Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

Killed. Back in my college days, an acquaintance at a rival gas station (back in the days when gas stations had lifts and did actual service!) was killed when "the jack slipped"; he was crushed and died almost instantly, all before horrified witness co-workers could lift the car and drag him out.

So, whenever I'm under the car working off jack stands, his death is always in the back of my mind, and maybe I'm a little paranoid too, ya think?

Now-a-dayz, I gently set the car down on the jack stands to transfer the weight to them, BUT if possible I leave the (two) floor jacks still in contact with the frame, "just in case". Yesterday, was a "necessary" exception...I thought.

LSS, I had the rear up on jack stands, and the front rested on the hydraulic floor jacks as I Lie on my back, under the rear end to top-off the differential fluid I had just replaced.

Suddenly without warning (or provocation!), the purchase point of one of the jack stands shifted. I guess I hadn't had it positioned one of the stands just right and the car settled some. Well, that has happened before, but never while I was "exposed", as it were! (Heck, I was just going to squirt a little more fluid in the diff, having re-arranged the jacking to better level the car...no big deal, right?) BANG! The rear dropped about 1/2" and the car shuddered, the differential just inches from my face... It was over in a split second, but it SCARED THE LIVIN' PISS OUTTA ME! Not knowing what happened, and no redundant floor jacks protecting me, I banged my head and barked some knuckles in my panic getting out from under there!

Well, after catching my breath and reinspecting the jack stands and their setup, no harm done; the stands were perfectly perpendicular to the floor and securely under load-bearing frame pinch seams. False alarm. All was well. Refusing to let fear get the best of me, I crawled back under there, finished in about a minute w/o jostling the car more than needed to replace the fill plug when I finished.

I've NO ceiling height to allow a post lift, but I'm seriously in the market for a "Kwiklift", soon as funds allow! But, in the mean time, maybe those flat 2x4 "shims" that slide under the wheels might be a good interim solution...along with the redundant floor jacks for us paranoid DIY'ers.

Be safe out there, my friends! (Now, excuse me while I find some clean underwear!!)

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

Glad to hear you're ok, it doesn't take but an instant for a life to change forever.

I was thinking you should consider a Kwik-Lift before I got to the paragraph where you mentioned it. They seem worth the investment. I'm going to try to purchase one this summer for my garage.

B17 Crew
:hello:

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

Paul, i have a kwik-lift if you want to check one out before buying

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

Paul, I have a 53 that I just did a body drop onto. I have the chassis on skates, (dollies) since that's how I positioned it under the hanging body during the process. I HATE JACK SATNDS as well. HATE HATE HATE!!!

Anyway, with the chassis on the skates, I have plenty of room to slide underneath it and do whatever I need to do. My point being, either the KWIKLIFT or even the RACE RAMPS that you drive up on, should get you enough room to slide under the car safely and without being nervous.

So glad you are ok.

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

I am right there with you Paul. 15 years ago I had no fear of going under my vette with heavy duty jack stands. But now for some reason crawling under 3500lbs of steel and fiber glass even with heavy duty jack stands still makes me fell uneasy.

My garage is low ceiling also. Hopefully I can get a lift.

Pete's garage is awesome and so is his lift!

One day I will upgrade.

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

Paul - very glad to hear it was not more serious than a change of drawers!

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

And yet Mr. Haibeck does all of the work in his shop on jackstands not a lift.
I suppose thats because even if the jackstands give way, he's skinny enough to squirt out from under the car. Unfortunately, the rest of us would be squashed like a bug.
But Paul, I understand your trepidation. I did a ZF-6 transplant on my 84 one winter. Was under the car for over a month. I got comfortable with snaking under there after a while. But I always shake the car prior to sliding under it and like you, I do keep a floor jack engaged as well, just in case.

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

How does everyone lift their car? I usually do driver side, then lift the passenger side. I have seen on some cars where they lift the front then the back of the car. Is there a right or wrong way to do it?

I wish I could get a MaxJack System, but that just isn't in the budget.

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

Anybody ever try any of the scissor lifts out there? I see more of those being used in body shops I visit.

Re: Cheap "thrill" ho-boy.
 

I've looked at the scissor lifts. They're fine. Several weight capacity styles available.

I plan on a 2 post lift in my shop this year. I have a 4 post lift in the house garage but there are always cars stored on it.