Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 13,888
@JRS Any word on the poor chap?
A friendly reminder to all of us who work on cars at home
- Thread starter JRS
- Start date
Man of Honour
Having learnt my trade as a mechanical engineer in the RAF it's automatic for me to chock the wheels and also to always use axle stands when jacking the car up. A lot of people can't be bothered with the hassle though and that's when things like this happen. There is a garage in Elgin that I usually cringe at when we go past as 9/10 they have a car, often one of these huge 4x4 pick ups, jacked up with all the wheels off and no axle stands underneath. The jacks are usually at maximum elevation too. Someone is going to have a serious accident there one day.
In retrospect, he was gone when we got to him. His lad came over last night to thank us for what we did, I just wish we could have done more.
Soldato
That's absolutely horrific. I hope it's not effecting you too much. Thoughts go out for his family.
Terrible news
Reminds me of the time I was putting a new set of alloys on my A4. I was doing this on my crappy driveway, using the silly jack that came with the car’s tool kit.
My mate who was supposed to be helping me, was indoors watching the rugby. I was putting on the last wheel when the jack toppled over and the car fell towards me. Luckily I had positioned the wheel up against the hub (just about to put the bolts in), so when the car fell off the jack, the brake disk landed on the inside of the rim, which took the weight of the car. I crapped my pants, but was unhurt.
That was over 10 years ago and I still shiver when I think about it. Idiot.
Similar happened to me and a Clio. The jack snapped within about 2 minutes of jacking the car up, whilst I was getting the stands from the garage. Always think would have happened if I was under it etc. Sorry to hear about your neighbour JRS. :/
Caporegime
Thats awful news. RIP. 
Well done for doing what you did.
Well done for doing what you did.
I never forget the day i jacked up a machine and put concrete breeze blocks underneath it with a 20mm steel plate on top of them and i just started to go under the machine when one the concrete blocks basically just exploded and of cause the machine dropped i had a hard hat on at the time and i was that close my hard hat was caught and crushed
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One of those basic wind up jacks? I find they're incredibly flimsy.
Caporegime
Man that's grim to witness something like that. Horrible way to go.
His partner has been over to thank us for what we did. If anyone needs me the rest of the evening I'll be inside a bottle of whisky.
Caporegime
<3
Soldato
Might sound daft but don't be afraid to seek help if it really does start getting to you.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2012
- Posts
- 8,333
the rare time i've ever been under a vehicle to work on it i've always been so very concious of the methods of propping said vehicle up. even the likes of jack stands terrify me with thoughts of tipping.
sorry to hear the fella didn't make it
sorry to hear the fella didn't make it
Back at'cha bud.
Cheers guys. I'm in the fortunate position of having a decently robust support network with family and friends locally.
And to reiterate...
Use. God damned. Chocks.
Use a brick. Stack wheels underneath. Repurpose a tree trunk cutting. Anything. Quite apart from the damage it can do to you if things go wrong, think about the damage losing you is gonna do to your family.
Soldato
I hope you’re ok pal. This thread has resonated with me quite deeply. Even if just one person thinks twice when they’re next working on their car after reading it, it will be a positive impact in light of a horrible tragedy.
I will be. Spent the afternoon doping out the new seatbelt fitment for the ID19 to occupy some brain runtime, because getting cross at Citroën for design decisions they made 50+ years ago is exceedingly useful in that regard
Soldato
Awful news, really sad and I hope you are okay JRS.
I have many a time debated doing work on my cars but I have a horrendous feeling of paranoia about things like this so I have always avoided it.
I have many a time debated doing work on my cars but I have a horrendous feeling of paranoia about things like this so I have always avoided it.