Use jackstands, Dammit!!

ransom wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Ever see a jack stand bend and fail? I have. Stupid NAPA jack stands.

I'll try to remember to get pics. It was under one of the BACK corners of my Escort.

You know... the back. Where there's NO WEIGHT TO SPEAK OF.

Drewsifer wrote: I hate hate hate hearing stories like this. I know this dad is going to have an awful life after this mistake. I've always had a problem getting my cars high enough to get a jackstand under it (and to where I could get under it). I've got two jacks and jackstands from Autozone and neither goes high enough. The jackstands seem ok though. What's a good jack?

The 'big' HF aluminum jack is decent for the money. Mine's getting nearly worn out but it's led a very hard life. I'll get another one when it finally expires.

http://www.harborfreight.com/rapid-pump-2-ton-lightweight-aluminum-racing-jack-68051.html

I also have one of the 'small' 1 1/2 ton versions which is great for putting in the trailer toolbox but doesn't really have enough height for big jobs in the shop.

Okay Taiden, I understand. Predrilling helps stop splitting, along with making them a lot easier to assemble. Mine are ~ 4 years old? and there's no splitting so far. Tell you what, when they are new and the wood is still 'green' they are heavy as hell.

In reply to 92CelicaHalfTrac:

That makes me really nervous about my HF stands. I've been using them for years and they show no signs of doing anything funky, but... Eek.

I liked the look of that ESCO stand that MG Bryan hotlinked...

I'm definitely making some of those wooden stands in a few days when I'm home on break. Jackstands give me the heebie jeebies.

The first swap I ever did was done on cinderblocks. I feel so lucky to still be here.

My only caution with aluminum (and I do use it) is it tends to break instead of bend. Steel jacks and jack stands will give you lots of warning and then fail generally pretty slowly. Aluminum, particularly cast aluminum, tends to work, until it's suddenly in two pieces. That can be darn exciting.

Like I said, I use them, but it's an aspect of them I don't like. I tend to be pretty conservative with them as a result.

I have considered drilling and putting a hitch pin thru my hydraulic jack along the "scissor" to lock it in place when extended so it can be used as a jack stand.

Because I have not actually taken the jack apart to do that yet - I have used a 6x6 wood block stuffed between the rails as a +1 safety measure (combined with jack stands) to keep my squishy bits more or less safe when I was feeling a little threatened and 1 stand short.

Psssshhhtt. Use your shin.

914Driver wrote: Psssshhhtt. Use your shin.

Think about the noise that would make if the jack slipped... it would be worse to live through that one.

914Driver wrote: Psssshhhtt. Use your shin.

Is that the last pic of Fonzie's dad before "the accident"?

Taiden wrote: Those wood stands would be perfect for a subaru. I've never taken the wheels off of any of the ones I've owned and I've pulled a motor a handful of times.

Never done brake work?

Look at the pics I posted here

I use the wood bits I created to either raise the car off of the ground by the tires, or to put the car on a set of car dollies to push it around the shop. I've also used them to raise up the car on the dollies to make it mobile and easy to work on. Probably won't work for a very large car, but with the size cars that I work on (Fiero/TVR/Puma) -- they work real well.........and were cheap to make.

I also have a kwiklift for "drive-on" service. And yeah, a full-on lift would be great, but this does just fine with the limited height I have in the garage.