Dear Netters,
As I've never had such a bad thing happen to me I'm not quite as cautious
as Paul, but I ALWAY leave my extended floor jack underneath the car when
it is up on jackstands- just in case. IMHO, that is a good safety measure
Paul and I share.
"Never ascribe to Malice that which can be explained by Ignorance."
John J. Peloquin, Assistant Research Entomologist
Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521
On Wed, 21 Apr 1999 wizardz@maxinter.net wrote:
> DON'T DO THIS AT HOME! STUPID BUT LUCKY!
> short story... from experience.. only jack stands or 4x4 or 6x6
> wood blocks are safe. Don't use cinder blocks!
> in the seventies... after spending 3-5 hours under a VW BUG
> rebuilding the front end and steering...
> I heard a crunching sound.... What the....!
> As I scambled to get out from under the front end...one of my
> SOLID CORE cinder block stands crumbled and collapsed.
> The bottom edge of one of the shock uprights on the twin tube
> front end landed in the middle of my back pinning me under the
> car for nearly 45 minutes. Just by chance one of my house mates happen
> to stop by the garage as he arrived home from work. (Only because the side
>door was open.) They were use to me being out there till all hours
> and would not have thought twice about seeing what I was up to.
> All I could do was pray the rest of the cinder block didn't crumble.
> (the angle of the car...still one block on one side is all that kept the
> metal from drilling all the way through my spine!)
>
> Now adays... at minimum, metal jack stands, wood blocks, and a hydralic
> jack are all under the car befor I'll ever put my body under there.
>
> No fear... just still a very vivid memory of that 45 minutes... alone!
>
> Paul Tegler
> Twin 73' MGB GTs YB and OB
> YB born 8/72 (Primrose Yellow) Yellow BGT
> OB born 1/73 (Blaze Red) Orange BGT
> email: wizardz@maxinter.net
> http://www.amdyne.net/~ptegler/mgmain.htm
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: REwald9535@aol.com <REwald9535@aol.com>
> To: dcouncil@imt.net <dcouncil@imt.net>; mgs@autox.team.net
><mgs@autox.team.net>
> Date: Tuesday, April 20, 1999 9:50 PM
> Subject: Re: B update and questions (long for most, usual for me)
>
>
> I think at one time or another just about everybody that has worked on cars
> much has either slid under a car on a jack or thought "Hey it's OK I'll only
> be there for a second, what could go wrong?" In a word LOTS.
> Picture your B (A, Midget, Rolls Canhardly, whatever) landing on your head.
> When dropped from a jack the suspension will compress giving about 2" of
> clearance before regaining normal ride height, and your head is how thick?
> It WAS more than 2' is the answer. Please don't even think about doing this.
> Good list members are hard to find.
> The only safe way is put a good jack stand(s) under the car place the weight
> on them and then wiggle, bounce, shove on the car to make sure that it is
> secure. Then and only then go under the car.
> Rick Ewald
> 67 MGB
>
> In a message dated 4/20/99 8:42:04 PM SA Eastern Standard Time,
> dcouncil@imt.net writes:
>
> > Just as I was getting ready to crawl under the car to pull the starter, I
> > heard a creaking sound. So I stopped to listen closer only to see the car
> > come crashing down, the jack and bracket pulling away from the car.
>
>
>
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