Always use axle stands..

[CJ]

...when working under your car. I know this goes without saying but I would hate to think of a car collapsing on someone as per this story from todays Irish Times:

Coroner warns over DIY motor care after car collapses on man

BARRY ROCHE

A CORONER has warned against people carrying out repairs under their cars using only jacks to support the vehicle following the death of a father of two.

Gerard Horgan (45) was killed when his car fell on him while he was preparing it for an NCT test.

Coroner for south Cork Frank O’Connell said the death of the man was the second such fatality that he had encountered in the space of 12 months.

“People should not fall into the trap of putting cars up on jacks to carry out repairs without any fixed solid support to hold up the vehicle because that is what it is, a trap – it’s a deadly dangerous practice,” warned Mr O’Connell.

He heard that Mr Horgan, Monfield, Rochestown, had been working part-time as a taxi driver.

On October 13th last year, he brought the car to the family’s farmyard near his home to carry out some repair work in preparation for an NCT test the next day.

Mr Horgan’s widow Colette told gardaí how she last saw her husband at about 5.30pm on the day in question when he borrowed the jack from her car to use along with his own jack to lift up his Toyota Avensis and carry out repair work.

She received a phone call from her sister-in-law Kay Hanley at about 6.05pm to tell her there had been an accident.

She went to the farmyard where she found her husband had been trapped beneath the car after it had collapsed on top him.

“I saw Gerard’s car had fallen down on top of him and he was pinned underneath. I got a huge fright and knew immediately that it was serious. I called to him but there was no response – I knew he was gone but I didn’t want to believe it.”

Garda Bernadette O’Connor said she responded to an emergency call and found Mr Horgan trapped under the vehicle with only his lower legs visible. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

She said that both the rear wheels had been taken off the vehicle. She found a scissors jack about a foot away from one of the wheels while another jack was found under the car.

Garda O’Connor believed the jacks were unable to support the weight of the car and it collapsed on him.

The ground was quite uneven and sloping which may have contributed to the accident, she added.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said Mr Horgan died from traumatic asphyxia. The coroner returned a verdict of accidental death.

[Myfeckin FTO]

I find that even axle stands can be tricky. One of the main reasons I bought a sissor lift.

[colm_mcm]

Jacking up the back of a car with 2 normal car jacks is a recipe for disaster as the braked wheels are up in the air.
Any bit of pulling or dragging at suspension/exhaust components and the jacks topple over.

What an awful way to go

[mcgon1979]

Im very aware of this when doing any work, but I still found that story shocking. Jacks are usually only rated for about 1/4 the weight of a car. If you use it to jack up more than 1 wheel your pushing it. I would never get under a car without at least one axle stand as a failsafe as well as a trolley jack. It is a horrible way to go.

[colm_mcm]

Got a 2 ton trolley jack in the motor factors for E25 yesterday, a must for any DIY-ers

[Dragonheart]

Got a 2 ton trolley jack in the motor factors for E25 yesterday, a must for any DIY-ers

I had a 3-tonne fail on me last year, luckily I was just after putting the tyre back on loosely so the tyre took the force instead of it falling on the wheel hub.

[steelroe]

Couple of things I always do when working under a jacked up car.
1 Only use trolleys jacks. Dont trust a jack even if it is raeted to lift the space shuttle. Never ever get under a vehicle raised with a OEM supplied jack, they are death traps.
2. Always use axle stands.
3. I have 12" lengths of 5" angle tha I put against the wheels on the ground, wheteher it be front or back.
4. Alway put the removed wheels under the sill, then atleast the car can only fall so far.

This article will make me even more careful in future.

[Sebastian]

I have seen an Axle stand fail before .
So anytime I'm going under a car i use a trolley jack and axle stand together , plus like Rory says there ,put the removed wheel under the sill.

[CJ]

So anytime I'm going under a car i use a trolley jack and axle stand together , plus like Rory says there ,put the removed wheel under the sill.

Same here, you can't be too careful. If the jack fails, you've got the stand, if the stand fails, you've got the wheel.

CJ

[Dilogoat86]

For very tough jobs with a lot of pulling and pushing i recommend getting to know someone with a proper lift. makes the job easier and they have a few failsafes of their own so they can't fall.

RIP Mr. DIY man.

[Kace]

I have seen an Axle stand fail before .
So anytime I'm going under a car i use a trolley jack and axle stand together , plus like Rory says there ,put the removed wheel under the sill.

Seb - either you've got very wide wheels or a very narrow chest if you think that a wheel is going to save you.


Anyway, we're sorted next week lads !!

http://www.lidl.ie/IE/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20100222.p.Axle_Stands

[colm_mcm]

didn't get a great review here
http://octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=18286&page=5

[Sebastian]

Seb - either you've got very wide wheels or a very narrow chest if you think that a wheel is going to save you.

if the trolley fails , the axle will hold , if that fails the wheel is there , but i have yet to see all fail at once

[Sebastian]

i think this is good value

http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/store ... yId_212549


i have bought a set of these toys but the fto is to low to run it easy over them so i use the jacks