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Boy injured from jack failure

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Badwagon

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May 8, 2011
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I lost a cousin a few years ago to this... he was in his late 30's with a few young kids..
out in the garage working on his truck without stands and his wife found him a few hours later..

needless to say.. a stand is NEVER far from my jack
 
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ADSR

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That is very sad.

Prayers sent out to the boy and family.
 
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McFarmer

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Sad deal, I just started useing jack stands instead of wood blocks or whatever was handy. I guess I trust the wood blocks more.

So did the jack fail, as in the thread title, or did it not do what it wasn't designed to do ?
 
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Steinmetz

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Larch said:
When will people realize jacks are for jacking only! A 10 year old boy is in critical condition after a van fell off the jack onto his head and chest, Sad :sad:
http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/ccdd8a33d62440c4ae4d1a9ea51ffbfc/MT--Vehicle-Falls-on-Boy
Pass the word about jack stands, any way you can. This is a senseless "accident".
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What did the father do to make it sufficiently safe for the 10 year old to go underneath the 'supported' vehicle? Who's the adult here?
 
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Larch

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The said story is all the information I have heard. I have no clue if the van was jacked up and the father was going to do something like change the tire or anything. Just another reminder to never count on a jack. I have personally seen a floor jack fail. It was a violent thing to see, the jacks welds let loose and the truck came down hard.
 
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General Geoff

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I keep the jack snug (but not load-bearing) against a crossmember or frame of the vehicle I'm working on, but only as a backup in case the jack stands (which have the load on them) fail.
 
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mrjaw14

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man, so terrible! I hope the kid pulls through. I always use a floor jack with jack stands when I do something under a vehicle. If it's much more than low-torque where I'm pulling on something, I'll even add a scissor jack to back up the jack stand. Last time I had the ***-end of a vehicle raised I had no less than 6 supports total, 3 per side. If I'm crawling under it, the dr bills if I get hurt and the lost work make the 5 minutes to make sure it's safe and over-supported are well worth it!
 
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ecotec

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My grandmother had a brother-in-law that died from a car falling on him. He was not using jack-stands either. It was a totally avoidable death. He left behind a huge family.
 
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t4runner

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Never rely on a hydraulic jack to support anything while your working on it thats what jack stands are for.
 
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rockfordmarv

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With this being said, who can recommend a good 6-ton pair of jack stands? I've been somewhat looking around and pretty much everything i'm coming across is out of China and nobody likes the welds.
 
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General Geoff

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alvin3a

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I worked in a shop when I was younger and the rule was simple. If you were under a vehicle without jackstands you were fired on the spot no questions asked. It worked no one was hurt when I was there and no one was fired either. I live this motto to this day.
 
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PBCampbell

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Not securing the vehicle properly is only one issue. Who in their right mind lets a kid play around in a fatally dangerous area?
 
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PBCampbell

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plain garage said:
Jack stands are rated per pair, so these will support 6 tons total, not 12.
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From what I recall US Jack rates per stand, so those ratings should be accurate. More or less those are 12 ton stands compared to other brands as other brands rate per pair.

I double checked with US jack's website and rated capacity is PER stand and stands are packaged in pairs.
 
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franzdom

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mtwaterguy said:
These jack stands are rated per stand and sold by the pair. Two 6K stands will be rated at 12K.
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If we're going to get all picky then 6 tons is not equal to 6K. 6 tons is 12K, if they are each then the pair is 24K.

EDIT: Unless we are talking units of 1/2 pound.
 
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mailpup

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Years ago my wife's cousin, a professional mechanic, was crushed while working under a car supported only by a jack. His coworkers found him but too late. I don't know if the jack failed or if the car slipped off the jack but, regardless, he died. I knew him personally but interestingly I did not know he was my then girlfriend's cousin until after I knew him for awhile.

I always think of this whenever I'm tempted to skip the jack stands.
 
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stage20

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PBCampbell said:
Not securing the vehicle properly is only one issue. Who in their right mind lets a kid play around in a fatally dangerous area?
Click to expand...

ive got a buddy with a son thats 7 and he LOVES to get down under and work on cars and see what we are doing. been crawling under since he could crawl.

its a terrible accident. boy or not, i see these stories pop up around every 6 months.

a friend of mine lost his dad a few years ago from using cinder blocks.

sad to hear.
 
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PBCampbell

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stage20 said:
ive got a buddy with a son thats 7 and he LOVES to get down under and work on cars and see what we are doing. been crawling under since he could crawl.

its a terrible accident. boy or not, i see these stories pop up around every 6 months.

a friend of mine lost his dad a few years ago from using cinder blocks.

sad to hear.
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That's a person who needs a swift kick. Spoiling your kids is one thing, that's something well beyond. Being a parent is first and foremost looking out for your children's well being, NOT letting potentially harmful behavior occur because it's cute or entertaining.
 
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moonley

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matt351 said:
Off topic I know, but how often do jack stands fail?
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That would be incredibly rare. A jack stand's design provides a positive block so the only way it could fail is if the metal or weld broke, which I would bet would be most likely caused by abuse of the jack stand to begin with (i.e. damaged, bent, etc) or overloading it.

However, you need to make sure the jack stand is on solid ground such as concrete, as it could easily sink into dirt or even asphalt. Also, if you are working on an incline without the wheels blocked the vehicle could still roll back and fall off the jack stands.
 
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azhatchback

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At what age do you all think it's OK to let your kid get under the car with you and work? I recall wrenching under cars with my Dad at a very young age. Cars were always on stands.
 
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azhatchback

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PBCampbell said:
That's a person who needs a swift kick. Spoiling your kids is one thing, that's something well beyond. Being a parent is first and foremost looking out for your children's well being, NOT letting potentially harmful behavior occur because it's cute or entertaining.
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Off the topic I just read this story before jumping over to here. Hows this for cute or entertaining:

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/excursions/post/parents-put-baby-risk-atop-pulpit-rock/

I would have gone crazy on these idiots if I had seen them do this. How can people be so stupid :shocking:
 
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metalhead140

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I saw a few comments specifically targeted at hydraulic jacks. Not to say those people were advocating work underneath a car supported by other types of jack, but having personally experienced a screw type scissor jack fail (fortunately while lowering after work with wheels on), it needs to be emphasised I think that no jack regardless of type should be relied on to allow working underneath a car.
 
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ADSR

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One thing i always do even with using a jackstand, When the tire comes off, i place it under the rocker panel just in case.
 
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monomach

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So the father was right there with him. What kind of father lets his kid go under a car without jack stands?

matt351 said:
Off topic I know, but how often do jack stands fail?
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Dunno, but I've never had one fail or even develop a crack or whatever..not even my cheapo Chinese Duralast pair. It's got to be awfully rare. Maybe if you left them in a barn for 20 years...

I've gone through a number of cheap floor jacks, though. Sometimes at the worst possible time.
 
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