Sobering Story

Terrible accident. Tbh its my worst fear when working under my cars so I always use my ramps whenever possible and chock the wheels to be sure , if I need to remove a wheel I use a trolley jack and axle axle stand in the correct positions and still chock the wheels. I can only assume he was using a side jack or mayble his trolley jack moved. SO many things can go wrong all precautions must be taken.
 
:(

its my worst fear when working under my cars
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me too.

I always give the car a huge shove after jacking it up and supporting it, before going underneath. I also put tyres under the sills or wherever, so at least I would have a bit of space to play with... As I often do this by myself, 20 mins getting it safe is worth it in my book.

Currently got the midget about 2 feet in the air at the front as it's the only way I can get the exhaust in, 4 axle stands 2 jacks and tyres under the front wheels + chocks..

Chap was killed when his frogeye fell off a 4 post lift onto him just the other month :(
 
That is tragic :(

"their first attempt failed as the jack bent, causing the car to fall back on top" :shock:

I'm always very wary about lying under the car and spend as little time as I need to under there. Axle stands, blocks of wood, wheels, ramps etc all get used to make sure if the car does fall it hits something else before it hits me!

Dave
 
Having had my trolley jack collapse whilst I was under my car I feel for this chap and to have his helpfull would be rescuers give him a second dose really makes me squirm. Why they didnt just lift the car off him, its amazing how high and how much weight you can lift with that sort of adrenaline rush, I once lifted a complete ford V6 3 litre zodiac engine from the floor to my workshop bench when a flood came thru, darned of I know how I did it in my panic with rising waters.
Graeme
 
Interestingly, I can lie underneath my P6 when it is not jacked up, and I'm not exactly skinny.

I may sound callous, but I find such stories quite suitable for the Darwin Award.
I have yet to crawl underneath a jacked up car, that isn't firmly supported with jack stands.
If I take the wheels off, I lay them underneath the crossmembers, so if the car falls off the
stands (unlikely to happen in the first place), it lands on the wheels. I may still get hurt,
but not killed.
 
That is a horrible story. Even though I take the precautions listed above I am still always a bit nervous about working under cars. In no way making in any judgements about this incident. However, in general with these kinds of "DIY accidents", I suspect that sometimes they often happen through lack of experience/training, people doing things in hurry, lack of proper equipment/facilities or maybe just continuing to take risks because they have got away with it before? It always makes me think twice about making sure cars are properly supported when I hear about these accidents.
 
ghce said:
its amazing how high and how much weight you can lift with that sort of adrenaline rush, I once lifted a complete ford V6 3 litre zodiac engine from the floor to my workshop bench when a flood came thru, darned of I know how I did it in my panic with rising waters.
Graeme
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You need to change your forum username to Incredible Hulk :D .
 
Remember that Gravity is always spying on you, just looking for a chance to kick you right where it hurts, patiently waiting for just the right moment to show you who's really in control....
 
Even using axle stands and bits of railway sleeper, I also leave a trolly jack in place just off tension, so if any thing did go nipples skyward the vehicle can be raised. If a car did collapse on someone, could a jack be got under the vehicle in the available space?
 
Junkman said:
Interestingly, I can lie underneath my P6 when it is not jacked up, and I'm not exactly skinny.
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:shock: :shock: that's a double whammy!!??
Your not skinny yet you can lie under your p6?

I'm lucky if can get my arm under there and I'm not fat:LOL:
Just extreamly larged boned :LOL:
 
This is a good post, it reminds us all to work safely. I recently jacked the car up from the crossmember , just wanted a quick look at rear brake pads for wear, literally slide under 20 seconds and back out. Was just about to slide under and phone rang in my pocket I answered it and as I was talking the jack toppled over. I did and have learnt a lesson but could have been so much worse. Really feel for this guy and his family. Never take the chance.
 
v8guy said:
Junkman said:
Interestingly, I can lie underneath my P6 when it is not jacked up, and I'm not exactly skinny.
Click to expand...

:shock: :shock: that's a double whammy!!??
Your not skinny yet you can lie under your p6?

I'm lucky if can get my arm under there and I'm not fat:LOL:
Just extreamly larged boned :LOL:
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Yeah, I can crawl underneath mine when it is standing firmly on its wheels. Don't want to know what'll happen when a tyre blows while I'm down there, though.

It says in the manual that the proper way to jack it up is to insert steel bars into the jack holes in the sills, then support them with jack stands.
We did just that during the body restoration and it sat like this very safely for months on a concrete floor. We also packed stacks of wheels underneath whenever we worked at the undercarriage.
 
No matter how safe it is supported , i always have a feeling of fear under a car , claustrophobia , but i'm not claustrophobic ! Just can imagine the terror you would feel trapped under it in pain :cry:
Last summer we were doing a rear wheel bearing on Dads calibra , ( that old donkey again :D ) needed a few more inches ( no rude comments ) to get a full swing on the ratchet so we jacked it up a little more to raise the axle stands and it made a brake for the front gate down the drive . Came off the jack sideways , and tried to pin me against the garage door . I was gone like a shot cut my hand pretty bad scrabbling away . It stopped on the wheel placed under the sill , my ticker stopped racing about 15 mins later ! I think allot of these things happen when your thinking about the job in hand .
Don't take the chance :wink:
 
Automotive jack stands are inexpensive and easy to obtain. I ALWAYS use two, plus the jack I originally lifted the car with as support, first taking all the weight off the jack to test the support, then jacking it back up so that the weight still rests upon the jack stands, but almost on the jack itself. Suspension,such as control arms, or differentials or rear axle housings or suspension mounting points are the best areas to use as they are heavily reinforced. A good rule is to always take two minutes to make sure your vehicle is solidly supported, so remember to "take two".....I know it's corny, but it's better than being flat or losing an arm or leg!
 
Some people may know I have a Citroen C5 . You can get under it with the suspension on "high" but things can happen , especially if you touch the height control linkage and it can drop straight down on you
 
I can remember hearing stories years ago about people pumping up the suspension on Citroen DS's to work underneath with the car then collapsing on top of them. Don't know if it's true or just an urban myth? I suppose you certainly wouldn't want to jack the car up on hydropneuminatic suspension in order to carry out work on the suspension system :shock: - that would qualify for a Darwin Award.
 
Yes, certainly wouldn't trust any means of lifting that doesn't have a physical locking mechanism.

I've only ever had one car fall off a jack, and it did it in rather stately way, just slowly rolling the jack over and landing on the sill. Luckily I was not working under it, but to be fair I was just doing the brake pads so had no intention of going under it. This was using one of the smaller hobby type trolley jacks.

One problem people don't take into consideration is the ground that they put their jack / stands etc on, I have a gravel drive and am well aware of the danger of the jack or axle stands sinking in or moving, I use large 2 inch thick boards under the stands to spread the load and they've always worked well. I have also seen axle stands sink into tarmac, which is something I never expected, and could easily catch somebody out.

I'm certainly in the stands + jack + wheels under the car camp if I'm doing anything more than an oil change.
 
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