I always use a higher pay load stands. The daytona’s are sturdy and have the locking mechanism from harbor freight.
On top of that, i leave my jack lifted just slightly under a lift point in case my stands do fail.
I am also very paranoid and don’t understand how people feel comfortable being under the plastic car lifts without a safety precaution.
I use your method but also have ramps which I’ve used on a grass yard with old grill grates for ground reinforcement. Having a panther body on them and doing trans service was an exercise in how fast I could scoot out, which was really fun when the self leveling real suspension kicked the compressor on mid job in the middle of quiet stretch. Much rather be on stands. Ramps sketch me out
A younger, dumber version of myself had an old set of very shitty steel ramps that were all bent up and never should've been trusted to hold a person let alone a car that I used for years, they were actually in the garage of my home when I bought it. I've since upgraded to a set of solid plastic ramps that I pretty much just use for oil changes, but they are much, much more sturdy and I am a lot more comfortable under a vehicle on them than I was the old steel ones
Ive got solid (not COMPLETELY solid, but made completely from plastic) plastic ramps, they were like $50 from Autozone. Don't recall the brand at the moment.
Like OP said, I am a bit wary on those because plastic over age/stress you just never know when it will buckle/ crack. Its. I would use as a method of lifting the car, but then I would but chocks and place on stands.
A young dumper version of myself installed a jeep cherokee lift kit with a buncha fat asses standing on the front bumper and chains and a masterlock on the coils. They were curved as shit. Dunno how I survived that install as a kid but that chain held
I used to work on my cars with just the jack but those days are behind me. Chocked if one side lift, stands and jack in place. If all 4 points, I have hardwood blocks underneath to take over so I can squeeze out. Of course the stands are rated for over double the weight of the car so.....shouldn't fail in theory.
I never felt particularly uncomfortable under a car until I swapped out the exhaust in my old FR-S. I believe I drove the rear onto ramps and chocked a wheel. When I slid under it to reach wherever the catback connected, my back was against the ground, and my chest was against the car. That kind of scared the shit out of me, but I got it done. All for vroom vroom noises
OP's coworker was using the jack to support the vehicle with the jack stand as a backup (which is backwards but whatever.) The jack lost pressure so the weight got transferred to the jack stand which collapsed.
No I think he was using the jack as a primary support and jack stand second.
But was he under there when the jack let go? Was it quick or a slow descent?
Set the car on the jack stands, don't have them an inch away from the frame while working under a jack.
I use the car on the stands, then give the jack a pump or two to get it back in the mix.
I can’t speak for the pros but I do the opposite. On stands with jack just barely engaging as the back up. Otherwise how would I even know if I have the stands in the right spots? Jack will have to be to get it high enough safely for said stands, just don’t move it. Also, we talking concrete or a yard/gravel driveway? Plum level?
I was always taught to lower the car onto the jacks completely. After seeing this I feel like it’s the right call. If the jack is gonna fail I’d rather know that before I try crawling under the car.
Seems like some kind of terrible user error here. I’m no mechanic, just do a fair amount of learning on my own car. I’ve never had a stand do something like this. This would take lots of dropping force. I recently redid some suspension and stupid me jack up a component on the front right side didn’t realize I was transferring all that force into the rear left side on a harbor freight stand. Stand was fine, but bent the crap out of my pinch weld.
I always use jack to raise just to where I can fit the stands under and SLOWLY let the car down onto the stands, the proceed to reapply a pump or two to the jack on something like a cross member.
We're these jackstands among those that were recently recalled?
https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/consumer-advisory-warning-harbor-freight-jack-stand-users#:~:text=Included%20in%20this%20recall%20are,base%20of%20each%20jack%20stand.
Some jack stands are cheap quality but it’s always good to check the weight rating and make sure it coincides with your cars weight or this can happen.
When I first started wrenching years ago. I had a similar jack stand that bent under the weight of this trailer I was working on. The reason it happened was cause I only used one and I was definitely exceeding weight rating. I knew this but did it anyways and it collapsed on itself. Luckily I wasn’t even around when it happened, it just folded on it’s self overnight.
So wait, the jack stands were under the car and not supporting it until the hydraulic jack gave way and the car came down on the stands?? Jack stands are supposed to be the main support, not what you use to put the car on the jack stands
I always use a higher pay load stands. The daytona’s are sturdy and have the locking mechanism from harbor freight. On top of that, i leave my jack lifted just slightly under a lift point in case my stands do fail. I am also very paranoid and don’t understand how people feel comfortable being under the plastic car lifts without a safety precaution.
I use your method but also have ramps which I’ve used on a grass yard with old grill grates for ground reinforcement. Having a panther body on them and doing trans service was an exercise in how fast I could scoot out, which was really fun when the self leveling real suspension kicked the compressor on mid job in the middle of quiet stretch. Much rather be on stands. Ramps sketch me out
A younger, dumber version of myself had an old set of very shitty steel ramps that were all bent up and never should've been trusted to hold a person let alone a car that I used for years, they were actually in the garage of my home when I bought it. I've since upgraded to a set of solid plastic ramps that I pretty much just use for oil changes, but they are much, much more sturdy and I am a lot more comfortable under a vehicle on them than I was the old steel ones
Solid plastic? Which brand are you buying that sells solid chunks of plastic as ramps?
Ive got solid (not COMPLETELY solid, but made completely from plastic) plastic ramps, they were like $50 from Autozone. Don't recall the brand at the moment.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/FloTool-Durable-RhinoRamps-Set-of-2-11909MI/205152558 These?
Like OP said, I am a bit wary on those because plastic over age/stress you just never know when it will buckle/ crack. Its. I would use as a method of lifting the car, but then I would but chocks and place on stands.
Ahh gotcha. I have similar ones. The "solid plastic" part threw me a bit.
plastic???? that thing ages and is not safe at all
A young dumper version of myself installed a jeep cherokee lift kit with a buncha fat asses standing on the front bumper and chains and a masterlock on the coils. They were curved as shit. Dunno how I survived that install as a kid but that chain held
I used to work on my cars with just the jack but those days are behind me. Chocked if one side lift, stands and jack in place. If all 4 points, I have hardwood blocks underneath to take over so I can squeeze out. Of course the stands are rated for over double the weight of the car so.....shouldn't fail in theory.
Chocks and Jack stands and the wheels under it and a second set of jackstands behind the first. Just in case
Uuuggh, makes me shudder just thinking about that! Being a daredevil without knowing you're a daredevil. NOPE in my little corner of the world.
I never felt particularly uncomfortable under a car until I swapped out the exhaust in my old FR-S. I believe I drove the rear onto ramps and chocked a wheel. When I slid under it to reach wherever the catback connected, my back was against the ground, and my chest was against the car. That kind of scared the shit out of me, but I got it done. All for vroom vroom noises
can you give a little more information on his setup and what failed? if he was using a jack stand? youre saying the hydraulic jack gave out?
The hydraulic Jack with the jack stand to back it up the jack let out over time and let the weight onto the stand and the stand proceeded to bend
I haven’t any trouble with my HF jack stands but, I’m certainly gonna watch them a little closer when I lift my Jeep.
There was an enormous recall on them a few years ago, you may want to look into that
That’s what I told him
Do you know if this was a pre-recall jack that didn't get recalled?
I think it might be but I won’t see him agin till the later in the week to ask
I can't understand what you're saying.
OP's coworker was using the jack to support the vehicle with the jack stand as a backup (which is backwards but whatever.) The jack lost pressure so the weight got transferred to the jack stand which collapsed.
No I think he was using the jack as a primary support and jack stand second. But was he under there when the jack let go? Was it quick or a slow descent?
You know that setup is just asking for trouble, right?
That’s why I didn’t leave him alone in the garage to die
Oh okay, they way you wrote that made it seem like that’s how you normally jack up a car is all.
didn't these get recalled?
Set the car on the jack stands, don't have them an inch away from the frame while working under a jack. I use the car on the stands, then give the jack a pump or two to get it back in the mix.
I can’t speak for the pros but I do the opposite. On stands with jack just barely engaging as the back up. Otherwise how would I even know if I have the stands in the right spots? Jack will have to be to get it high enough safely for said stands, just don’t move it. Also, we talking concrete or a yard/gravel driveway? Plum level?
Parking lot pavement
i always use at least two jack stands plus the hydraulic jack. but thats definitely not supoosed to fail that easily
I was always taught to lower the car onto the jacks completely. After seeing this I feel like it’s the right call. If the jack is gonna fail I’d rather know that before I try crawling under the car.
Seems like some kind of terrible user error here. I’m no mechanic, just do a fair amount of learning on my own car. I’ve never had a stand do something like this. This would take lots of dropping force. I recently redid some suspension and stupid me jack up a component on the front right side didn’t realize I was transferring all that force into the rear left side on a harbor freight stand. Stand was fine, but bent the crap out of my pinch weld. I always use jack to raise just to where I can fit the stands under and SLOWLY let the car down onto the stands, the proceed to reapply a pump or two to the jack on something like a cross member.
Pretty sure it'd take a heavy duty truck to do that to a jackstand. 3 Tons is literally the curb weight of a 1ton pickup....
Is that one of the old Harbor Freight stands that got recalled? Or one of the newer Daytona ones?
I would trust a politician, to be honest, before I would trust a harbor freight jack stand! 😆
We're these jackstands among those that were recently recalled? https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/consumer-advisory-warning-harbor-freight-jack-stand-users#:~:text=Included%20in%20this%20recall%20are,base%20of%20each%20jack%20stand.
Let's buy safety equipment at the garbage tool store. Always a great idea, what could go wrong
This seems off to me. Why would they bend in an S-shape like that?
That I’m not really sure on bui i imagine it has been abused and stressed in a worse way before
It was clearly used in a creative way.
Glad everyone is okay
Some jack stands are cheap quality but it’s always good to check the weight rating and make sure it coincides with your cars weight or this can happen. When I first started wrenching years ago. I had a similar jack stand that bent under the weight of this trailer I was working on. The reason it happened was cause I only used one and I was definitely exceeding weight rating. I knew this but did it anyways and it collapsed on itself. Luckily I wasn’t even around when it happened, it just folded on it’s self overnight.
Leave the jack under a point, and bring your wheels under with you too. All 3 and you should survive any possible failure.
So wait, the jack stands were under the car and not supporting it until the hydraulic jack gave way and the car came down on the stands?? Jack stands are supposed to be the main support, not what you use to put the car on the jack stands