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#2
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Cars falling off supports used to happen with a fair regularity. Some people even survived. Hopefully it occurs far less today.
It probably does just because fewer work on their own cars now than for many previous decades. I have never really feared almost anything. Still getting underneath a car not really supported so it just could not drop on you was always beyond my fear threshhold. I do not even trust jackstands. I know that is a little irrational yet I cannot help it. The car always had to be solidly blocked up in a way that satisfied me. Also if you use a set of drive up on ramps to change oil or whatever. The cheap ones can collapse. I have seen it happen. Get a block of wood that just fits inside them if not certain of their strength. Or properly weld additional support to them. These old mercedes diesels are heavy on their front ends. |
#3
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After getting the car on stands, I try and knock it off before I get under it. My son asked why I did it that way. I replied "wouldn't you rather it fell off now than when you are under it"?
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I choose to be happy, even when the Mercedes is being awkward, lol |
#4
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This is something every DIYer should be mindful of. Something you can do if you are taking the wheels off is place them under the car. If the car should fall, the wheel will keep the body from falling completely to the ground.
This is also why I like using quality ramps whenever I'm doing something that doesn't require removal of a wheel. The car is already at rest. That's not to say you can't have an incident with ramps. At a VW get to gether once some friends and I were working on a noobie's new to him Jetta. A friend pulled the car up on some ramps to take a look at the turbo oil return, and parked the car in gear. We asked the owner to start the car, which he did, but then didn't notice the car was in gear, poped the clutch, and sent the ramps skidding out from under the tires. The car came almost straight down on my friend. Fortunately there were about 20 people standing around watching, and all of them immediately picked the car up and my friend got out from under it. He had some bruised ribs, but was otherwise ok. Scary stuff though! -Jason
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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states! Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels. 2014 Cadillac ELR 2013 Fiat 500E. |
#5
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The thought of that poor little girl trying to fix Daddy with Band-Aids makes me feel like I've been punched in the gut.
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#6
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Second that on the diesels being front end heavy. I like the idea of placing the wheels under the car in case of a fall. Scary stuff, indeed.
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#7
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Quote:
I was working on a friend's Audi one time and he had those cheap ratch-type stands. All of a sudden, one of them just collapsed!! For no reason! Nobody was even touching the car! Thankfully no one was under it either. The problem is the tooth engagement of the ratchet mechanism. It is only engaged by a very tiny edge of a tooth. Take a look at one, it's pretty scary. We looked this one over after the incident, and nothing was broken, the ratchet mechanism simply fell off the tooth. From then on, I only go near a car supported by the pin-style stands. Pin = OK. Ratchet = No Good!
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'98 E300 turbodiesel Last edited by lupin..the..3rd; 03-02-2011 at 02:06 PM. |
#8
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Almost sounds like the ratcheting jack stands you guys were using were improperly manufactured. The set I have was one of those $20 auto parts store specials (included a floor jack too) and the ratchet mechanism has enough play to go to the middle of the shaft. They can get caught on the tip of a tooth and drop down a notch if they're wiggled, but from what you said (fell all the way down) it sounds like your friend had a faulty jack stand.
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#9
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I find I'm way more cautious about stuff like this the older I get.
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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century OBK #55 1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles 2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles 2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles |
#10
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I have always been super safe with vehicle support, good jacks, good stands. (*I like the ratchet style stands though.) but when my old boss/mentor got killed in his own driveway under his car, I make a special effort to double and triple safe protect myself.
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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread "as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do! My drivers: 1987 190D 2.5Turbo 1987 190D 2.5Turbo 1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!! 1987 300TD 1987 300TD 1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere! |
#11
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Some may not know that CINDER BLOCKS are not strong enough to support a car. Cinder blocks are the large gray blocks with holes in them; probably mentioned in at least one of the horror stories above, but I got the point without actually reading them. Here in the south, the hillbillies refer to them as Breeko (brand name) or "bricko" blocks. Used mostly as tornado tees for mobile homes.
Good point on the ratchet type jackstands; I'll check mine next time. Lastly, I guess we all know to CHOCK THE WHEELS well, I use a dead blow hammer (has metal shot in the head to prevent rebound when hitting bouncy things like wood blocks against tires), to wedge them tightly under the tires' edges. HTH, -Tom
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RIP "Betsy" (Oo=*=oO) '96 E 3 2 0 (W 2 1 0) M 1 0 4 (Totalled) Spaces in sig so as not to screw up the SEARCH; every time someone searches for that MB they don't want my sig! 2004 Audi A8L '98 VW Passat 1.8T 5M '87 Alfa Romeo Milano 2.5L 5M '67 Impala convertible, 327cid |
#12
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You too, huh? Maybe there is something to "older, but wiser".
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86 560SL With homebrew first gear start! 85 380SL Daily Driver Project http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm |
#13
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Just wondering what the better ramps to purchase are? Where do you get them, what is it made out of, and how much did they cost?
And Instead of keeping it to the best ramps, maybe give a 2nd runner up, honorable mention, or works with safety measure (like putting blocks of wood under it for support. |
#14
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If you do more than oil changes on a regular basis, having two quality floor jacks is a must. I also like to buy bigger jack stands than needed. I have some 6 ton's for working on my 300E. They are freaking massive, very nice large pads, but so solid that you will never think twice about their stability. Could I have gotten away with 2 ton stands? Probably. Placing the wheel under the rotor, body also is another good backup.
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http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...-RESIZED-1.jpg 1991 300E - 212K and rising fast... |
#15
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[B]REDUNDANCY[B]is the key to survival.
You cannot put too many sturdy things between the ground and the bottom of your car. Jack stands, then lower the car onto them, and then use a floor jack or your car jack as a backup. Me, I also have two sturdy wood stools that go in the right place. Excessive? I don't think so when most of this is Chinese handywork, and I am not content with a 10% failure rate. Ever wonder why many of the hydraulic floor jacks only have a 90 day guaranty? And JohnM (adjacent), buying an over-sized jack stand will do little to change the overall failure rate. The tire is also a good idea. Do you have 2' x 2' piece of 3/4" plywood on top of it? You might also save your wheel and your rotor. |
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