Please be careful when working on your car
 

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/06/21/driveway.death.ap/index.html

and if you are working under your car make sure someone is checking on you often. Just be safe.

I had a friend pinned under a Harley for a few hours when the kickstand slipped. He had to wait until his wife came home and then she had to get help to rock the bike back up. No broken bones, but lots of bruises, ego/manhood included.

Darwinism aside, the problem in the CNN article is pretty clear, common sense calls for proper wheel chocking, using jack stands and not jacks to keep a car lifted while under the car. If you're "home alone" then having a cordless phone or a cell phone nearby probably is a good idea, just wrap it in saran to keep the oil off.

Where is the correct place to put jackstands under a W124? They have nice rubber pads for the jack but you can't use the same spot for the stands. Pictures would be appreciated! :)

Also, if you have the wheels off. Lay them under the rockers, or where the pads are. Those won't copletely keep the car off you, but at least you'd survive if the car fell. It's worth 3 extra minutes to do extra minutes for safety precautions. Believe me, it's worth it.
Thanks
David

Frightening!
 

I always think how my Merc would rearrange my face as I look up at its bushings and nuts when underneath.

I always use stands and chocks, and in addition any old tree trunks or beer/soft drink crates under the car to give an extra measure of safety, just incase!! I always give the car a good shake aswell before I get under.

One day i hope to get a lift or a pit!! Work Safe!

gerard

How about those tire change jacks:

The other day I saw someone in my neighborhood, not looking happy. He tried to change a flat.
The car was resting on the front left disk.

Which reminds me of when, as a kid, I was trying to change a flat on our woodgrain and silver Oldsmobibble Delta 88 Custom Cruiser station wagon (my family never had good taste in cars, and I am still making up for the trauma. Oh yeah - new diesel engine at 69k miles due to broken crankshaft. GM - never again). They had those big sidejacks. I did this one on an incline. Fortunately the wheel was still on the car when gravity and the angle of the jack decided not to get along. The car slipped off the jack sideways towards me on the curb.

Lately when I've had to remove the rear wheels I'll take out the Benz screw jack and a jack stand. Stick the screw jack into the hole on the rocker panels, raise the car, and then lower it onto the jack stand. There's usually enough room for both to fit, at least with the stands I use. It seems a heck of a lot safer than just the jack itself, and easier to manage than trying to find a secure (weight-bearing) lifting point for my floor jack that leaves enough room to fit the jack stands.

Dean, there is a special tool. You take out the plug, and then jack from there with a special foot that has a rod connected to it. I think its like 191 dollars or something like that. You should have 4 of them to lift a car onto a car lift. It makes it so that you put no load on the chassis where it would be bad to put it...

W123589116300

I try very hard to keep my cell phone on me, but not on vibrate it scares me while working on a car.

I've been crawling under cars for over 30 years. The only thing I ever use to keep the car up is fat logs cut to the proper size. Wheel chocks are a must -- I use bricks. If more than one wheel will be off the ground I throw another log under the car for good measure.

Oh- those are great cars! Actually many folks on the stationwagon club collect them. I have a very similar car (just a different name and trim)- a 1989 Pontiac Grand Safari wagon, but mine is a gasoline. The only bad thing is that the engines are very underpowered. Yes, the diesels in these cars was unreliable.

That was terrible news about the accident. You must really be careful when working on cars.

HBOFINGER- here is a photo of my "tank" - a little dark, but you can see it is similar to your Custom Cruiser.