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Topic: Working under cars. (Read 1240 times) |
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Spannerdemon
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Had a guy come to me at work the other day with a query about his Renault Megane. Wants to fit a tow bar.
I told him that he was welcome to use my jack and axle stands. He said "Oh, just the jack will be OK". I've now persuaded him otherwise!!!
I too USED to think that all this talk about not going under cars on jacks was a bit over the top, until the day that a trolley jack failed on me due to a hydraulic seal problem, and I almost got crushed between the nearside underside of my car, and the kerb!!
A Granada 2.4i......so VERY heavy!
Only just scrambled out in time. It was EXTREMELY close. I don't think there is much question that I could easily have been crushed to death.
REALLY.......VERY frightening. 
You might be thinking of working on your Scorp during this nice weather.
Food for thought!! Please don't make the mistake I did!!  There is always the chance that nobody will notice that it's happened to you......until it's too late! 
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Kjetil S
Senior Member
2001 BMW 520iat
Posts: 1419
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #1 on: Jul 18th, 2006, 9:14pm » |
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Take a peek underneath the car and notice all those sharp edges, then imagine those falling down with several hundred kilos on top of them.
This is the reason why I invested in a proper 2 1/4 ton trolley jack and two 3 ton axle stands.
Proper safety gear is not an expense, but a good investment.
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mr._floppy
Junior Member
Posts: 100
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #2 on: Jul 18th, 2006, 9:24pm » |
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No excuse as the Scorpio has numerous jacking points front and rear .
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David_South_West
Full Member
24V............ .Goodness
Posts: 188
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #3 on: Jul 18th, 2006, 9:37pm » |
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Good adviceand ....don't forget with the weight and size of the Scorpio make sure ground is level .....even a slight camber at side of road is enough to make even axle stands dangerous
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #4 on: Jul 19th, 2006, 1:40am » |
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I wish I was strong enough to just roll the car over onto an old matress 
Then everything would look as simple as it does from the top 
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Daven
Senior Member
I'm a cheeky Boy! (Simmos fan club)
Posts: 1117
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #5 on: Jul 19th, 2006, 7:32am » |
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Agreed with all the above - but still wonder why the scissor jack Ford supply is so feeble! Only used it once when I picked up a 6 inch frame screw in a nearly new tyre  Car was on a camber and the jack started to tip inwards as I got to the top - luckly managed to borrow a trolley jack to finish off!
Also had a car drop an inch from my foot when the jack failed - had taken the wheel off so the disk would have cut my toes off - ironic as I was just about to put the axle stand under it! 
Dave
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Dave
Senior Member
Tourmallard 24v (ex-owner)
Posts: 1984
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #6 on: Jul 19th, 2006, 9:17am » |
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Good advice Spannerdemon.
T'other day I needed a gander at the water pump on the Cossie, it was blisteringly hot and "I only want a quick look" so I just jacked it up, no axle stands. Luckily nothing went wrong but my head would have been worse for wear to put it extremely lightly.
This from someone who NEVER goes under a car without using axle stands, just wasn't thinking straight with the heat
Take care guys 
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Life after the Scorpio ain't easy..
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DJWerkz
Guest
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Excellent advice indeed. Back in the early 90's I had a Vauxhall Senator and I wanted to check the rear diff. Decided to do it at work so drove the car round the back of the warehouse and jacked the car up using the standard issue jack that came with the vehicle.
I was simply making a quick check when there was a loud 'crack' and the jack mount broke away from the car and the car came crashing down on top of me!
I was laying on my side completely under the vehicle and was totally pinned underneath. The only thing I could move was my feet and I could feel my chest getting heavier all the time with breathing becoming very difficult.
Fortunately there was a worker at a neighbouring warehouse driving by on his forklift truck so I frantically shouted 'help'.
He reacted so quickly even though he was worried because he thought I was going into convulsion only seeing my feet moving frantically.
He managed to get his forks from the truck under the car and lift it enough to drag me out.
I suffered a few abrasions but came out of it very lucky. Mind you at the time I was quite fit and I am a big bloke so having the muscular body mass was a help everyone thought.
As you can imagine, I was the brunt of quite a few jokes after that.
I knew better at the time but because I was just making a simple check I thought I would be OK. Moral of the story is to never cut corners when it comes to personal safety.
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Dave
Senior Member
Tourmallard 24v (ex-owner)
Posts: 1984
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #8 on: Jul 19th, 2006, 9:42am » |
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Nasty
Cool car though, 24v?
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Life after the Scorpio ain't easy..
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DJWerkz
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No it was not the later wide grill 24v model but a very interesting late build of the previous generation, 3.0 CDi.
My brother in law worked for GM for years and when we went to look at the Senator he said to me on the quiet that the car was fitted with later equipment that was only available on the new wide mouth model.
He determined that GM used the body of the older model to run new generation equipment such as ABS etc.
As such it was deemed a very rare car and the guy selling it didn;t even know. I got it for a steal and sold it on several years later for top money (well part traded it for a Trans Am GTA).
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crop
Junior Member
I'm a YaBB newbie!
Posts: 55
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #10 on: Sep 25th, 2006, 1:37pm » |
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If not working on the wheels,suspension etc surely ramps would be a quicker safer option,I am not too keen on axle stands even, I dream of having a pit or one of those lifts that the garage uses, anyone know where i can get one for a tenner!.
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TiberiuS
Senior Member
Ex. 1996 2.3 Ultima - RIP P789 KHJ
Posts: 2257
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #11 on: Sep 25th, 2006, 6:21pm » |
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I still have a 3 ton trolley jack from when I had the Jag, got a good pair of 3 ton axle stands too, use them on the Scorp.
Another good idea you don't see often are the wheel dollies you can slip under the wheels of the car, you can then move it around in any direction on castors, very handy. Got a set of dollies on the Capri (tyres are perished), very good for moving it around sideways etc and lifts is safely a few inches.
Regards, Bruce.
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Bruce - '07 Jaguar XKR coupe, '95 Jaguar XJ Sport 4.0, '82 Ford Capri 2.0 Ghia, '15 Honda Civic (sloooooww..)
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Spannerdemon
Guest
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on Sep 25th, 2006, 1:37pm, crop wrote:| If not working on the wheels,suspension etc surely ramps would be a quicker safer option,I am not too keen on axle stands even, |
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Ramps are very useful indeed. but they too have their perils.
NEVER go under a car that is just sitting on ramps.
Always leave the car in 1st gear, and secure the Handbrake when the car is on ramps, and always put chocks under the back of the tyres at the end of the car you are not working on. That way, it can't roll off.
Cars CAN and DO roll off ramps if you don't take simple precautions as above.
A favourite is to have the front on ramps and then to pull yourself forwards to come out from under the car using the anti-roll bar or similar when you have completed your repair.......with horrible results!
As you pull back, so the car rolls off. Think about it.
Axle Stands and a good hydraulic jack to insert them firmly are the best investment you will ever buy.
What's more, you'll do your repairs as safely as possible.
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Kjetil S
Senior Member
2001 BMW 520iat
Posts: 1419
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #13 on: Sep 25th, 2006, 8:16pm » |
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or let the car rest on a couple of euro pallets on each side.
If I'm just going under for a quick fix (is there really such a thing?) then I use axle stands, but if it is going to stay in the air for a while, then I put it on euro pallets.
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cossie_al
Full Member
Ex 24v
Posts: 902
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #14 on: Sep 25th, 2006, 11:11pm » |
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I lost a mate due to a failing jack.
and the jack was from the garage he worked at and regularily use to lift 7.5 tonne wagons. he borrowed it from work for the weakend so he could repair the exhaust on his v'hall senator.
the point is,no matter how good the jack or what its capable of it can still fail and kill you.
its realy very sinmple do not get under a car that is supported on oil and rubber. that is all a trolly jack uses.
use axle stands every time,no matter if all you want to do is take a quick look.
My mate just wanted a look before he started work and it killed him his axle stands were within reach of his crushed position under the car.
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Spannerdemon
Guest
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That's really scary.
Backs up everything that's been written here.
Working under cars is D A N G E R O U S !!!
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julie_quaife
Full Member
'97 2.3 16v ultima estate blue azura
Posts: 134
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Re: Working under cars.
« Reply #16 on: Sep 27th, 2006, 8:10pm » |
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sorry to hear about your friend's tragic accident cossie-al. having worked in the motor and motorcycle trade for some years before having the kids, have heard of many similar accidents, no matter how careful you are even taking out the 'human error' factor any lifting device can fail. i remember working at a main jag dealership in wimbledon village on one exceptionally busy time with too many jags and daimlers in for service or repair and workshop space being short but facilitating the need for every car to be kept locked in the workshop overnight the idea was to lift the hydraulic lift used for the mot's with a car on it and then park another one underneath it, this was done and all was locked up for the night, on unlocking workshop doors in the morning we were met with the sight of one collapsed ramp due to complete hydraulic failure and three crashed vehicles. all hell broke loose and i had to be the one to break the bad news to the owners. after this was done our tester asked for a hug and when i asked him what was the matter he stated that he could have been under that lift doing an inspection and it could have happened then!! needless to say he got his hug!! don't take risks with your safety!!
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