WOW my friends.. yesterday I was jacking up the front of Nina to paint the calipers. My drive way had a slight incline and hadnt been a problem before. I didnt chock the other wheels but did set e-brake. While trying to get it up high enough to put a jack stand under her she started rolling back just enough for the jack to almost kick out. I guess what saved me was the jack stand, also digging deep into the pavement and tilted, was still holding.

I initiated a controlled panic mode. The wheel was still on but only 2 lugnuts hand tight . I got the jack down and quickly lifted the car again freaking out at the sight of that jackstand that looked like the leaning tower of Pizza as I wrentched it out from underneath.

Rolled it back to a more level part of the driveway, chocked all 3 wheels, put cinderblocks and my motorcycle jack under it too.. Close call for Pooly

BTW, installed freakingfast's drilled/slotted rotors and painted the calipers black with silver CHRYSLER decal.

 

Good save!
Now clean those wheels!

 

I was gonna say the same thing but I'm still kinda new here.

 

Don't be shy!

 

Don't let that stop ya!


GG WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU THINKING???
Good grief, clean those wheels prior to posting close ups!

Glad you are alright.

 

gave her a bath tonight. I didnt have much time yesterday cause I spent the day chasing an electrical fault in the house $75 bucks for an electrician to reset a GFI outlet that I overlooked! ARRRRG

 

Ouch!

 

I wasn't as lucky

Was jacking up the car using the front, passenger side jack pad and realized only too late that I had not chocked the rears, nor did I set the e-brake. And with these cars being so stiff, it doesn't take much for one rear to raise off the ground when jacking up the front. The car rolled just enough to fall off the jack. Damage isn't too terrible, but, for me, ANY damage I inflict is too much damage - especially if it is due to my negligence.

Moral of the story - ALWAYS CHOCK THE TIRES/WHEELS BEFORE JACKING UP THE CAR.

RL67037

For your viewing pleasure

 

Oooh OUCH!

And on a BLUE XF too!

 

Well, I like to start at the rear, placing a jack stand at each corner. As mentioned above, they are so short a wheelbase, you can raise 3 wheels off if you want to. So, I go round and round until I get the desired height. Jack stands on all 4 corners. This fat old guy isn't taking any chances. I have rescued a few old back yard mechanics in my copper days, and it isn't funny getting broken ribs....as the gentlemen I pulled out from under those cars soon found out...

 

You know just last week I recall seeing an Aeroblue rocker panel on ebay. Easy fix. The fender may need some tweaking.

James

 

Looks like a good thread to post my tale in .....

In 2004, I lived in Atlanta and had a slanted driveway.
I had my 1990 GMC Suburban up on front ramps and had NOT chocked the rear wheels, or engaged the emergency brake. ( how stupid can you be ? )
I was under the 'burb on a shop trolley to change out the intermediate drive shaft bearing ( noisy ), and all went well until I attempted to disconnect the drive shaft at the differential.
The bolts came out OK, but I could not disengage the universal bearings. Being the genius I am, I rolled out, got a pry bar and popped back under. Well, the pry bar worked just fine, I popped the drive shaft loose and it immediately starts rolling down off the ramps and down the driveway with me under it.
I had maybe 3 or 4 seconds to make a decision, I pulled my self out using whatever I could grip on the undercarriage, and almost made it unscathed.
Unfortunately, my left foot didn't make it - it got caught under the front wheel.
I know this sounds bad, but in fact it was the best thing that could have happened - it acted as a chock and stopped the truck just before it left the driveway and entered the street.
So, here I am, left foot caught under the front wheel and can't move. An angel in the form of a 250 pound plumber just happened to be passing by, he stopped and came to help.
First he asks if the keys are in the ignition, I tell him yes, but it won't do any good as the drive shaft is disconnected. He then opened the drivers door and pushed the Suburban far enough up the slanted driveway to release my foot, then hopped in and engaged the emergency brakes. ( have you ever tried to push a Suburban on even level ground ? )
The final result is I just lost some skin and didn't break anything.
I was EXTREMELY lucky !!! I should have been killed or severely maimed.
You can imagine that now anytime I get under a car ( or the Suburban, which I still have ), every chock and jack stand I own is in place and double checked.

 

The best friend is always the last to know...then again, I would have kept that a secret too!

 

Max, I posted that in hopes someone would read it and realize how easy it is to make a mistake in judgement that can get you killed.

I am certainly not proud of doing something as stupid as that !!!
But then, again, I was a skydiver for 12 years with 3000+ jumps and 3 opening malfunctions that I also survived - so I guess I AM inherently stupid ........

 

Yep. Exiting a perfectly functioning aircraft, while in flight, does show a bit of conceptual retardation.

We won't even go into night and/or HALO...

I've done it to, as you know...

But-3000? If something doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. I'll start calling you Samson!

 

And I appreciate why you posted that-if you can prevent a tragedy, it's always a good thing.

 

moral - when working on a vehicle ALWAYS chock the wheels do NOT rely on the hand/e-brake... glad that no-one was hurt though

 

i also learned the hard way and damaged the rocker on another one of my cars when the factory jack failed.

i found this heavy duty chock on my street used by a oversized work truck that was parked and the company left it behind.

chock.jpg

 

Found it and just ordered them. Thanks for the info - saved me quite a bit of $$!

RL67037