Well said Randal. I always use jack stand and have the garage jack as a backup. I usually have 4 jack stands and 2 garage jacks. I will not get under a vehicle with no one around. I lost a close friend when he was working alone at home and the jack stands slipped. Æyn --- randalpark@xxxxxxx wrote: > This brings to my mind something else that isn't common > knowledge. It also could come under the category of "nobody > ever told me not to do this". > > Cinder blocks must NEVER be used in place of jack stands. I > have seen many cars held up this way, and two of them came > crashing down once the cinder blocks blew apart from the > weight. I have come across folks under their cars, while held > up this way, and ordered them out. One time it was just in > time, as the car came down shortly after that. The guy was > about to punch me out for interfering, until he saw what the > hoopla was all about right then and there. > > Quality jack stands should always be used, and used properly to > protect against injury. They should also be used as a safety > with any jack, including hydraulics. > > Paul W. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: luxoliner@xxxxxxx > To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > Sent: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 4:55 PM > Subject: Re: IML: advice - the pros and cons > > > So right Mikey. Safety has to always be job #1. I work at > home along 99% > of the time and I am forever taking measures to be sure I don't > get trapped > under something or have some other mishap that will cause the > need for > emergency assistance. We all forget the simple things too > though, like > Thursday when I was welding something in the bench vise and > neglected to > check the work bench for flammables left over from previous > projects. I set > some papers and rags on fire when some residue from a lawnmower > gas tank was > ignited by the welding sparks. It was a tense few moments > until I managed > to grab the garden hose and douse the bench. I felt so silly > because that > is such an obvious error...I got careless. I'm glad I had this > little > reminder and nothing valuable went up in flames. > > I also agree it is valuable for everyone to throw in their two > cents because > no single person knows it all BUT, there is also a time to seek > the advice > of those who have been there. It is not always apparent, on a > list like > this, who are the seasoned veterans and who are the back yard > hacks (like > me). Trust me, I know for one, Mikey knows his stuff. This is > not to say > Mikey know it all or is infalable, he doesn't and he is. This > is also not > meant to be a post about Mikey, it's a post about safety. You > can bet that > people who have worked in the industry for many years and still > have ten > fingers and ten toes and can see with both eyes and hear with > both ears have > a good idea of what it is to work safely. > > Sometimes, those of us who have been wrencing a while, tend to > forget to > point out the pitfalls that are associated with a particular > project. The > comment was made that "I wasn't told to NOT do it." My advice > is to always > work under the assumption that if you weren't told to DO it, > then you should > NOT do it. You need to take that with a grain of salt of > course but it > remains true. You can't assume it is ok just because the > person or people > giving the guidance didn't point out every possible thing that > could > possibly happen. There are certain assumptions. An example > is, if I told a > person to jack up the car and remove the tire. I would make > certain > assumptions like, they will use axle stands to set the car on, > they will > chock the wheels to prevent the car from rolling off the jack, > they will > remove the rim from the car rather than prying the tire off the > rim (because > I told them to remove the tire). Some assumptions were made, > some need to > be repeated, some need not be repeated, some often aren't but > should be. It > all comes down to our good friend "Communication". Mine is not > always that > great and things often end poorly because of it. > > Anyway, thanks for all the good advice, people. Thanks for > letting me > ramble. I think this is a topic that is not discussed enough, > particularly > considering its importance. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "mike and linda sutton" <mikanlin62@xxxxxxxxxxx> > To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2006 11:12 AM > Subject: Re: IML: advice - the pros and cons > > > In the past 8 years on the IML I have learned quite a bit about > much of the > who, what, where to get a lot of valuable parts and such for > our cars. > Being a mechanic by trade has made the work itself pretty much > a no brainer > for me but I do understand that not everyone has acquired the > methods and > skills to do their own stuff, but thats ok. For whatever > reason some folks > just dont want to, dont think they can, prefer to pay to have > it done by > someone else or just never got the knowledge and skills to do > it themselves > and thats fine, for the people who are trying to learn thats > great...knowledge is power and theres nothing better than > getting > knowledge - as long as its the correct knowledge. > > Point being...today some of the best possible advice you can or > will ever > get in your life about jump starting was given out by someone > who definetly > knows his stuff in that area. Im not here to cause a flame war > or point > fingers but I have seen a lot of anecdotal advice given out > since Ive been > around here that makes me cringe to think what kind of > potential damage > could result to a car, or more importantly, to the person doing > the work. > Usually its things of purely mechanical nature that if done > wrong generally > only result in frustration, possibly damaged parts and lots of > extra time > wasted in trying to correct a problem. Today it was on a > subject that could > very easily result in SERIOUS damage to ones person and ones > car. > > I used to throw a lot more " how to......" stuff out, but often > found it > being debated by people who were convinced they knew better, or > that the > advice they got from their nephews brother in law's neighbors > paper boy who > knows a guy who had a car that was kinda like that but it was > different was > better advice than mine. So I figured that if someone wants to > throw money > out the window or do it the hard way, its their choice. Still, > Id hate to > hear someone caught themselves on fire , blew a battery up in > their face and > is blind, dropped a car on their chest in their driveway ( > happened to a > neighbor of ours once ) or anything like that. > > Folks, PLEASE,,please be careful out there. Most of the time > youll never > have a problem but it only takes once. Your car can always be > repaired > after a mistake but you only get one set of eyes, ten fingers > and two hands. > I tell my students you want to leave the shop the same way you > came in every > day, we should all want that. > > Thanks much > > Mikey > 62 Crown Coupe > > > > ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com > ----------------- > This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. > Please > reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will > be > shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for > the > Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm > ________________________________________________________________________ > Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety > and security tools, free access to millions of high-quality > videos from across the web, free AOL Mail and more. > ----------------- http://www.imperialclub.com ----------------- This message was sent to you by the Imperial Mailing List. Please reply to mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and your response will be shared with everyone. Private messages (and attachments) for the Administrators should be sent to webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To UN-SUBSCRIBE, go to http://imperialclub.com/unsubscribe.htm