# Man pinned under car! Jackstand and Ramp safety Info



## cn90 (Mar 27, 2006)

Man pinned under car story:

http://www.ketv.com/news/11255397/detail.html

Recently, there has been discussion which jackstand to use, car ramps etc.

I use my lumber ramps but even so, I only get underneath from the front in the event the car rolls, it rolls away from me.

- even with jackstand, put another safety device (a tire with a piece of lumber) in the event the jackstand fails.
- car with auto trans, pull the P brake.
- car with man trans, use 1st gear and P brake.
- chock the wheels on both front and back to prevent rolling.

Rather overkill than kill yourself.

Thought I would share this with you guys....

cn


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

Under the car with only a jack. :tsk:


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## cn90 (Mar 27, 2006)

*Possible*



Nick325xiT 5spd said:


> Under the car with only a jack. :tsk:


When I do front brake, I only use one jackstand to do the brake job BUT I do not get under the car for caliper/rotor/pad work.

BUT...I always put the tire and a piece of lumber (overkill but you know...your life is more important than the jackstand).

My theory is this poor person used the jankstand but might have positioned it incorrectly (let say half off the jacking point, then with the weight of the Chevy Impala, it slid of the jacking point!!!)...so the lesson to learn is "overkill" it....Always think 'what if" the jackstand fails.....

Place extra tire/lumber underneath, chock the wheel etc.


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## FJ540 (Jan 1, 2007)

Also be wary of jack stands with small foot prints on asphalt. I was doing an oil change one summer when I was 17 and decided to skip the wood blocks we'd always put under the stands to protect the driveway because I didn't plan on the car being up very long then got to doing a full underbody inspection - well, one stand sunk, then collapsed, and my creeper possibly saved my life. I'm just glad I was looking up when the car shifted sideways and knew enough to get the hell out from under it.

Sure, I had all the wheels on it at the time, but have you ever tried breathing under 4" of ground clearance?

Any car that goes up needs some mechanical prevention from coming back down. A hydraulic jack won't cut it. One ruptured seal and you're being fitted for an outfit you don't want to wear.


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## Elvis530i (Feb 13, 2006)

Nick325xiT 5spd said:


> Under the car with only a jack. :tsk:


Darwin award candidate. :tsk:

It's _never _a good idea to trust your life to one single piece of equipment, whether it's a jack or a jackstand or anything else. I always leave my jack in place even after I lower the car onto the jackstands, so that if a stand fails, the jack is still there to hold up the car. Protection in depth is the best approach.


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## NFS (May 26, 2005)

I put cement blocks underneath the car along with jack stands. I wouldn't never go underneath the car with jack alone.


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## SaveItK (Aug 18, 2005)

Common sense is at a premium these days.


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## frhsfootball80 (Jun 28, 2006)

i havnt had the need for a jack other then changin a tire. and let me tell you these BMW jacks blow. i dont even kno how it can hold so much weight up by the way its designed. id never get underneath the car with only a jack. my dad and i use stands along with wood blocks just incase. but lately ive been using ramps to do work underneath since i havnt had the need to remove the tires.


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## glocati (Mar 13, 2006)

kbuicker said:


> Common sense is at a premium these days.


ye, indeed. common sense is certainly not common these days...


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## cn90 (Mar 27, 2006)

*I made the same mistake 16 years ago!*



Nick325xiT 5spd said:


> Under the car with only a jack. :tsk:


tried to flush trans fluid on a 1991 Volvo 240 with only a jack (what do I know as a young man!), crawled underneath to drain the fluid, my left foot accidentally kicked the jack,I could see the jack slowly rolling away, boy.... I never crawled out that fast! whewwwwww!!!!
Lucky me.

The lesson is that many people attempt to fix car DIY WITHOUT proper training (like most of us DIYers!). Getting under the car to fix thing is an entirely different business than working from above such as spark plug changes!!!

Please pray for the poor man:bawling:


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## dumale (Jul 18, 2006)

kbuicker said:


> Common sense is at a premium these days.


yeah... but not everyone has "common" sense

Both brand name and the cheap-o brands should be examined carefully.
My "Snap-##" brand sells a Chi-wanese "knock-off" aluminum jack.
After 6month of having it, the seals were giving out - no warranty on that tool!:dunno:

I just happen to check all my tools at the end of the year. The bad stuff gets dumped and the new stuff arrives in January.

Sorry to hear someone had to learn the hard way

-D


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## AzNMpower32 (Oct 23, 2005)

What equip for an oil change like the one we hope to do this week on the X3? Last time (and in the past for all our cars) we've just used a jackstand. I always instinctively use the parking brake when putting the car in P. I don't think we have specialized ramps tho......:dunno:


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