a little health & safety broadcast for you all
Turbo Mini Forums

I know most of us will only use a trolley jack and axle stands when were working on the car at the house, but we don't all have the same equipement available to us at the roadside.

yesterday, I was doing a bit of a tour up north and managed to hit a rock at the side of the road tearing 2 sidewalls on the nearside. This pissed me off enough as it was!

Anyway, I pulled into a carpark at the next village and used the payphone to call the AA as I had no mobile service. While waiting for recovery, I thought I'd save some time and put the spare on the car myself. In short, while putting the spare onto the rear hub, the standard issue jack broke with an almighty bang, dropping the car. My hand was on the top of the tyre at the time and the rear arch came down crushing my hand between the rear arch lip and the tyre. The only saving grace was that I was in a busy carpark and a couple of people heard my polite screams for help and came over to get the car off me.

Now I'm lucky, no broken bones but my hand is the size of a baloon and now on desk duty at work for a few days but it could all have been so much worse looking back.

So, please all be very carful of how you jack the car up, how you support it while working on it and keep your hand away from danger!

Rob (typing one handed very slowly)

Bugger. I've never been a fan of the standard (poxy) scissor jack that is standard issue in nearly all cars these days. Hope the hand is soon looking better, and glad its nothing more serious.

Ouch man, glad your ok, car jacks can be a nightmare. But did the jack itself break? I've never heard of anything like that :S

Hope you'll have a fast recovery!

i never used the death jacks... i always carried a wee trolley jack in my mini although a bit heavier it is much safer and better when jacking up (and i can use the subby as a jacking point rather than a sill)

sounds like you had a luckey escape..if its a new car i would put a claim in if the jack has failed... clearly not up to the job... they can only say no ?

Edited by Richie on 17th May, 2011.

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I use the wee scisor jacks in work to hold engines forward in the bay when doing clutches, axles in place when doing bushings etc, hardly any tension seems to cause them to brake, would never trust one to hold a car .
Hope your hand mends soon cheif and there's no permanent damage!

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Denis O'Brien.

Ouch, hope the hand is soon on the mend. I see people working under cars just using a trolly jack and no axle stands, absolutely crazy.

You've made me think again about what jack I might put in the boot in future...

im a fan of bottle jacks for in the car, nice and small and if you want you can even carry 2 as they are still smaller than an axle stand.

Edited by Simon on 17th May, 2011.

http://turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=170151

ouch, hope your hand gets better rob!

we had to replace a hub bearing at brighton seafront with only the crap jack in the sills, lots of fun!! NOT

I never use those stupid 'jacks'. They're too much like a big pair of finger-scisors for my liking, let alone not being able to stand any weight, or be used on anything other than the most perfect flat surface.

Hope you heal up OK.

I do have a spaire in the pug but fuck using the jack that comes with the car, i had a blow out about 2 months ago and as i have a few spair wheels just drove the 5miles on the bolocked tyre luckally only in 20 and 30 zones

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Similar thing happened to me changing a front wheel, but I had my hand trapped between the tyre and the road
Has to ask a passer by to let off the handbrake and roll the car off my hand

bad luck there buddy but at least its nothing really serious

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Ouch unlucky, hope your back to normal soon. I've used those jacks in the past, i'll think twice next time though.

cheers guys- hand is still burning but i can still move everything to a degree so hopefully no long lasting damage.

I do now have a theory on why the jack collapsed though. I was moving some shelving for a client. Now i've done some calcs and work out i had around 400kg in the back (the car was on its arse!). Now I had to take around half of it out to get to the spare but that left the stuff sitting over the back seat area so the jack was potentially lifting a portion of an extra 200kg.............

Pic's of the injury or it didn't happen

I've always been wary of those stupid manufacturer supplied jacks. My 09 plate octavia has one and the threaded bit is make of plastic!!! I've had to use it a couple of times but how it hasn't broken yet I don't know!

Hope your hand heals quickly...

I think sissor jacks are actually fit for purpose, i.e. emergency use only. They've got me out of lots of situations and pack away small.

It's a bugger it broke though.

I always use the rally boys trick when using one. stick a wheel under the car when it's in the air. Then if the jack fails the car lands on the wheel not you.

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I'll see what I can do but not much to see for the bandages

On 18th May, 2011 apbellamy said:
Pic's of the injury or it didn't happen

Tom doesnt need a jack, he just lifts the car with one hand while undoing the nuts with the other.. I know ive seen it happen!

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car was a bit loaded!

ouch

A bit O/T but what did the AA do? Just send a truck and let you sit there with baloon hand?

OUCH! and the way that audis sat doesnt look liked it help matters. Hopefully your hand heals soon.

sheesh! quite lucky not to break anything i'd say - have a speedy recovery mate.

it was one of the local garages who came out. he didnt even have a jack with him to put the wheel back on and ended up lifting the back of the car with the flatbed under the towbar!

nice guy though; had a good chat about rallying and minis on the journey to inverness