safety first

[Kdancy]

My wife just told me that an employee that works for the Fla DOC, was working on his car last week end and had it up on jack stands. The stands collapsed and he was killed.
Please work safely !!!!

[Chucks Stude]

On the subject of safety, all of you with Hawks, please check the bolts that hold the hood closing mechanism to the lower cowl assembly. After 40 or 50 years, the spring clips on the back of the bolts tend to desintegrate. I had one bolt really holding that together. And, yes, that hood can come loose, go over the top of the car and smack you on the head[B)][xx(]. Ask me how I know.

[studegary]

The husbamd of the lady that fills eye glass prescriptions at my eye doc had his vehicle on ramps. He removed the driveshaft and the vehicle rolled off the ramps and killed him.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[JBOYLE]

More tales of blood...

From the early 70s, I remember a local news story. A guy got some new ramps for Christmas. Later that afternoon he thought he'd try them out...you can guess the rest.

More vividly, when I was a kid my dad was on the Air Force IG team in Japan.
One Saturday he got a call to go to the base motor pool where an accident had occurred. Since we were about to go out on an errand he took me along. We walked into the motor pool and there was a fairly large pool of blood. It seems a ramp had collasped pinning a Japanese civilian mechanic under a car. I don't recall the extent of his injuries, but I've never forgotten the blood.[:0]
More importantly, I've never forgotten that lesson.

63 Avanti R1 2788
1914 Stutz Bearcat
(George Barris replica)

Washington State

[4961Studebaker]

Truely saddens one to hear of an accident like this.

Sure wish there was more information to pass along to fellow car enthusiasts about the type of jacks that were being used.
Not rated for the amount of weight needed? Was a jack inadvertently hit with a leg while trying to loosen a bolt? (I've done that a couple times.)
Just thoughts that run in my mind after an accident.

ChopStu

[Roscomacaw]

Second old car I ever had was a '56 Coupe de Ville. I sold it to a guy I worked with and not too long after he bought it, his wife happened to go into the garage where he was pinned beneath the Caddie! Busted up his chest pretty bad, but he did survive.[B)]


1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1963 Cruiser
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door

[sals54]

My question would be... did the jacks actually fail, or did they slip out from where they were placed?

sals54

[DEEPNHOCK]

A jack is used to raise and lower a vehicle....only.
It was never designed to use as a support to work under the vehicle.
Decent jackstands are a must ALL the time, and jack stands AND ramps should always be used in conjunction with wheel chocks.
BTW... A 2x4 does not a wheel chock make....
HTIH
Jeff[8D]

quote:Originally posted by 4961Studebaker

Truely saddens one to hear of an accident like this.
Sure wish there was more information to pass along to fellow car enthusiasts about the type of jacks that were being used.
Not rated for the amount of weight needed? Was a jack inadvertently hit with a leg while trying to loosen a bolt? (I've done that a couple times.)
Just thoughts that run in my mind after an accident.

http://community.webshots.com/user/deepnhock

[JeffDeWitt]

I always have at least a pair of jack stands solidly planted AND either the floor jack, a tire or more likely both before getting underneath.

Nice thing about my Champ and Jeep is most of the time if I need to work under the vehicle they are high enough up I can just slide under, no jacking required.

Jeff DeWitt

http://carolinastudes.net

[4961Studebaker]

quote:Originally posted by DEEPNHOCK

A jack is used to raise and lower a vehicle....only.
It was never designed to use as a support to work under the vehicle.
Decent jackstands are a must ALL the time, and jack stands AND ramps should always be used in conjunction with wheel chocks.
BTW... A 2x4 does not a wheel chock make....
HTIH
Jeff[8D]

You were supposed to figure out what I meant not what I typed I re read my post yesterday, and forgot to make a change.
I should have typed JACKSTAND. Kdancy clearly said jackstand in her post, STILL, hitting a jackstand while loosening a tough nut, becomes a scary moment. Forgive me [?]

ChopStu


I currently use a style like this, which is really what's out on the market now.


But grew up working under cars with this type that had a pin set the height, and flat area that a car/truck would sit on, call me paranoid, I just never felt comfortable with that pin holding things up, then again, not that a NOTCH in a bar seems much better.

[Johnnywiffer]

[gordr]

If jackstands are placed on yielding ground, they can topple over. I put plywood or similar material under mine if they aren't on concrete.

Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta Badlands

[52hawk]

Why not a kitchen chair? [img][/img]

Oglesby,Il.
" He's not happy unless there's some piece of $#%& in the driveway to work on"

[warrlaw1]

I was about five when my dad's helper told me to spit out my bubble gum. I followed him to my mom's Austin A40. They rolled it on it's side, like the UGO in the picture, and patched the gas tank with my gum. We did a lot of dumb things and never knew any better. I'm sure I've chewed on lead paint and suffered oxygen deprivation for smelling gasoline. What doesn't kill you can still maim you. Sorry to hear the tragedies continue.

[Tom Bredehoft]

When I was young an dumb, I wanted to remove the rear axle from one '36 Ford and use it on another. It was sitting in the grass without any wheels or tires on it. I put two bumper jacks under the rear bumper, jacked it up enough that I could crawl under it and put a breaker bar on the first of four nuts holding the transverse spring to the frame. I gave a mighty pull and both bumper jacks pivoted to the side and I was supporting the car with my shoulder. Fortunately my buddy was handy enough and repositioned the jacks while I crawled out. No major damage, but it was two years before I could take a deep breath without pain in my sternum. Since then I've always blocked a car with cement blocks....no, I mean jack stands.

[img=left]http://www.alink.com/personal/tbredehoft/Avatar1.jpg[/img=left]
Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe (since 1959)
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
....On the road, again....
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars