Ok, so I may be an idiot, lets just get past that, while rotating my tires on my 2000 civic, the right rear jack stand slipped. the rotor assembly didn’t hit the ground, because the jack caught on something else. I was doing the modified cross method to rotate the tires, thus I was going to put the right rear to the left front. the right rear was on the jack stand, while I was jacking up the front left, thats when the slip happened. Needless to say I had to finish the procedure asap to get that right rear jacked back up and fixed. After the slip i was a bit too scared to get underneath and properly inspect for damage. But i couldn’t see or feel anything wrong. after the rotation was done, the road test revealed nothing either. How much damage could i have caused? (btw, i was using the cars “lift points”)
No way to tell without being brave and having a look. With any luck it caught another part of the frame and didn’t really do anything, but you really should check and make sure. You don’t want to discover there’s a gaping hole in the body (or something else) the hard way, when it creates a problem.
Can’t tell where the jack ended up under the car. I’d suggest getting the car up on a lift and giving it a close exam to see where the scraps, scratches, and marks are to make sure nothing critical got nicked. There are fuel lines, brake lines, and such running around under there. Likely nothing got punctured, you’d know that but take a close look for any possible damage.
Thanks for the fast reply. I am pretty sure it did hit the frame some where else, since it didnt move after that, guess i will have to jack it up again to look, i just hope i dont jack up that operation to!
well if I had a lift I wouldnt have been doing this in front of my house on uneven ground … but point taken. thanks.
I meant take the car to a garage and pay a small fee for an inspection of the area. You are lucky you weren’t under the car when it slipped. I’d not be comfortable recommending you jack up the car again and crawl under it to check for damage.
The thing that usually happens the backing plates get bent. One time the wheels on a BMW at my old dealership got stolen(police station next door) and the guys dropped the car on the grouns (e-46 M3) it cost several thousand dollars to replace the bent backing plates. You had to destroy the bearings to get the backing plates off. Those rear bearings were the biggest I have ever seen on a passenger car.I have some pictures if I figure out how to scan and post (35mm)I will.
If you don’t cross rotate like that, you never fall off the stand. If you use the temp spare and only have one wheel off the ground at a time, you never fall off the stand. You probably should never jack opposite corners; it’s hard enough on the body with only one wheel up. Older cars doors don’t always work well the first time after a jack job. They work really badly if you open one with the car up. It usually straightens out when the car is moved. Try not to bend the unibody.
Do you think there’s any place that would do it free? kinda short on cash.
Thanks for the tips. wish i had thought of using the spare!! I try not to lift a car any higher than needed to get the tire off, when I put the stand under the rear I lowered the car down to it, to keep it as level as possible.
If you read the warnings and instructions that came with your jack stands, it probably warns you to only use two at a time.
May I recommend you buy a pair of ramps or some concrete blocks? This way you can place them under the car after it is up on jacks. If a jack fails, the cinder block or the ramp will catch the car. If you use the ramps to change the oil, you can use the jack stands as insurance.
You say you don’t want to take the car to get it checked out because you are a little short on cash. How much is your life worth?
Invest a few bucks in a decent floor jack. Leave the emergency tire change jack in the trunk where it belongs…I suspect the JACK suffered more damage than the car…
Whitey,
While I understand what you’re saying about using extra safety supports, I cringe when I see or hear of someone using concrete blocks as these can crumble with a load on them.
Used this way they can’t bear the weight like those in a wall.
All he needs is the vehicle jack that was (is) designed for his vehicle.
I don’t see how ramps can be used to change out tires.
I strongly disagree about your advice Whitey. Never, ever, use cinder blocks to rest a car on or depend on one to protect you from a falling car. Using them and getting under a car can be a death wish. Hit the side a block with a hammer and see what happens to it.
I was using a decent floor jack. I got that part of the car up, then put a decent jack stand under it, then went to the opposite corner with the floor jack.
The idea is to put the car up on jacks, but place the ramps under the body where they will catch the car if it falls off the jacks.
I was only use one jack stand at a time. I will get the car checked out as soon as I can. thanks.
That is part of the problem. I would not jack up one corner than jack up the opposite corner. I would jack up one end at a time. Actually, I would follow the instructions that come with the jack stands and only use two at a time. It isn’t safe to jack up both ends and then get under the car. The jack stands are not meant for that kind of use.