Check those Jack Stands!!!!!!!

We all know we should use them but how often do you check the jack stand itself??? A member of ChevTalk posted about what he found when he pulled the extension out by accident.

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Good advert for look after your tools! I bet he always just pulled on the handle and let the extension drop down. Fatigue fracture?
Doc.

 

Ouch, maybe a chunk of metal got down there and busted it up when the weight come down on it. Or....where was it made ???

 

i use the ones with the pins. for that fact and i've seen a lot of slag in the teeth so you can't get a full lock in the channel.

 

just another reason why i hate working under a car, and need 37 jackstands and a shot of rye(kidding!) to go under there!

 

Just picked up an extra set tonight, Im always leary of being under the car when wrenching on something

 

I'll bet thats a cast iron part, brittle stuff and not suited to that use.

 

Cast parts break on me a lot. I'd like to think I was the cause, but I'm not that strong. Thanks for the scare - I mean heads up!

 

No matter what you use, keep a safety device near you under a sturdy part of the chassis. Something like 2 or 3 feet of a 12X12 timber, equivalent made out of 2X4's or landscape timbers, a big, stout toolbox, or a big tire on a wide wheel. Don't use cement blocks, don't use anything that coud possibly tip if car is rolling as it drops, and of course don't use anything thinner than the body parts you would like to retain in an accident. If you are near a timber thicker than your vitals, you're gonna survive whatever mechanical failures or stupidities of application your garage offers.

 

Ya what he said!

 

Joe good advice I am one to just release it and let it fall also . From now on I will be taking a look at the casting to check for failure .

 

I had a jack stand collapse on me years ago luckily i was taught at the time to slide the wheels under the sills(rockers) first.
Made me check the stands before every use
Bob

 

Thanks for the headsup.

 

I stoped using jack stands a couple of years ago. Got a good supply of cut timber for the wood stove, and I always reserve a few of the biggest, best cut pieces of log for that purpose.

 

I always use cut off model a banjo bells for jack stands, or atleast my tall stands are

 

My grandfather on my mothers side was killed when his jackstand failed. everytime I get under the car I remember seeing those stands sitting in the corner of his shop.
Gets me thinking for sure!!

 

Add to this the quantity of cheap crap out there for jack stands these days, harbor freight and the like, I could see how this could happen.

 

never use the cheap stamped steel tripods...I had a pair fold when I was under my wife's expedition...I had the rear springs out but the tires on...I saw the stands start to move and as I rolled out it fell on me. Fortunately I'm a big guy (or maybe if I wasn't it never would have touched me) and was able to get myself flat on my back after the first hit...I bruised some ribs...and bought some new stands the next day.

 

I like wheels in the proper place so nothing can roll and I am too fat to move fast anymore.

 

I have a set (4) of the jack stands from Tractor supply.They have four kegs and seem pretty heavy duty ( Gray and Red).Has anyone else bought these or had any problems with them?Thanks and be safe.