Whenever I place a car on stands, I remove the jack from underneath then give the car a good, solid bump at each corner with my hip to detect and test for any instability.

Anal? Nope. I have still vivid, 6 year-old's memories of my dead neighbor's legs and feet sticking out from underneath his car after it fell on him one Saturday afternoon.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Whoa. That's terrible

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-justin

1987 300TD, 1987 300TD
2008 R32, 2000 Passat Wagon

All the more reason to drive a G-wagon......its high enough to lay under when not even on jack stands.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I think there is a special tool/attachment that is inserted on the hole that is used when jacking an MB with a non-MB jack. I remember seing it in the MBbraingear website. I can't remember the part # though. Has anyone used or saw it?

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

The pin part is actually very safe... the amount of weight it would take to shear off one of those steel pins is incredible. As for the rest of the design... well, you may have a point.

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I do the same exact thing. In fact, I shake it quite vigorously. If its going to fall, I want it to fall then and not on me.

Such a simple test could save your life. It almost seems stupid not to do it. (not trying to insult anyone here)

Scott

p.s. If you live in California you most definitely ought to do it.

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

If your in cali just stick to ramps!

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Raising a vehicle is an excellent situation for doing things by the book. EVERY two post lift ever made has instructions exactly like that. You are supposed to raise the car clear of the floor and give it a shake. Same goes for jack stands.

I spent lots of time in my Dad's Independent Garage in the fifties in Killeen. That was when I was from about the age of five to about 10. He made the rules about going near a car that was lifted in the air QUITE clear. As a result of these instructions and him practicing what he preached, we are both still alive with no missing limbs.

It sounds like R Leo is trying to fill in some of the gap of no longer having Deezel, the self appointed Safety Officer. Keep it up!

I met one guy that survived the fall of the car, but he was a quad.

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Der Panzermann und Fraulein Fahrvergnuegen

1991 420SEL 201K "The Big Blue One"
1985 300DT 205K chassis/285K engine nee California emissions "Goldbug"
1983 300TDT 255K "The Womble"
1983 300 DT 214K "Sea Sprite"-Rear-ended a truck
1983 300SD 285K "The Donor" Gave his life so that others can live
1980 500SL Euro 105K "Der Panzer"

keep cell phone or other alerting device attached to body

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Brian

82 300d turbo 164k - passed on
83 sd - passed on
04 civic hybrid - DD
06 GTO for sale - passed on
84 VW Rabbit Diesel 4dr.- passed on
94 S350D - DD
94 S320 - soon to be DD

I always wonder what would happen while im under there during a nice earthquake.

Oh well, at least i'd be doing something I like.

I could think of other things I'd rather be doing though...

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

While shaking the car helps to verify it, it is not foolproof, and neither are the ratchet type stands. I do agree they are a bit more solid in design, however I had a close call that tested my faith in them. I have always been somewhat of a believer in overkill with supporting cars-which ended up being my saving grace. I was helping a friend part out an old 70's Ranchero, he wanted the rear end pumpkin out of it, I had the car up, had shaken it quite well, stands under the axle by each wheel on solid concrete. Good to go? I thought so anyway, being my typical self though, I did my usual just in case move of placing the jack back under the diff housing and bringing it up to contact. Crawled under, shaking and banging getting those nuts off the rusty studs, cursing, got a piece of pipe to smack the gasket loose and BANG! the whole car shifted with a good thunk. I flew out and assessed what happened, the jack had caught the car and saved me, one of the stands had failed, there was a roll pin in the handle part that held the ratcheting pawl in place to the handle, that pin had sheared, letting the lever fall down & look like the pawl was fully seated, and it had actually only caught on the tip of it and had finally slipped. That stand was retired from service and its mate was thoroughly inspected (they were not harbor freight cheapies either). Point is, you can never be too careful, and constant inspection of things is your best defense against failures.

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Chris
64 190D R.I.P.
80 240D W/617 engine -for sale
82 240D -for sale

I also always keep the jack under the car as a back up safety device. You can never be too careful. Glad you weren't hurt.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

I "third" that very sound advise.

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

Thank you so much, you all, for sharing your wisdom here...
So, to recap your suggestions:

1) To lift front: floor jack under the engine cross member just behind the oil pan.
To lift rear: floor jack under the differential (or, optionally, under the subframe
mount area). (Are we positively sure the FSM allows for using the differential
this way on a 123-chassis 240D? Could someone please check that...)
Always place buffering in the form of rubber or wood block (2x4) between the
floor jack's saddle and the car. QUESTION: Do you secure the wood to the
jack's saddle in some way of just place it on it? It would seem to me that, if
not secured properly to the saddle, chances are the wood might slip during
the lifting, when things are likely to move a bit around...

2) Place jack stands under the frame box just inside of the jack holes (front set of
holes when lifting front, rear set of holes when lifting rear), buffering the
contact areas with wood (like a 1'-long piece of 2x4), unless you have a
rust corrosion problem in that area. AWAYS test for any instability by shaking
the car hard before getting underneath! ALWAYS keep the floor jack under the
car in light contact with the frame at the lifting point as a back-up safety
device! The manual for the jack stands I bought warns strongly against using
the jack stands to lift just the left or right side of the car, and says to ALWAYS
use the jack stands in pair to lift EITHER the rear OR the front side of the car. Do
you second that? QUESTION: It occurs to me that a car placed on jack stands
this way causes the contact area between the frame of the car and the saddles
of the stands to be at an angle, therefore not firmly seated on them. Wouldn't
it make more sense to place some wood (or use other means of lifting) under
the tires on the opposite side of the car, so that the car now sits level on the
jack stand saddles and not at an angle?

Also:

Sure, but when you place the rear on jack stands, putting the car in gear and using the parking brake doesn't do any good... The only thing that can be done in that case is chocking the front tires (I have a set of 4" wooden ramps, with chocks nailed to them, that I plan to use under the front tires when putting the rear end on jack stands (and viceversa). That will also raise the front (or rear) end in such a way as to provide a flat (level) contact area between the saddles of the stands and the car.)

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1979 240D, W123, 105K miles, stick, white w/ tan interior.