Anyone one...ever.....

[St.stephen]

Drop your car on the garage floor??? I did it this weekend putting together the drivers side strut assembly and such. I went to get up as I was sitting indian style on the floor and stupidly grabbed the topside of the engine bay and gave a big pull to get myself up. I ended up pulling the car right off the jackstands onto the flor.

[SuDZ]

Originally posted by St.stephen

Drop your car on the garage floor??? I did it this weekend putting together the drivers side strut assembly and such. I went to get up as I was sitting indian style on the floor and stupidly grabbed the topside of the engine bay and gave a big pull to get myself up. I ended up pulling the car right off the jackstands onto the flor.

Ouch, at least it did not land on you. How bad was the damage?

SuDZ

[St.stephen]

I thought the same thing and I was really thanking my reflexes!

Thankfully the only things on the car were the doors and hatch so the car wasn't that heavy and merely dropped on the front crossmember.....some sheetmetal in the rear got a little boogered up but it stayed on the rear stands for the most part. phew!!

[Chino 240Z]

One of my second rules is: I always give a couple hard tugs back and forth on the car before I lower & remove the floor jack, just in case? ya never know!

Sounds like you got my kinda of luck, I just screw up things inside the house so in the garage I'm more careful because me wife would kill me if I messed up my (I mean, her) car.

:stupid: (me)

(her)

[2ManyZs]

I've had a car fall off the floor jack once or twice, once had it fall off the jack as the jack was sinking into the hot pavement of the driveway and started falling over...:stupid:

Haven't had one fall off the jackstands... yet.... I always buy the jackstands with the widest bases as I can find so maybe that's why I've been lucky so far...

Now I know why you asked me about the pic of my car on the stands....

Glad you didn't get caught under it....

I once knew a guy who had a 68 Nova fall off the jack stands while he was under it changing the oil... luckily for him, the frame of the car came down right across his chest. He layed there for 30 minutes waiting for help and held the car on his chest the whole time..... needless to say he was a guy no one wanted to annoy...:devious:

Worst, or silliest thing I've ever done, was taking a transmission out of a Z while lying on a creeper. I let the transmission down onto my chest and thought I'd just roll out from under the car and then lay it on the garage floor..only bad part with that idea was after I had it on my chest, I realized I didn't have the car high enough for the transmission to go under the floor of the car...:stupid: so that meant, I had to try to get it off my chest while making sure I could keep the trans in the tunnel so I had room enough to get it off me so I could get out.:cross-eye :stupid:

[LanceM]

Yep,

The first and I mean first thing I do is try to yank, wiggle, and shake a car off of jack stands. If it moves at all then they are not right and need to be repositioned somehow, and until all 180 pounds of me can't push it off the jackstands trying, and I mean trying, in every way before I climb underneath. That and I got rid of the cheapies 20 years ago, bought some good heavy ones that have wide bases and could hold the car up indivually if it would balance If you have the stands in the right place you can not push it off, it is as solid as being on 4 wheels, OK yeah a forklift into the side....

I don't want anything moving except what I'm yanking on when I'm under a car! My head popping like a watermelon under a frame rail is not the last thing I want to hear in my lifetime!!!

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by LanceM

If you have the stands in the right place you can not push it off, it is as solid as being on 4 wheels, OK yeah a forklift into the side....

This is a great idea, but only applies IF the car is complete. When you have the engine, trans, and suspension off the car; it will weigh so little that a man can very easily knock it off the stands, especially the fron end of the chassis.

Been there, almost done that!

[LanceM]

OK,

You are talking a different animal that what I was. On an empty body I would use more than 4 stands. But to pull a car off the stands pulling yourself up from a sitting position you'd have to admit that it wasn't on very good empty or full....

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by 2ManyZs

Worst, or silliest thing I've ever done, was taking a transmission out of a Z while lying on a creeper. I let the transmission down onto my chest and thought I'd just roll out from under the car and then lay it on the garage floor..only bad part with that idea was after I had it on my chest, I realized I didn't have the car high enough for the transmission to go under the floor of the car...:stupid: so that meant, I had to try to get it off my chest while making sure I could keep the trans in the tunnel so I had room enough to get it off me so I could get out.:cross-eye :stupid:

Oh, so I'm not the only guy who has done this. Sure wished that I had a helper that evening to get the damn thing off of me. :stupid: :mad:

[Marty Rogan]

One thing I learned to do a while ago, is to put the wheels, or a sturdy tool box under the side sills. In case the car falls, it will land on the wheels, leaving some space, so as not to pancake you into the floor.

Marty

[abas]

daftest thing I did was to assume that an empty shell didn't really weigh enough to need 4 axle stands. So I used 2 at the back and one under the front crossmember. A friend cam round and kind of half sat on one of the front corners of the car and it started to tip and slide over. Luckily I also do the same as Marty and had the wheels under the sills and so they took the fall.

[mwz]

My latest scare was just a few weeks ago. The 240Z was on 4 stands nicely, and the differential, rear struts and decklid were off the car. Problem was the engine and tranny were still in it. Oh, lets pull that full size spare tire/rim out of the back...it tipped forwards instantly. The missing spare tire upset the balance. Whoops! :stupid: Needless to say, now I take a close look at things as I remove heavy parts from one end or the other!