Indeed - I used the spare wheel. Saved me once when the stand slipped and the sump pinned me to the floor, pressing on my chest. Luckily I was just able to reach a scissor jack that lifted the car enough for me to get clear.
A significant number of mechanics are killed or maimed by crushing incidents.
The familiarity problem. What proportion on post lifts, I wonder. Might suggest that the safety devices in your earlier post are not necessarily infallible.
It is not the lift that fails, rather its use, failing to arrange the vehicle so that its weight is evenly distributed on a two post lift is the usual problem:
When a similar thing happened to me, I had failed to account for the load in the back of a vehicle, happily the design of the lift and me being near the front of the vehicle saved me from any serious injury. Others have been less lucky and been crushed when the vehicle has fallen on them. That problem is close to impossible on a four post lift, but then there have been occasions when vehicles have been driven off the end.
Thanks for the clarification. (Never been involved professionally with car lifts, but have done a fair amount of work on overhead travelling cranes and other sorts of lifting equipment; never too old to learn something new).
Makes no difference where anything is made. Plenty rubbish made in the UK too over the years, as well as China etc.
'Sealey Tools started life in 1979 when John Sealey began selling jacking and lifting equipment from the back of a car. The company is now a major importer and wholesaler of automotive, electrical and general purpose power and hand tools with a custom-built headquarters and distribution centre in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.'
Basically, they make nothing themslves. Just buy it in and stick their name on it. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But it always sold on price rather than the very best quality.
A spare wheel might be better than nothing, but surely you'd want something to support the car high enough so it can't hurt you if it falls?
At the time (16) I was relatively slim, so was just enough to do the job.
Nowadays I'd need something that gave a good deal more clearance :-)
My dad's old set were taken from the car club at a company he worked at when it closed down in the late 60s/early 70s. Everyone who had paid in took some tools as a refund of their payments into the club. They were made of 2"x2"x1/4" steel angle, on an 14" square, 1/4" base, with a
1-1/4" thread for adjustment. You needed a trolley jack with a good, high lift to get them under - apparently they had been used for trucks and buses.SteveW
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