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axle stands are the daddy although you have to have them under the car, supporting the axle, rather than somewhere near the car, supported on a leaky jack ![::)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/eyesroll.png) I like the old paving stone method myself, but always get a dog to check its safe ;D
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Someone just shot the elephant in the room.
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Backups! I jack the skoda up on the stock post jacks, fit axle stands lower the car down but leave the jacks just slightly loaded. Then I use wheels/tyres/wood or whatever as another backup. Chocking the wheels front and back is also a must.
A friend of mine recently got squashed under a car. Luckily his head was in the exhaust recess (no exhaust fitted) so saved getting his bonce crushed.
Be safe out there.
Lewis
P.s. he was fine but it was a close call!
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Last Edit: Jul 5, 2010 19:25:05 GMT by lewist123
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Scary stuff. Bricks are not a good idea. I had my old m535i on bricks on one side while I got a tyre changed. I didn't leave the jack in as I didn't want anyone nicking it and when I jacked it back up the next day all the bricks crumbled once the tension was off. I had no intentions of sticking my head under it but it's definetly not a good idea.
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Whats all this about 'sudden stress' on a breezeblock making it shatter? I'm not lifting and dropping the car on it repeatedly! Gently lowered onto a set of two or three bricks under a flat suspension mount or similar area is not going to cause a problem. Railway sleepers can crack too. Lifts can fail and fall. Ramps can slip. Axle stands can topple. Sounds like the only real answer is NEVER EVER go underneath your car!
Oh no wait, you can if you dig a pit. And take off its wheels and put it on the ground so it cant roll. And reinforce the pit with steel so the concrete doesn't collapse. And galvanize the steel so it doesn't rust...
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Whats all this about 'sudden stress' on a breezeblock making it shatter? I'm not lifting and dropping the car on it repeatedly! Gently lowered onto a set of two or three bricks under a flat suspension mount or similar area is not going to cause a problem. Railway sleepers can crack too. Lifts can fail and fall. Ramps can slip. Axle stands can topple. Sounds like the only real answer is NEVER EVER go underneath your car! Oh no wait, you can if you dig a pit. And take off its wheels and put it on the ground so it cant roll. And reinforce the pit with steel so the concrete doesn't collapse. And galvanize the steel so it doesn't rust... There is always an element of risk. We all (at some level) look at a situation and decide if they think it is, on balance, safe enough to do so. Knowing what risks there might be will only help someone to make an informed/safe decission.
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fpk
Part of things
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Posts: 154
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I use axle stands and jacks together just in case. I have often thought about searching for the dealer forecourt display stands , the massive tilt ramps things would make great ramps for getting under your car to weld it up.
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Decent sturdy axle stands and as many wheels on the ground as possible.
The other thing I have been known to do which was probably a bit dim, was to jack car up, put spacers in the coils and lower it back to the ground. If you have a fairly high car like mine this will work nicely
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This is an alternative, as used by U-Pull-It in York ![](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v730/jiminwatford/lineup01.jpg)
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I was jacking up my Austin Seven whilst putting an axle stand under the rear crossmember and the jack gave way. The jack was designed for tractors, so I am glad I was jacking up an Austin rather than a Massey Ferguson! Nevertheless, it resulted my fingers being trapped under the car for a good ten minutes (a long time to have a car resting on your fingers) before someone could lift the car off me. It took over a year for the nerves in those fingers to fix themselves. My fingers were so crushed that I passed out as soon as soon as I got back to the house and saw what they looked like!
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sudden stress on a breeze block can be anything from your mate slamming the cars door to you leaving it out over a cold night where it absorbs water and freezes, i've seen it happen, not just with cars on em.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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Oh no wait, you can if you dig a pit. And take off its wheels and put it on the ground so it cant roll. And reinforce the pit with steel so the concrete doesn't collapse. And galvanize the steel so it doesn't rust... Be careful the pit doesn't fill with heavier-than-air gases such as carbon monoxide, dioxide or petrol fumes. Otherwise you're gonna have a bad time ;D Safest way of course is to use a decent lift, like so: ![](http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/richard_aston/College%202/DSCN0222.jpg) ![](http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/richard_aston/College%202/DSCN0224.jpg) ![](http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m133/richard_aston/College%202/DSCN0225.jpg) Ooooops... ;D (Not me. National diploma kids at my old college)
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1989 Peugeot 205. You know, the one that was parked in a ditch on the campsite at RRG'17... the glass is always full. but the ratio of air to water may vary.
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I use axle stands and jacks together just in case. I have often thought about searching for the dealer forecourt display stands , the massive tilt ramps things would make great ramps for getting under your car to weld it up. Good point. There's someone selling one of those ex-display ramps in Classic Car Weekly for £300. Where do you put it when not using it though?
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1986 Citroen 2CV Dolly Other things. Check out my Blog for the latest! www.hubnut.org
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At last, the gasser seems like such a practical car... ;D ;D ![](http://usera.ImageCave.com/1960Zody/Zodiac/steve016-copy-copy.jpg)
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Ramps whenever possible ![](http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i251/bruceholder/MudMonkey/MudMonkey041.jpg) Axle stands are awesome, but buy the biggest/most heavy duty you can (they aren't that expensive and give you more height) - mine are 6 ton ones, cost only £30 a pair and will way outlast cheapy 2ton halfords ones that wobble like mad! Axle stands & ramps combo ![](http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i251/bruceholder/MudMonkeyII/MM006.jpg) If you can get two sets of ramps, things are about as safe as you can get for working under a car ![](http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i251/bruceholder/MudMonkeyII/Alt01.jpg) I also subscribe to the bricks/breezeblocks being a massive no no. Wood is forgiving and will form/crush to some extent but generally remain solid. Bricks are rigid and brittle and there is no give....so they will crumble/crack/split if they have a load on them that is not spread evenly and gently over the entire surface. SUre bricks can support the weight of a house, but they are laid one by one in layers over time to build the house. They are not designed to have 1+ tons suddenly sit on them over a fraction of their surface area. Anyone thinking bricks are OK to use for supporting a car.... please rethink. Sure there are risks with all kinds of jacking/supporting vehicles but in some cases, these risks simply aren't worth taking.
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Ryannn
Posted a lot
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Posts: 2,421
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Only problem with two ramps is ground clearance on whichever set has to be under the body, all my cars are standard height but ramps wouldn't fit under the body and I'm always super weary of jacking the rear up so high. I try to use a block of wood on my jack so it's not extending so far. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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This is probably the sturdiest way for the home mechanic in most cases, could still be improved by turning one set of ramps around though so the vehcile can't roll off. ;D Only problem with two ramps is ground clearance on whichever set has to be under the body, all my cars are standard height but ramps wouldn't fit under the body and I'm always super weary of jacking the rear up so high. I try to use a block of wood on my jack so it's not extending so far. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) better off driving the car onto some timber to get it high enough rather than blocks balanced on the jack.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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VND
Posted a lot
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Posts: 1,224
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This thread is maximum helpfull. Been meaning to get under mine with a wire brush and some waxoil but wasnt confident about method. Cheers all.
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Safest working under car?HARDCORE
@hardcore
Club Retro Rides Member 190
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Just to throw a spanner in the works, given the taste in cars that many of us share... most of my cars are too low to drive up onto normal ramps (i.e. the bodywork hits the ramp before the tyre does) and a standard jack won't go under them either. I bought a low-entry jack from Machine Mart but you need to be careful with these too as they're only rated at 1.25 tons.. I can't moan too much cos I have access to this (@ my Dad's) and he has built sloping wooden ramps either side of it to get low ones on (the ramps need about 10cms clearance) ;D ![](http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa219/AndyAndKara/Cars/DSC01323.jpg) There's some things you can't do on it tho (because of the scissor action it lifts with) such as a rwd gearbox swap. I use the low-level jack to get one side up enough to get a normal jack under, then move the low jack to the other side, jack it up evenly (both sides at once), put big old axle stands under the rails & lower the jacks til the car is fully supported by the stands (leaving the jack 'pinched up' just in case). If I need both ends of the car up (g'box swap, exhast..) I'll do the same at the other end then move the jacks to the middle & pinch them up. I've never gone in for the wheels/blocks of wood as an extra fail-safe tbh - I've never had a car fall from axle stands and as Scary said if I set underseal on fire grinding/welding I wanna be able to roll out & grab an extinguisher! (There's another tip: keep an extinguisher handy!) When I was restoring the floorpan of my Manta it was on 4 axle stands for 5 months (including a couple of big-ass storms) and it never moved an inch. All the other advice re. not working on a car alone or keeping a phone to hand, etc is all good stuff ;D Stay safe peeps! Of course the best solution to having a car that's too low for ramps... ![](http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa219/AndyAndKara/Cars/Granny%20Thread/MoTGranny.jpg) ;D
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LowStandards
Club Retro Rides Member
Bigging Up The Sum Sum Man Since '99
Posts: 2,656
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Bricks and breezeblocks are a def no no! i replaced an engine on an old Escort once that was supported by bricks. Lying underneath, it suddently dropped and came to rest about a cm above my nose, the top brick had suddenly let go, cracked in 2, never curse word me'sen so much in my life!
There was no sudden shock or anything to make it happen, it had been up on them for a good 3 weeks and i wasn't even wrenching at that time, just having a quick perusal!
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psycho83
East of England
Rhythm and Booze
Posts: 777
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