OT - Always use jack stands. Here's why

PLEASE use jackstands!!! A good friend was killed when the cinder blocks he was using to support a step van broke and it suffocated him. He allways had a cavalier attitude about safety when we were at work,and we gave him shit for it. I really miss his sense of humor and the BS we could toss around.RIP John DeBoe.

Amen. In fact, I always use a backup block of 2x4's I put together in addition to the jack stands. Overkill, maybe, but I don't really relish crawling under at the best of times.

JoeH.

I have always been careful about using good stands, even with my pneumatic jacks which have a postive stop. When I was

-- Barry'd in Studes

58 Packard Hawk 40 President 39 Coupe Exp. 59 DeLuxe 1/2 tn. 56 Packard "400"in high screwel, a friend watched his dad get his brains smashed out of his head when a car suddenly slipped off of a bumper jack. Ordinarily bright & outgoing, 14 yr. old Stanley hardly spoke 2 words in the next year.

And if you are jacking up a vehicle not on pavement, be sure to use something very solid under the jackstands. My son, Matt, got some 1/2" steel plate that we use under the jackstands when on a soft surfface. Joe Roberts

Jackstands, we don't need no stinkin' jackstands:

Lee

Cinder blocks are about the most dangerous things to use for supporting a vehicle. Many are deceived by seeing them properly used on the wall of a building, not supporting a car sitting in the air. They are designed so that the load on them is evenly distributed across the entire top and bottom of it, and in an absolute vertical position. The literally split and shatter when all the weight of the car ends up on what may amount to less than 1 square inch of contact surface upon it. VERY unsafe things to use!!

Craig.

There's the difference between a jack stand and a.........jackass.

Lee,I sure as shit hope that's not you under there? your awful funny are'nt ya!

Nope not me, I don't even like being under a car on jackstands... and I don't own a welder.

Lee

I was Frank Fleming's (Nascar Modified driver nowdays) first crew chief when he started racing.He was under his 72 Nova dirt track car without jackstands,it was only up in the air on one side . I gave him a severe lecture and slid a telescoping jackstand under the car sideways,wedging it in place. The car fell 10 seconds later,slightly bending the jackstand, but Frank was unharmed. The car only had 3-1/2 inches ground clearence,weighed 3200 lbs, It would have crushed him instantly.

Freddy

>

and of course he is welding next to the gas tank.

Perfectly safe...........?

Mark (Cheesh!) Dunning

I solved the jack stand problem. I bought a 4 post lift. No more rolling around on a creeper for me.

Or welding with a plastic butane lighter in your pocket.

Freddy

I remember that safety warning about the dangers of welding with one in your pocket around 1979 or '80. Thing is, no one has ever found that poor welder who supposedly had his leg "blown off" by his exploding butane lighter. Hell, when we were younger, we would smash them on the ground and watch them explode if we found one left behind somewhere. I would suspect you may get a nasty burn, and a maybe little bit of plastic shrapnel in your leg, but nowhere near enough to blow your leg off as the warning letter stated. A butane lighter is definitely not a land-mine!

Craig

Sounds like a good one to send off to 'MythBusters'

I remember that safety warning about the dangers of welding with one in

If it was in your front pocket and blew up, you'd probably be thankful that the shapnel only went into your LEG.

Lee

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In my front shirt pocket, I'd definitely be concerned about my EYES! So indeed, its a valid reason not to have it on you while you are welding. My point was that a disposable lighter is simply not big enough and has nowhere the amount of fuel inside to blow off an appendage as the per that famous warning letter that made the rounds years ago.

In any case, you don't want anything that can readily ingnite such as matches or lighters on you or be wearing any type of synthetic clothing that easily burns while welding or soldering. Whenever I do plumbing where I have to solder copper or brass fittings, I never put the pack of matches I use to ignite the Mapp gas torch in my front pocket when soldering.

Craig