Remember to chock your wheels - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

iwrock · #16 12-02-2010, 12:50 PM

I had a scare with this about a month ago...

I was doing a rear brake service on my W124, and did not chock the front wheels....

Started jacking up the second side of the car, and it started rolling forward.

Luckily I was in the garage, and the car rolled 3 inches into the wall and stopped, but scary nonetheless.

PaulC · #17 12-02-2010, 12:56 PM

This event reminds me of an old story in which a guy parked his manual transmission-equipped car on a hill, using only his selection of Reverse to keep the car from rolling. He then proceeded to perform a tune up, which included replacing the spark plugs. As he removed each plug, he released the engine compression that was holding the car in place...

mgburg · #18 12-02-2010, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Possibly, but it happened in an upscale neighborhood.

OK, you got me. It was "Republicanism" with a dose of "Rightism" as in "I know what the hell I'm doing!"

mgburg · #19 12-02-2010, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Clk Man

Are YOU referring to me?

Nope. I know you'd practice safety. You'd have had those tires nailed to those ramps with 16-penny spikes so that car would have stayed right where you had parked it!

Phil · #20 12-02-2010, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Guy a few blocks from me was killed yesterday when his SUV rolled off the ramps as he was underneath working on it. Sounded like he may have been working on his driveshaft and relying on Park to hold the vehicle in place on the ramps. No driveshaft, no Park. Remember redundancy.

This makes me remember a time when I was working on a plastic surgeons house and and I was in the room when he got a call from the hospital to come in. He told me it was because a guy was working on his boat trailer, with the boat on it, and was under it with only a jack holding it up when the jack gave way and the whole thing fell on his face. The guy had to have most of his face reconstructed and was in the hospital for weeks.
I always have a second means of holding my car up, or from rolling.

#21 12-02-2010, 01:42 PM

Kerry,

Thanks very much for posting this reminder. In the very early days of Mercedesshop there was a fellow that went by Deezel that constantly reminded people of safety issues, and it's up to all of us to keep safety in our MShop friends minds.

It's very thoughtful of you to post a reminder like this and all of us that regularly work on our cars or on ANYTHING can always use notes like this to bring safety forward in our consciousness.

How something as serious as someone in your neighborhood losing their life can be made into a debate as it was in this thread is totally beyond me. I will save the snipes the effort of implying that I'm an idiot and everything is beyond me, by admitting so.

Keep up the good safety officer work!

mgburg · #22 12-02-2010, 02:07 PM

It's not a bad idea, the next time you're out, to stop by the "Automotive" department of the store you're in and buy a set (or more) of those plastic wheel chocks.

I have TWO sets in both my "E" and my "SLC" as well as a pair in the company's S-10. I chock both sides of either the front or back wheels when I'm jacking up the other end of the vehicle. $10 or $15 is some pretty cheap insurance when you have 2 tons of metal hanging over your operating appendages...let alone your face or chest.

tbomachines · #23 12-02-2010, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

Or linger on and suffer. If I got diagnosed with it, I know that at the first sign of problems, I would terminate. It only gets worse so why drag it out?

Howard is 95 and lives in a senior citizen home. Every night after dinner, Howard goes to a secluded garden behind the center to sit and ponder his accomplishments and long life.

One evening, Annabel, age 87, wandered into the garden. They begin to chat, and before they know it, several hours have passed. After a short lull in their conversation, Howard turns to Annabel and asks, “Do you know what I miss most of all?”

She asks “What?”

He replies “SEX!!!”

Annabel exclaims, “Why you old fart, you couldn’t get it up if I held a gun to your head!”

“I know”, Howard says, “but it would be nice if a woman just held it for a while.”

“Well, I can oblige”, says Annabel, who gently unzips his trousers and removes his manhood and proceeds to hold it.

They agree to meet secretly each night in the garden where they would sit and talk and Annabel would hold Howard’s manhood.

Then, one night, Howard didn’t show up at their usual meeting place. Alarmed, Annabel decided to find Howard and make sure that he was O.K. She walked around the home until she found him sitting by the pool with Sarah, who was holding Howard’s manhood!

Furious, Annabel yelled, “You two-timing creep! What does she have that I don’t have?”

Howard smiled and replied “Parkinson’s!”

This is just so so wrong, but I wouldn't have expected anything less Aklim

Good laugh!

aklim · #24 12-02-2010, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbomachines

This is just so so wrong, but I wouldn't have expected anything less Aklim

Good laugh!

Never let it be said that I don't read Playboy for the articles.

In fact, first thing I go for is the joke page behind the centerfold. Followed by a quick scan thru for the funnies and then the Playboy Advisor.

And you jerks thought that all I care about are the women featured. I read it for the articles.

H-townbenzoboy · #25 12-02-2010, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgburg

I chock both sides of either the front or back wheels when I'm jacking up the other end of the vehicle.

I do the same thing.

#26 12-02-2010, 03:32 PM

You don't need fancy plastic wheel chocks. A piece of two by four a big rock or zillions of other things will get the job done. Just chock your wheels!

layback40 · #27 12-02-2010, 07:18 PM

Never get under a car that is only on a jack.
We have some pieces of tree trunk here & always place a couple under a car or machine, then let the car off the jack. If its on stands & rolls, it will just roll down until it rests on a trunk. Before you get under the car rock it as hard as you can to see if you can get it to move. It scares the C##P out of you if it does.

t walgamuth · #28 12-02-2010, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

That's what I meant. It wasn't explicitly stated but since the guy was working on his differential it seems possible, if not likely, that he pulled the driveshaft and when he did that, the truck rolled down the ramp.

Right. The park paw locks the tranny, the transfers the force to the driveshaft which transmits it to the diff. remove the driveshaft and the diff is free to turn.

suginami · #29 12-02-2010, 09:13 PM

There was a news report a while ago about a guy who was driving to work one morning, and noticed a guy working under the side of his truck in front of his house.

When he drove home from work that evening, he noticed the same guy was still working under his truck, in the same position, with his legs sticking out.

He called 911, and it turns out, that at some point that morning or later in the day, the truck had fallen off the jack stands, and crushed the guy.

Funny thing was that people drove by him all day, and thought nothing of it.

Hatterasguy · #30 12-02-2010, 09:20 PM

I hate working under vehicles.