Jack Stands

Just been wondering lately at how "safe" these things really are. I know how they work, and am aware of where to safetly place them to support the car and know not to exceed the maximum weight stated on them. But still, everytime I get underneath the car, even though it's pointless to think about it, I still can't get that thought of "be ready for anything" out of the back of mind, and makes me feel very cautious and claustrophobic under there and may sometimes get in the way of my work. Im sure many of you feel this way, but choose to ignore it because there havn't really been any cases of them failing lately. I've heard back in the day, they weren't all that safe, but todays modern safety stand is perfect when used properly. I've searched around and couldn't find anything.. You guys heard anything? :uhoh:

Iv never had problem, as long as they used properly.

I have had a car fall of a set placed on wet ground though, they simply sunk into the ground, fortunatly slowly enough for me to get out before the diff parked itself on my face.

i usually leave the actual jack there and also put jackstands, then lower the jack until some weight is on both jack and jackstands... its kind of like a backup system...

Yeah I do the same. So there really isn't anyway these things could fail right?

As long as they are on a hard surface and are not over weighted they are about as fail proof as you can get. Freak accidents do accure, but are rare.

I've never had a problem, but I also use redundancy. I have a total of four stands and two jacks, so I make sure that wherever I am has one set of each. If I'm under the front, I put two on the frame rails and let the jack down so its resting on both the jack and the stands.

If the tires are still on it, I'll often put cinder blocks under the tires; not to support weight, but in case the whole thing fails and the car falls it will still leave me enough room to live.

I also use a jack and/or additional jackstands to be safer, and the occasional wood block.

Lots of old 3 leg jackstands are out there. Do not use these, they are not stable. Also, be aware thet the higher a jackstand is, the less stable the load is.
Consider using the BIG jackstands, intended for medium or heavy trucks. They have a much higher weight capacity and their legs are spread further apart, which makes them more stable.

Once I have my vehicle properly supported on heavy duty overkill stands, I always grab a bumper or fender and shake the thing as hard as I can. I'd rather find out it's not stable this way than when I'm underneath cranking on stuff. :thumbsup:

Well, they are loads safer than your hydraulic jack. The only other alternatives are a lift, pit, or ramps. I won’t get under a car without jack stands. Jacks are known to fail, jack stands are not.

i dont get under a car unless its on a lift.... my back hurts enough as it is without me laying on concrete

Thanks alot for all the feedback guys. Picked up a few new ideas that I didn't really think about from this thread. :wink:

The moral of the story is, overkill is the way to go.

i dont get under a car unless its on a lift.... my back hurts enough as it is without me laying on concrete

Well if Im not mistaken, I heard lifts fail more often then the jack stands do.

More offen is still rare. Your more likely to get stuck by lightening than win the lottery, but you see more people buying lottery tickets than you do lightening rods.

More offen is still rare. Your more likely to get stuck by lightening than win the lottery, but you see more people buying lottery tickets than you do lightening rods.

Yeah, that makes sense. :grinno:

It's rarely ever the equipment that fails whether it be a lift, jack stand, or even hydraulic jacks, more often than not it's the people using them that cause the failure. When you hear of accidents of a car falling off a lift or jack stands it's usually because the person put the supports for the lift or the jack stands in the wrong place on the car causing it to be unbalanced and fall.

the lift operators fail... cars fall cause people dont know how to set the car properly. besides, there are mechanical safeties to back up the hydraulics on lifts

where i work (or used to work, just stoped working there because i couldn't make it for the next 3 months) at a garage, just helping out and stuff, all we use are lifts and jack stands, usually lifts though. but i dont really understand how people make such stupid mistakes, it's not that hard to set up a car on a lift, they explained it to me once, maybe twice, and i haven't made a mistake yet.

also, if you use the lift improperly, it's more likely to fail. like if you use it to jack something up rather than lift it, you'll probably break something.