Maybe some other hambers have gone through this, just thought I'd share. About six months ago a very good friend of mine was killed while working on his '64 Corvair 3 days after his 18th birthday. The car was a gift for his birthday. We found out later that he had not taken the time to wait for us to bring jack stands over for him and he decided to simply lift the car on a jack and work on it from there. I heard someone mention today that book by Ralph Nader called Unsafe At Any Speed, the one that talks about how the Corvair is the most dangerous car due to the engineering flaws. I guess in the most cruel sense of irony, it's true, that car is unsafe at any speed. I'm not trying to be morbid, just sharing my insight on what happened to a fellow rodder and a loved friend. R.I.P Max Allen Crossland, 06/15/90 - 06/18/08
Man, that's too bad! Similar thing happened to a classmate of mine when in high school in '67. 2 bumper jacks holding up a '56 Plymouth while he was underneath, working on the tranny. He never made it out , was 17. So sad to hear what just a little bit of safety and common sense could've prevented! Please to all - BE CAREFUL!
thanks everyone, it really means a lot to me. Yeah, you're very very right raceron, all it would have taken was 45 minutes for him to wait for us to bring over the jack stands, I guess he was too excited and impatient to get to work on it.
I remember when I was young and got my first old hotrod. I did the same thing. I look back and I see that I got very lucky that it didnt fall on me. But the excitement that you have to tear into it overcomes anything else therefore you cant wait, not even 45 minutes. I'm sure he was happy though. Sorry for your loss.
I definitely remember when I got my car, just about a year and a half ago, I was so excited to work on it that I stayed up all night working on it and eventually fell asleep while I was doing some work under the dash. That bench seat sure was comfy though hahah. Thankfully I had jack stands already in my garage or i'm sure I would have done the same thing he did. I'm glad he passed while working on his car though, It was what he lived for, it's good to know that's the last thing he'll remember was working on it.
I don't even like jack-stands unless they are real heavy duty. I've been using those plastic drive-on ramps for jobs you don't have to take the tires off. Just jack up the rear and put another set under the rear tires as well. The plastic ones don't slide across the garage as you try to drive on. A parents worst nightmare. Condolances. Ricky
What a loss. And it just seems such a waste when it could have been avoided. Sometimes we all have to slow down and make the safe decision. So sorry for the loss of a friend.
That's rough! I was around 20 and was helping a buddy change the clutch on his car. He had jack stands, but it was on an asphalt driveway and on a slight angle. It was hot enough so the stands sunk in enough to let the car fall on top of him. I was right there, had my back turned, all I heard was the creak and then a big THUMP. I slid the floor jack under the car and got him out in less than 5 seconds. He was a big guy, 6'6" and 220 lbs at the time. The only thing he had was a big indent in his arm from a bolt pressing into it. His sister inlaw (a nurse) took a look at it and sent him to the ER. Which was a good thing, he had a crushed artery in his arm, it being crimped by the bolt probably saved him. After surgery, a few of got together and changed his clutch for him. He still mentions it when I see him, 33 years ago. From that day on, I have a dedicated set of 12" x 12" x 3/4" plywood squares that I use under my jackstands. On another note, I had asked my ex-wife in training for a pair of jack stands for Xmas on year. What did I get? ONE cheap assed steel stamped jack stand. I think she was trying to kill me. That act went through the brain pan when I was in the process of dumping her sorry cheapskate ass. Bob
Thank's for posting, truely sorry you had to. When I was young I remember swapping a motor in a pinto, and used the scissor jack for the whole time, and didn't think anything about it. Now I use jackstands, and whenever possible I leave the floor jack in place too. Many of us are just plain lucky!
i lost a good friend last year due to a jack stand he never used any 24 years old using a sissor jack. car fell on is head and chest ...i think of him every day .and every time i see a jack stand. sucks, be safe ...
very hard to lose a friend that way..sorry for your loss a few years ago when I was doing the engine and drive train swap on my 53, I not only jack standed the car, I used huge wooden blocks made out of rail road ties. cant never bee too sure.
Years ago, about 40 or so i was at a junk yard, and a young fella, 19 I believe was removing an exhaust system from a 55 Ford and had it up on a bumper jack and it got him. He was missed, the owner said (man hes been gone a while, wonder if hes having problems) Nasty, I have a fear since that time of getting under a car even with it on stands. I shake it and try to knock it over if I can, but if its gona get me, at least I did all I can do to prevent it. Ice man
Sorry for your loss man. I posted about this before but we lost HAMBer Billy the Kid the same way in March of this year. He was building a badass model A coupe and trying to save a 50's showcar model A languishing in a barn right next to his house. Unfortunately a quickie starter job on a late model being held up by only a scissor jack fell and took his life. Nobody thinks this could possibly happen to them but we hear about it every year.
Any time I'm talking with young guys that talk about doing work under their car, I start in with what might seem to be war story lectures about using good jack stands, leaving the floor jack, and even tossing extra tire/rims under the frame. I always offer to loan the proper equipment if they don't have it or in many cases can't afford it. Old bumper jacks can be real trouble. We lost a service tech where I work a few years ago by of all things, changing a tire! Our fleet mgr took all the spares off the service vehicles and now if you get a flat, they call a tow truck.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Bill Palmer my old high school autoshop teacher preached safety when working under a car every day and pounded it in us. Like many he had lost a friend in the same manner. When I taught the same class fifteen years later I was just as adamant about it. On anything but a flat concrete floor I would rather see a guy use ramps or wood blocks to hold the car up rather than stands unless the stands are on something like the above mentioned plywood squares. When I was a teenager working on my cars out in the garage at home my mom would come out to the garage every half hour or hour to make sure that I was ok. I thought it was silly at the time but looking back it is probably something a guy should do if someone is working out in the garage by himself.
Oh man I am sorry for your loss. My dad was pinned under his 56 t-bird doing the same thing. I am always sure to use a jack and jack stands. Also I always do a go stack too just in case.
I am sorry for your loss. I think this thread should get a sticky to remind everyone how taking a few extra minutes can make all the differance in the world. Everytime I am under a car I have jack stands, I guess you could say sometimes to many but I would rather be safe than sorry.
I too am very sorry to hear about your loss. My condolences to his family and friends. Being it's the start of the Christmas holiday season I think every teenager, the Christmas before they get their license, should get a set of jackstands under the tree from their parents with a strong, stern warning about working under any car, for any reason, without them. Many years ago a FNG HAMB member from the metro Detroit area posted some photos of the car he was working on and he was using cider blocks as jack stands. Boy did folks rip him a new one for that. LOTS of folks here learned from that thread and he's turned out to be a very close friend who's still alive thanks to the HAMB.
Words like wear safety glasses, wear gloves, use jack stands, don't stand between two cars if running, don't stand right behind a moving vehicle, etal mean little after the accident. Sometimes, we, especially the young ones, just don't listen, don't think and BAM..........it happens. God speed young man.
God, what a tragedy! so sorry to hear a bout your loss. i get really freaked out when i have to crawl under my car, but i take my time setting it up right, always triple check the stability, as many jack stands as possible, use whatever you got around the garage for extra support, EXTRA support not MAIN support, and i ALWAYS have my cell phone laying next to me not in my pocket in case of emergency.... ian
sad. just before i got my first car, back in '64, i was out one night riding my bicycle and happened upon a lot of flashing lights in the distance. turns out there was a guy working on his '58 ford with the front wheels off, supported by a bumper jack. i still remember the grisly scene like it happened yesterday. i even remember his name from the morning paper. so i learned real early about bumper jacks.
That happened accross the street from me when I was little. Big ol' ford wagon fell off a scissor jack and landed on the guys head. I remember that he was a nice man. I think it influenced me since I have about a half dozen heavy duty jack stands in the shop.
Sorry for the loss, that just plain sucks. A guy I used to know was once working on his little mini truck and only had the jack supporting it, the jack failed and the truck fell on him and litteraly broke off his face! Yeah, he is still alive but not the same. You've all heard this before, but I will say it again.. Safety First! Vaya con Dios
I noticed this on this on a old pic I took, long time ago... Yeah, I worked on it like that ( just pushed a wheel under the rocker if I had to be under it ) Untill I wised up and got some jackstands. BTW, anybody ever read that book? I have... Hard to believe it got to be that well known. I didn't think it was any kind of a Masterpiece....
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