A floor jack's STEEL WHEELS

Some cheaper ramps can twist and collapse. If your not on a level surface or if you overload them they can fail. These same problems can also be found with jacks, jack stands, and lifts. ALL mechanical devices can fail. Take a look at how many people have died using service pits. Almost makes you want to pay the dealer to do the work....

Reply to
Steve W.
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Corrugated cardboard would have a lot higher rolling resistance. You would have to crush the corrugations to move.

Now "railroad board" might work for a one-shot use, that's the thick paper cardboard they use as the backing for note pads and legal pads. You would have to order it in from a paper supplier.

Best and easiest to obtain material for a floor protector is 1/4" tempered hardboard - basically pegboard without the holes. Available at almost any good lumber yard or home center.

The 1/8" thickness will fall apart too fast.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

About a week and a half ago, I patched a tiny gas tank leak under my van.I put four 4'' by 4' lenghts of wood under a long wide piece of channel steel to serve as a ramp and I drove the right front wheel of my van onto the ramp.Then I jacked up the right rear of my van and I stacked two short pieces of railroad cross ties and then I eased off of the jack.Then I used two more short piece of railroad cross ties for a chock blocks agains't the left rear wheel and the left front wheel.I believe in being safe when I need to roll around under a vehicle. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

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Schucks, no, it doesn't make me want to let the dealer or quick-change place do the work :-)

About 5 years ago, in 2003 or so, when I brought my old '95 Tercel to a Jiffy Lube, the Jiffy Lube fella put in green coolant, instead of pink Toyota coolant. Before he did it, he told me the green stuff was the same as the pink Toyota stuff. So I said okay.

Well, just a short matter of weeks or months later, the green coolant in the overflow bottle/reservoir began turning black and the volume diminished a whole lot. I guess oil started leaking into the coolant system, since Jiffy Lube put in the wrong type of coolant. And coolant was probably leaking into the oil, but I didn't know what a UOA (Used Oil Analysis) was back then, so I never got a UOA.

Anyway, at the time, I didn't realize what the cause was, because I wasn't really interested in learning about cars back then. But I did bring the Tercel back to Jippy Loob just to guage the fellas facial expressions and reaction when I opened the hood. I figured if the culprit was the green coolant he used (in place of the pink), he might say something.

Well, he didn't say anthing and wore a Poker face. The fella was a 30-something manager there, too, not some kid out of high school.

The coolant system was never the same again. Driving around town, the dash's temperature gauge forever-after always showed a higher arrow reading than it did before Jiffy Lube got their hands on my car. The coolant temp gauge's arrow wasn't in the red, but the arrow would come to stop at a level higher than it ever used to--big difference in arrow readings. The engine's operating temperature was running hotter than it needed to, increasing engine wear I'm sure.

If you have a Toyota and bring your car to Jiffy Lube, make sure they have pink Toyota coolant there, or buy the coolant from your dealer before taking it to Jiffy Lube. Better yet, have your dealer do the coolant change, or carefully learn to do it yourself.

Reply to
Built_Well

Sounds about like the routine we used to go through with the fleet vehicles. Dealer was used for any serious work, BUT for oil, filters and such we were supposed to use the Valvoline places. I think they destroyed at least 20 transmissions by using "compatible" fluid instead of the Chrysler specific stuff. Got to the point that I "forgot" to have the trans serviced more than once. I HATED using the tiny rentals they gave us for service calls. (We were running Grand Caravans and the rentals were usually Neons...) Ever try to fit 1/2 ton of stuff in a Neon?

Reply to
Steve W.

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In this case, the color of the coolant has everything to do with it. Unlike green coolant, Toyota's pink coolant is a non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite, and non-borate coolant with long-life hybrid organic acid technology (a combination of low phosphates and organic acids).

From the manual: "Use of improper coolants may damage your engine cooling system. Only use Toyota Super Long Life Coolant or similar high-quality ethylene glycol based non-silicate, non-amine, non-nitrite....coolant....[etc]."

In 2003, that '95 Tercel didn't even have 30,000 miles on it when Jiffy Lube worked their magic on its cooling system.

Reply to
Built_Well

Doesn't make me want to throw out my ramps....

Reply to
Tomes

Maybe you would suppose that. But someone who wasn't a troll would come to the correct conclusion that it is the CONCRETE that is getting ground up, not the wheels.

Reply to
Steve

Scratch a nail across the concrete.I doubt if those steel wheels are as rough on concrete as nails are.You wont wear out that concrete and those steel wheels anyway.That floor jack will quit working long before that ever happens. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

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The U.S. Courts disagree with you.

By the way, name-calling again. My, what does that suggest?

You and Steve (not to be confused with the pleasant "Steve W." who is a smart gentleman) may not be familiar with the lawsuits involving GM's special coolant called DEX-COOL.

I invite your tiny and hostile mind to read Wikipedia's entry on antifreeze, from which the following is excerpted:

"According to the DEX-COOL manufacturer, mixing a green coolant with DEX-COOL reduces the batchâ??s change interval to

2 years or 30,000 miles [from its normal 5 year life], but will otherwise cause no damage to the engine."

"DEX-COOL specifically has caused controversy. It is casually linked with intake manifold gasket failures in GM's 3.1L and 3.4L engines and with other failures in 4.3L engines. Class action lawsuits were registered in several states, and in Canada, to address some of these claims. The first of these to reach a decision was in Missouri where a settlement was announced early in December, 2007. Late in March 2008, GM agreed to compensate complainants in the remaining 49 states.

"Typically OAT [organic acid technology] antifreeze contains a red or pink dye to differentiate it from the conventional glycol-based coolants (blue or green). Some of the newer OAT coolants claim to be compatible with all types of OAT and glycol-based coolants; these are typically green or yellow in color." [End of quotes]

So you see, even though color normally doesn't make any difference at all, with coolants, color conveys important information.

Otherwise, I wouldn't care what color my coolant was or what religious tendencies it had, because I like coolants of all colors and religions :-)

But I don't like rude coolants.

Reply to
Built_Well

I assume the troll is talking about me. Good to be on its hate-list. :-)

But this time, the troll is actually right (at least in part). DexCool (and all the other OAT- organic acid technology- coolants) caused a whole lot of problems. They differ from G-05 HOAT (hybrid organic acid technology) coolant used by Chrysler, Ford, Caterpiller, Mercedes, BMW, and others) in that they lack ANY silicates at all. HOATS contain a greatly reduced silicate package, but still have some. What seems to happen is that particular metals in the cooling system become subject to very aggressive corrosion with pure OAT coolants. Often the metals in question are found in head gasket and manifold gasket materials, so that these become failure points. Also there seems to be a tendency for OAT (or at least the DexCool variant) to do Very Bad Things when it begins to mix with engine oil. All coolants form solids when they mix with oil at high temperatures, but DexCool seems particularly bad. GM had an interesting rash of failures with the small Chevy v6 family due to a combination of factors. First, that engine had a particularly weak intake manifold sealing design that was prone to leak. Second, it was filled with DexCool, and third, it had a lightweight hollow tubular camshaft with assembled lobes. The result was that when the grit from DexCool/oil mixture would get into the cam bearings, they would seize and snap the tubular camshaft in two.

Reply to
Steve

I'm not trolling by posting in rec.autos.tech with this subject. If I am, please explain how.

Steve and In2-dadark, you two (like Mark A.) are just anti-Christian, which is sad.

I treat all religions equally, but you guys are just haters. Very sad.

Reply to
Built_Well

O'Reilly Auto Parts has a deal right now where you can get Pennzoil Platinum for $3 per quart after rebate. Mobil 1 is on sale there for $5/quart.

Harbor Freight has a nifty, low-profile, 300-pound-rated, 6-wheel, PVC mechanics creeper with foam-padded head rest and tool-holding spots for $22 on sale. The exact same China-made creeper at Autozone runs $40, but it has "Duralast" emblazoned across it. It's AutoZone's top-of-the-line mechanic's creeper. I bought this great creeper from Harbor Freight the other night, along with a third oil drain pan for $2 that Walmart sells for $6. Sales end soon.

Almost forgot to mention that you may need to use a coupon to get that great price on the Harbor Freight creeper. Get on their mailing list and they'll send you a newspaper every so often loaded with coupons. This creeper, much better than my old one, rang up at regular price at checkout, so I had to give them the coupon to get the great price.

Get on everyone's mailing list! -- O'Reilly, AutoZone, Napa, Advance Auto, Pep Boys, etc, and post the deals you find here. We can all coordinate to save hundreds of dollars a year!

For a week now, I keep smelling something bad when I walk by a particular spot at home. It's really not a spot, but a large

7-foot by 7-foot area. I think yesterday I figured out what it may be: A small rubber mallet I bought at Harbor Freight. It seems like those rubber mallets can out-gas a whole, whole lot of bad-smelling rubber....unless I'm mistaking where the odor is coming from. I'm getting rid of that rubber mallet, I think.
Reply to
Built_Well

O'Reilly Auto Parts Deals: Pennzoil Platinum $3 per quart after rebate. Mobil 1 is on sale there for $5/quart.

Harbor Freight Deals: Low-profile, 300-pound-rated, PVC China-made 6-wheel, mechanics creeper with foam-padded head rest and tool-holding spots for $22 on sale. It's the same as AutoZone's $40 "Duralast" creeper. Oil drain pan $2, same pan Wal-mart sells for $6. Sales end soon.

You may need a coupon to get these great prices. Get on everyone's mailing list. -- O'Reilly, Harbor Freight, AutoZone, Napa, Advance Auto, Pep Boys, etc, for sale flyers loaded with coupons, and post the deals you find here. We can coordinate to save hundreds of dollars a year. _________________________________________________

That's a great idea. Thanks for the tips. I will post unusually good deals that I come across.

Rodan.

Reply to
Rodan

Most of the HF rubber items carry a nasty odor. I was told that it is the bug/critter killer they treat the crates of product with for shipping. I kind of doubt it but who knows.

Reply to
Steve W.

A couple of years ago, I bought a new bathtub shower curtain.When I unrrapped the curtain and started hanging it up, the fumes coming off of the curtain just about knocked me out.A woman said the factory treats those new shower curtains with some sort of a preservative and it takes a while for the fumes to disipate. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

Actually, the smell is the toxic waste included for free in most items made in China these days, including kid's toys and dog food. But it's cheaper, so it must be better, right?

Reply to
MasterBlaster

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I found some of the hardboard (hole-less pegboard) at Lowe's last night. But instead of 1/4-inch, it's 3/16-inch, right in between 1/8" and 1/4". I'll probably check Home Depot.

Reply to
Built_Well

A sheet metal shop will have some galvanized tin you can buy. cuhulin

Reply to
cuhulin

That might be thick enough to hold up. The only way to know for sure is to try it - if it shreds, then you need the thicker stuff...

But I wouldn't bother using it with a regular floor jack on your own garage floor slab - even though the sight of the concrete dust might be unsettling the amount of actual damage is miniscule, and it would take decades of working on cars daily in the same places to see any real consequences.

If it does enough damage to be seen in one or two uses you've got bigger problems - like substandard concrete used for the slab, or they didn't seal and cure it properly and now it's spalling.

The only time we ever bother putting down hardboard on the floors is working on a building and they already have finished the floors (tiled, carpeted or painted) with steel wheel or very heavy implements like manlifts.

Even dropping a hammer or a conduit bender can cause thousands in damage to a tile floor if they have to redo large sections. Of course it could happen even through the hardboard, but you can show that you took reasonable and prudent precautions.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

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