BE SAFE when working on your car - A Sobering Reminder
 

I just want to share this with the community so everyone can benefit from my experience.

I was jacking up the Z to swap the brake pads for a track day tomorrow. I've done this a million times, but I recently bought a new jack that can lift the car about twice as high as my old one. I was jacking up the left rear corner using a pinch rail adapter (like a hockey puck with a groove in it but I bought the read deal) when the opposite rear tire slipped sideways, the adapter must have slipped off the jack plate, and the car jumped away from me and fell off the jack. Luckily I was far away from the car while using the long floor jack and the tires were still on. But it was a very eye opening moment and very easy to see how people get crushed when working under their cars. I think my mistake was jacking one corner of the car too high before raising the others

So, ALWAYS be safe when working on your car. Don't be lazy. Don't cut corners. Always triple check your jack point as you're jacking the car up. Always use jack stands and place the wheels under the car as well if you've removed them. Don't be under the car unless you have to be.

Here's the carnage which I now get to have the body shop take care of next week. Fortunately she was already going in for a repaint of the roof and hood since some of the parking garage at work crumbled and hit the top of my car. The Z has a black cloud over her right now...but I'm still going to Blackhawk tomorrow :).

http://www.the370z.com/members/spear...-under-car.jpg

Damn that's too bad. Glad you weren't injured.

Sorry about your Z, glad you are OK, and thanks for the reminder. I always double check my stands before I get under the car, but it only takes missing something once to really mess up your day.

Good to hear first you're OK

I agree to be carful when lifting the Z and taking safety measures

Dang that is some scary stuff! The damage sucks but at least you were not under it.

Ouch!!! Glad your alright.

Glad you're ok.

Please post pic of said jack. Thanks.

Will insurance pay for your damages?

Doubt that, it's self caused.

To op glad your OK.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to pay out of pocket since I know the body shop owner and insurance will just complicate things for the future.

Here's the jack I bought, but it wasn't the culprit. I jacked the car up too high on one side and the opposite tire slipped causing the jack to pop out. The garage floor is a treated cement that is a bit slippery. The jack is pretty sweet actually and well worth the money. Only complaint is the release is difficult to modulate for lowering the car slowly (and I mean the real release, not the 'pop out from under the car' release).

Low Profile Floor Jack - 2 Ton, Rapid Pump® Jack

wow... very glad to hear that you are okay. That's some scary stuff.

Thanks Spearfish25, glad your safe! Repped

Ouch, it's almost like me overshooting the oil change ramp and had my mud flaps landed on the ramps

Glad to hear you are ok, also kudos for posting something kind of embarrassing
to help others, good luck at the track tomorrow.

Glad you were not under the car when it gave way.

I tend to only lift as much as needed. Also, usually jack under the diff or front K member. I have one of those adapters too (not the hockey puck one, but the metal one that has a cutout for the pinch weld). Used that on occasion with good results.

That's the identical jack that I have as well.

I did pretty much the same thing with a cheapo jack from Harbor Freight.. it was too narrow I believe for the height I had it at and the car rolled over foward (because I was stupid and didn't use wheel chocks). Well that was the last day of life for that jack... went out and bought a really heavy/wide low profile jack (steel) from Harbor Freight and some chocks so that won't happen again.

Luckily the only small amount of damage was under the side skirt since the jack was laying on its side on part of it.

I think like you said we get lazy after successfully working on the cars for so many years. Good reminder that it really only takes one slip up.

sorry to see that. A customer of mine did that on the front of his C6. Unfortunately for him, the side skirt is part of the body on the corvette and it was a lot of damage.

Your very lucky, for sure. Anyone have a good write up on properly jacking up these cars? Maybe in the DIY section?

Wow, kinda freaky. Glad you are ok though.

Personally, I don't go under a car that's only supported by a jack. Either it's up on ramps or I have jack stands + the jack to support it. Usually throw a cinderblock or two under there just in case too. Maybe it's overkill, but the last thing I want to do is die fixing my car.

Glad you're ok, good reminder.

I've been careless in the past but then became a little more paranoid...I try to have jack stands also whenever possible before going under...always worried a hydraulic jack only would fail

Crazy.

That hurts to look at....at least the only damage was to your car and not to YOU.

Wow, that sucks. Like everyone says... glad you're ok!

I used to work without jackstands when I first started working on cars. That was before someone explained how stupid it was to trust a jack. Friend of mine had a family member drop his camero on him because he wanted to use the jack and didn't know he was under the car. He was ok, just a few bruised ribs but it could of been worse.

Wheel chalks and jackstands for anything I can't use my ramp for. Also, never have the car on 4 jacks, it's really easy to tip over. Almost had my 914 drop on me that way.

I am glad you are OK.

The line I've done it a million times is how we all get hurt. Thanks for the reminder.

You're very lucky. A little over a year ago my co-worker lost her husband due to a similar accident. He was working on his truck, and did even better than jack-stands---he parked it over a ditch and crawled beneath. Somehow, something went wrong and it rolled on top of him in the ditch. There was obviously no way he was getting the tire off of him, supine with it on him, "chalked" in the ditch now. They found him like that when they got home.

No, I don't know exactly what occurred (parking-brake, transmission popped out of gear, whatever). I have no idea. I just know the general details, as I didn't feel like grilling his widow about it.


Be careful.

The ONLY part of the car actually "glued" to the car. PITA to fix.

Would also be interested in this. Jack points w/pictures (not illustrations) for our 370Z and also tips (jack stands, etc)

yep, but it pushed forward his plans for full widebody conversion.

wow kid.
Becareful !!!!
good to hear you alright.

Just so you guys know, now that you're all a bit more paranoid, there is a thread about the jacking points used by the factory.

http://www.the370z.com/exterior-inte...act-point.html

Just note, spearfish did it correctly using the factory points, simply that he did not note his treated floor would cause the car to slip.

Had a similar episode where an old race jack (which no longer was able to lower a car slowly) almost crushed my leg under the front bumper. Remember, this is why jacks need to be replaced or rebuilt!

The jack points for the Z are on the pinch rails just inside the plastic side skirts. The specific points are where there are pairs of divets in the rails. The front point on each side is roughly around the door hinge joint and the rear point is right around where you see the rape-age on my car.

370Z Purist has it right. My problem wasn't the jack or the location, it was the height to which I jacked it on a slippery floor. As the car became more tilted, the opposite tire slipped and the pinch rail adapter slipped off the now angled pinch rail. Solution is to not jack it up as high and pick a better surface for lifting the car.

I didn't even get to the point of placing my jack stands under the car. Sometimes I used to change brake pads or tires with just the jack. Now it's always going to be jack stands with the addition of a wheel or two if I'm going under the car. Cinder blocks cannot support the weight of a falling car...don't use them! They'll crumble into cinders and you'll be squished.