Nearly squashed by my car, be very careful

mustang68

I was working with Mustang69 on my car and we had it up on ramps (at the front, the ones you take a run at!), with another ramp jamed under the back wheels as a chock in his garage with the garage doors closed, the car was in park with the handbrake on. I was under the car and was attaching the kickdown cable to the gearbox.

Moving the kickdown cable a number of times seemed to cause the car to jump out of park, the handbrake didn't hold and the chock skidded backwards as the car came down the ramps, and I got whacked on the head by the oil pan, Mustang69 grabbed the car (hes a big guy!) and stopped it, the back chock was pushed back into the garage doors and bent them out about a foot. I slid out from under the car with a bump on the head and a few more grey hairs.

I was very very very very lucky and I had three things to stop the car from falling.

Do not work under you cars without someone else there, even if you think its safe.

DonkeyStyle \o/

mustang68 wrote:

the back chock was pushed back into the garage doors and bent them out about a foot.

This thread needs pics.

mustang68

I was too busy being alive to take pictures!!

As the car went back it pushed the chock, a car ramp, backwards into the garage doors, which are wood and they flexed out about a foot, but held.

overdriver

Would axle stands be sturdier?

alfarocks

Might want to take a look at that handbrake next time you're under there (supported with axel stands !!!).
Lucky escape you had there matey.

el tel

Am glad you weren't seriously hurt, hopefully by reading this someone else might be spared too.

There's no substitute for proper wheel chocks. I use a set that I found in the back of a scrapped Datsun 120Y!

overdriver

You may have bought Christine!

mustang68

overdriver wrote:

Would axle stands be sturdier?

Sturdier than me?!

For the job in question we wanted a lot of clearance, so the axel stands are not very high. Although afterwards we used them, even though it was a pain.

Handbreak on the 68 is for show only, the linkages are sloppy at the best of times.

coolcon

:eek: Lucky escape!

Paul (MN)

never mind you... is the car OK?

mustang68

Paul (MN) wrote:

never mind you... is the car OK?

Ha!!:D

It was nearly not ok, if it fell an inch further it would have been sent to the great racetrack in the sky by my family, if you get me!

ds20prefecture

(Shudders) - every time I'm under the DS I'm reminded of how little ground clearance there is with the pressure off the suspension and how much bigger my head is than 2 inches :-O

It always freaks me out. Lucky escape, well done.

Eric318

Woaw, mate, lucky escape. Thankfully you can talk and joke about it!!!

Safety's worst ennemies are ignorance (not in your case) and complascency. Although you did seem to have redundant safety in place...

Something similar happened to me for the first time when I was a young lad, working under my Light 15. Wooden blocks piled up under the body, dodgy bottle jack, wheels removed, sloppy bumpy ground surface (earth and grass): I actually "felt" the car slip to the side and rolled myself from under it only to watch the rear brake drum bite the dust one inch from my nose.

This sort of situation happened many times several years later when I was working (and replacing wheels after punctures) in Africa: 4x4 on high-lift jack... 3 tons of metal and other stuff up 3 feet in the air.. and the whooole thing swings down. Only approach to have... run Then find a way to lift the damn car back up

Anyway, your happy ending experience is the right opportunity to remind us all to be extra careful and use redundant effective safety measures. Enjoy your beer!!

corktina

I'm glad you are OK...I always worry that my axle stands wont be safe enough! I tend to leave the huge trolley jack in too and put the spare wheel under the cill and anything else I can think of....and my axle stands are huge old yokes liberated from the garage at work when it shut and used for transit vans.....cant be TOO safe I guess....

Silvera

Yep, lucky escape mate...glad you're ok!

Having worked on cars since I was a nipper (incl 6+ years in the Motor Trade) I can tell you that safety is paramount when working on any vehicle/machine!!!

Too often I have seen mechanics, car dismantlers, etc. take stupid chances when working on cars.....luckily without any fatal consequences!

I too always use the jack and spare wheel, etc when using axle stands - I wouldn't rely just on the stands!

Let this be a warning/reminder to all of us not to take safety for granted!!