This is a post asking EVERYONE with tips on how to jack up a car/truck,etc.., and avoid getting hurt while working under it. PLEASE POST a REPLY!!!! How do you do it? Jack stands? Ratings on the stands? Pressure points of where to jack it up? How to figure where to jack for what you are doing? (axle, frame, bumper, ****** crossmember...etc) Unibody cars/trucks? Degree of slope where you are working (most home garages have a slight slope for drainage {it makes a big deal}) Wheel chocks? What do you use, do you make them? Extra fail-safes? (If this _____, gives up, what will hold it from crushing me? If I jack up this end, what will happen to the other end (gravity)? Does the ****** hold the ____ in place, or should I trust the ****** with that? How is the E-brake? Do I trust it with my life? If I am under the vehicle, and need to pound on something to get it loose, is the whole deal gonna fall on me? Did I give the vehicle a good "shake test" before even getting under it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This sounds all simple, but usually it is second nature lifting a car for most of us. I just think that sometimes the "basics" get forgotten, and "experiences/tips" may just help someone. I know there are many more that I didn't include or go into detail from above. I just want you all to add to it, and share what you do to make a car safe when working UNDER it. Just trying to help some HAMBers out after a personal close call (stupid lifting incident). Post here and help someone out. ***o
ALWAYS have TWO jacks on hand. I had a friend die because there was no other jack to get the car off him when his failed
I am a thrifty guy (I have to be with my pay!) but the one place I didn't skimp was on my jacks. My 49 Chevy's curb weight is 3190 lbs but I bought Craftsman 5 ton jack stands. I use some spare wood I cut to shape for chocks, and I set the emergency brake and put the car in gear as well. Luckily, I am thin enough, and the car's stock suspension is tall enough (right now--wait till I get it lowered!) that I can actually slide under the car when it's down on all four tires, so I'm not overly worried about an accident. My mother made me promise to take my cell with me, whenever I go under the car, and call her when I'm done! Yes, I'm a bit of a momma's boy! My other big safety thing is when the car is up, the kids aren't allowed in the garage. I never leave the car up unattended, unless the garage is closed and the kids know that it's off-limits. I think this is something we all need to remember--that if we do something stupid, it's a Darwin Award, but a kid? They're our responsibility. Tucker
Always have 2 jacks near by. I ususally leave the one jack under the car where I jacked it up and then lower it onto the 6-ton jack stands....and just leave the jack up about 1/8" of an inch below the jacking point (probably not the best saftey practice...but better than nothing) Unibody cars....usually jack up by the Pinch Weld under the Rockers...Yeah they look flimbsy but right about where the fender meets the door is probably good placement. If the car has a good unibody jacking here will raise the rear wheel as well. Some of the newer cars have little "stands" in that area to jack on. Rear spot should be somewhere around where the rear door meets the quarter (if it is a 4-door) Jack stands always on something solid that won't slip....Do not put them on the skinny part of Lower Control Arms - Jamb them under the ball joints or find a better place on the frame itself. I Always do a "SHAKE TEST" before getting under anything. - even on a lift. If you jack a car up from the front or the rear and don't use a wheel chock the car will "roll forward/rearward" as the jack will "pull" the car towards itself. Use wheel chocks if possible...to let the wheel "rotate" when the car is going up. E-brakes will lock up the brakes and not let the wheel rotate with the height adjustment. Never use a jack in the front and the rear @ the same time...just think of a Fat guy trying to get in a Hammock
i use the 6 ton stands whenever my carcuss goes under the car, i do the leave the jack in place thing too with it 1/2 a pump from putting pressure on, i sometimes throw one of my 3 ton stands onder it as a failsafe loosly, and i ALWAYS rock the car on the stands to make sure they are sturdy. i did this once and it slipped forward a few inches and i discovered the stand was up on 2 legs, imagine if i had been under it hammering or yanking good.. not quite ready to croak yet
A friend of mine had a car fall off the jack and pinned him under it. His dad lifted it off of him, he could of died. I always use the heavy 5/6 ton jack stands. On the rear I'll put the floor jack under the diff and the front I'll use the cross member. Always shake the car first. You can buy a new car, you can't buy new legs. It happens. I teach high school kids to work on cars and they think nothing can happen to them, well it does. Being safe only takes a minute.
some VERY good advice in here..... i have 3 sets of the larger jack stands and one set of the smaller ones (use as many as possible.... i have 2 good floor jacks and leave both under the car, somewhere, even if i have stands under it.... if i'm really crawling around under there and really shaking things around (more than an oil change) i'll throw a large spare tire and rim under there for good measure.... yes, not much room left to work......but i'm not young and dumb like i used to be..... i think most of us on here are old enough to know better and the younger guys shouldn't just listen, but DO IT too........ when i'm just changing oil (listen to the connotation "JUST," like it's now big deal) i still use two stands and leave the jack under it.... i don't want to become a statistic...
That's just stupid. #1) NEVER get under a car on ANY kind of jack!!! ALWAYS use jack stands. Place them under the FRAME if you're going to be under the car. On a unibody, get a diagram for YOUR car that shows where the support places are. Under the rear axle housing is ok if you have a solid axle. If for some reason you need to support the frontend on the suspension (say to check the ball joints), do so as close to the wheels/hubs as possible (may need to remove the wheel first). #2) Avoid the three-legged stands: they're not near as stable as the 4-legged ones. #3) NEVER use concrete blocks to support a car - they crumble. #4) NEVER use stacked wood blocks to support a car - they tumble. In a pinch (say you're broke down middle of nowhere & there is no alternative), you can use a spare wheel or two (laying *flat*) to support or just as a safety backup. You're broke down & will haveta walk 50 miles but you can fix it but have no support? Do some walking: it's a *damn* sight better than dying a slow death under the car on the side of the road! If you're on a soft surface (dirt), use thick plywood under the jack stands. You can also use *large* wood *lengths* (such as 4x4s or railroad ties, at least 2 feet long), IF you stack them in a square criss-crossing each other (kinda like this: #), & NOT VERY HIGH. < If you don't understand that statement then disregard it! #5) ALWAYS shake the car to make sure it's stable before getting under it. As for non-level surfaces: try to avoid them. If it's just a *little* slanted (as for minimum drainage ONLY), you *may* be ok but don't raise the car any higher than nessasary & make *sure* to use wheel chocks. For wheel chocks, the rubber 18 wheeler ones are hard to beat. 4x4s work pretty well, as do 6x6s cut on a taper. I have an aluminum chock that's great but I don't know where to get them. Jacking: NEVER jack on anything but the frame, or the center of the rearend if you have a solid axle (using a floor jack). No jacking on the bumper, & certainly *not* the ****** crossmember. Bumper jacks? - throw them away. Buy a bottle jack to carry with you, & also carry some 2x10 peices to go under the jack for soft dirt & to adjust for height (see #1 above!). On unibodies, same applies for jacking as for the stands: get a diagram for YOUR car. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver" You just shot an unarmed man! "Well, he should have armed himself."
depends on the car. my old nova would sag 4" by the nose of i jacked it up to far back (under the fire wall at the jacking points) so i always jacked it via the underside of the lower A-arms or lower cross members. jack stands: 2 sizes both industrial. (no cheng shin **** here)
I sent some ramps flying the three times (first, last, only) I used 'em. Pretty scary; nothing good laundry service couldn't set right... Nowadays I use good jackstands, and 2X4 wood cribbing. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=170924&stc=1&d=1142312692 Looks like ****; but you could set a huge f***ing car or truck on it. The guy who taught me to do it was a BSME; I just kind of figured he knew what he was about. -bill
Good thread, lots of good advice too.... My .02 worth..... I work in a tire shop....and have lost count of the times I put jack stands under cars only to be asked...... "Who put the stand under here? I was only swopping out a tire, it'll only take a minute" My reply?? "I put it there.....It only takes a second to get seriously hurt...or killed" Safety 1st....and last
thanks guys. I seem to forget this alot! Almost crushed a finger once changing a front beam, the work glove I was wearing caused my finger to slip to the side! lesson learned.
I always drive up on a few 2 X 10's nailed together flat......angle cut on the end. My 32 is so low.........I have to.......to get a floor jack under the front axle...After it is up.......I have a tall set of cars ramps I place under the front wheels.......1 headed 1 way and the second headed the other way....so the car cannot roll off the ramps. Then I jack up the rear and repeat the procedure.....I am a BIG GUY....so I have to get my car higher than most guys.....so I do not use jack stands....just ramps.......If I have to remove a wheel......I place the ramps under the suspension.... Kind of a PIA........but I have lived this long .......and I do not want to die under a fallen car....
You just gave the best safety tip that there is. Ask yourself the above questions as you start the task of jacking up a car, then you will be safe when you get under there. And remember to ask yourself each and every time you do this task.
Reading all of this the first thing I thought of was the 60 - $80 H/F and equivelant aluminum jacks that are being sold every where lately. Has anybody used these, and are they any good or a POS. I have a hard time trusting them. I dont pick my jack up enough to benefit from the weight reduction of aluminum. Sears has nice lighter weight steel and aluminum low profile jack that seems to be pretty high quality that I wouldn't mind having.
My tip, always have your cell phone in your pocket when in the garage. If your pinned or even just badly hurt you might not be able to yell loudly, your shed is out in whoop whoop or no one else is around....this applies to all work. Maiki
Damn Frank ya beat me to it. I got off the bus from school one day to see my mom's Galaxie 500 sittin' on it's nose. My step dad had his homemade boom truck (fer da oil rigs he worked on) hooked up to the back of the car and just pulled the whole thing up. It was, literally, grill first on the ground. All that just to weld up the exhaust. My real dad owned a body shop, so I knew better. I sat in the dining room and just *waited* for something to fail and the car to drop (hoping he was under it), but it didn't. Thankfully he's not a drunken blithering idiot anymore (well at least not the drunken part Hahaha I hope he sees this someday), and uses a little more common sense these days. Thanks guys for reminding everyone how important safety is. Some of us seem to be like cats and have 9 lives, but 99% of us are stuck with just one. Me? When I can finally build my own garage, it will have a pit! Olson
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