Jack safety...a reminder

coloradoporsche · 07-24-2006, 09:18 AM

Well I just about won the Darwin award this weekend. I've jacked this car up hundreds of times without incident until now. I considered adding this to the "admit to your stupidity" thread, but figured this one was good enough to stand on its own.

The only thing I can think that I did wrong was I left off the e-brake. There is a slight incline on my garage floor and the car must have shifted when I went to raise the right side.

I heard a slight "thunk" as I started to raise the right side and I stupidly ignored it. I should have stopped and looked. The next noise was much louder....

Anyway, nobody got hurt (unless you count my ego) and the car is OK with the exception of a little body damage. I guess winning the concourse is out the window now!

I hope my admission of stupidity will save others from suffering a similar fate. I used to be meticulously cautious about jacking, but got a bit cavalier after doing it so many times. Just a reminder.

ianc · 07-24-2006, 09:22 AM

Sorry to see it, and I hope it can be fixed easily!

ianc

Grady Clay · 07-24-2006, 10:16 AM

WOW, glad you are OK. The car gained some serious momentum to punch through the metal like that. We should expand this thread to really cover jacking safety.

Are you signed up for Aspen? I don’t see anything that would preclude that. If your SC doesn’t go, do you want to ride with me?

Best,
Grady

dtw · 07-24-2006, 10:22 AM

Oh *****!!! Glad you didn't have your neck under the car when it went! I dropped my 911 right into my lap one time, but it was stripped at the time, so all I suffered was some indignity and a twisted front pan which I was installing. Shoved the car off of me, dusted off my jeans and hammered the pan back out and all was well, but I've been a lot more careful since then.

This will be a good one to show up at the paintless dent removal shop with. "Uh, yeah, I've got a challenge for you..."

slotcar · 07-24-2006, 10:26 AM

Here..here..Grady. Jacks can go at anytime...and loads can shift as well...I'm so nervous about using the see-saw method for jacking a car up using the jack-pad method (though I do all the time). Anymore, I always back the second car out of the garage and I make sure I can get the heck out of the way in case something should slip...Someone needs to invent a new mouse-trap and develop a device that jacks a car up uniformly and evenly without having to use the engine as jack-point, or having to go back and forth (alternating jack pads)....its time has come...

acapella8 · acapella8's Garage

Similiar but not so much, still related to jack stupidity.

Back in January, I was shopping at Costco, found a nice jack for $79 bucks - aluminum, nice rollers, low weight, great height etc. I'm set!

Anyway - I didn't get a set of instructions.

I jacked the car up for the FIRST time, no problems. Did my first change, can't remember it was a tire swap or something.

But on my first try to let the car down -- it wouldn't. I kept looking for some type of release which I was accustomed to on my other jacks.

I couldn't find a release knob or valve. I was STUCK -- and the car would not lower.

I spent about 3 hours (typical male response) trying to figure it out, even called Costco, but to no help from their reps.

At last (and this is at 5pm on a Sunday) I remembered I had an AAA membership that had not been used at all. So I called them and told them it was a no-start issue, which was partly true. (partly)

Less than an hour later, the AAA dispatched a local tow out and the driver took less than 3 minutes.

He turned the handle in the counter-clockwise position and the jack lowered itself. I WAS FLOORED! (and so was my SC)

I had not even thought of that as an option.

Just wanted to share some of my stupidity.

Tom

911mot · 911mot's Garage

Not nice.
I've seen that kind of thing before with a tolley jack.
It happens when the wheels of the jack are not on a smooth surface and or are restricted from turning. Then, as you jack, you pull the car towards you, rather than the jack roll under. (if the jack cant move the arm will travel in an arc). Be careful out there guys

Eric-325I · 07-24-2006, 10:44 AM

Thanks for posting. Tough to see but a great lesson for those of us who may not have seen this before.

Sorry for your trouble but good of you to share.

Eric

coloradoporsche · 07-24-2006, 10:47 AM

Hi Grady,

I'm definitely in for Aspen. A little flesh wound won't keep the SC from running. I need all the seat time I can get before the club race in September.

I was lucky that the car did not slip on the right side and take out my oil lines. And upon retrospect, I'm glad the jack handle caught the body on the outside. If it hadn't, I might have been looking at engine damage as well. The headers were about ½” off of the floor when it stopped.

Thanks everyone for sharing your similar stories. I feel just slightly less stupid now.

cubby911T · cubby911T's Garage

We can all appreciate you swallowing your pride in exchange for sharing a valuable safey reminder with the rest of us....thanks and glad you're okay!!

Jim Sims · 07-24-2006, 11:25 AM

Glad you weren't injured. May I suggest that purpose designed metal or heavy duty plastic or rubber wheel chocks be used instead of depending on the parking brake (which doesn't help at all for the front wheels). I also recommend my "nervous ritual" of continually interrupting (halting) the jacking or lowering processes and circling the car to note that all contact points are behaving correctly as the operation proceeds.

cgarr · cgarr's Garage

You try to do it safe and ***** still happens, then you got this guy! He does have a wheel chock!!

Ron.G · 07-24-2006, 11:37 AM

I have a pair of those crappy stands but don't use them.
They tip very easy because the base is to small for the height you need under the torsions.

I'd save those for the lawn tractor or give them to someone you don't like much.
Glad you did not get hurt.

safe · safe's Garage

Wow, I can see him in my mind slipping with the wrench knocking away that 2x4....

cgarr · cgarr's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by safe
Wow, I can see him in my mind slipping with the wrench knocking away that 2x4....

Thats what I was thinking but then he does have a safety 2x4

safe · safe's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by coloradoporsche
The only thing I can think that I did wrong was I left off the e-brake. There is a slight incline on my garage floor and the car must have shifted when I went to raise the right side.

I can't imagine what the e-brake could have helped. You must have pulled the car of the jack stands like 911mot said.

Doug Steinel · Doug Steinel's Garage

Am I the only one who, once the car is up on jack stands, push and shove the car to see if it falls before I climb under? Sometime when I am under the car working, I am putting some forces to it. Better to have it fall before I crawl under.

Doug

don911 · don911's Garage

wow. Glad you're ok. I had a bad jack experience when I replaced my motor. I was being lazy and down jacking using the factory jack on one side and a floor jack on the other. I tried to lower too much at once and ended up tipping the factory jack until it started to fold. I caught in time to "hold" the car but there wasn't anything I could do but let the car fall. Luckily I had put on the wheels with lugs finger tight and it dropped about 6 inches onto the tires. Even so, it had a lot of energy in those 6 inches. Luckily no damage.

ulrichd · 07-24-2006, 11:57 AM

Timely post. I just did this to my trombone oil cooler with a jack stand.

Ulrich

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

I've always been too worried about stability using the see-saw jacking method. I always raise the front first, then the rear. The see-saw seems to be asking for just this kind of result. To get the car high enough to be useful, the side to side angle created is too steep to be safe IMO.