramps kinda unclick from them and can be used a wheel chock but also giving you more room around the wheel/ramp area right???

[jims69camaro]

your talking about the one that you drive up on the ramps, then the two backside of the ramps kinda unclick from them and can be used a wheel chock but also giving you more room around the wheel/ramp area right???

right.