My 55 Buick fell of its jack today, now what?

[M1842]

I was finishing up my front suspension work and had removed the spring compressor so I could install a new shock.  I started to release the pressure on the floor jack and the car tilted to the passenger side and appears to have slid off the jack stands on that side. I was in front of the car with the floor jack so no part of my body was under the car but I did worry that it might come forward as well.  I was lucky, not even a scratch. The adrenaline rush is starting to fade.

 

So the car had no tires on at the time. The right hand side of the car is on the concrete.  What the heck do I do now to get the car back up?.  I don't plan on doing this by myself, this exceeds my experience. 

 

I also am rethinking my floor jack situation and move to a quick jack or something similar immediately.

 

I hear there are two types of mechanics: those who have never had a call fall and those who have.  I am now part of the sub group that has had a car fall and was not injured.

 

Apart from some sheet metal damage on the rockets and  a bent rear shock link, the car doesn't look too bad.  

 

Mark

[JFranklin]

Use a block for a fulcrum and a stiff pole to lift. Have a helper place cribbing as you go up.

[JACK M]

I won't put a jack stand at a curve like this, a few inches forward would put it in the flat part of the frame.

Possibly why they slid in the first place.

[M1842]

 

 

I am thinking about putting a stack of tires under the left side in case the car slides off those stands.  Then mounting tires on that side.  Then removing the stands and dropping that side of the car down onto the tires.  Then putting a lift under the right front and lifting and put another tire on.  The do the right rear corner, lift and mount a tire.

 

Does that make sense?

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by M1842 (see edit history)

[3macboys]

I'd slide some cribbing under the right front - that way once you get the car off the driver's side stands it will actually lift a bit off the ground.  There are so many variables that without someone being there in person to really see I'm not sure how much advice you are going to get as no one wants you to get further in trouble but remounting the left side wheels to start does sound entirely reasonable.  Go slow and think through where the car is going to move as you lift it slightly, is there more clearance under the front bumper than then back or vice versa, use the clearance to your advantage and to avoid any more damage.  Sliding a block under the frame behind the right front wheel well should give you some more ground clearance as well once you are able to lower the left side.  Most of all clear out as much space as you can on all sides just in case the car moves in an unintended way.  

[M1842]

52 minutes ago, JACK M said:

I won't put a jack stand at a curve like this, a few inches forward would put it in the flat part of the frame.

Possibly why they slid in the first place.

I agree, I got careless for a second.  I had just moved that stand.

[plymouthcranbrook]

Back in 1974 my Ford van was sitting outside on jack stands after I took the wheels off to have them widened. As I put the wheels in my other can I watched the van slowly fall forward onto the front and rear bumpers flat on the ground on all four drums. I only had an old style bumper jack. I know, I was young and dumb. What I did was go from corner to corner raising it up a little bit each time and using wood and concrete blocks to hold it until I got it high enough to replace the jack stands. You can be sure I made certain nothing was even a little bit loose before I left it.

[31Buick96S]

Thankfully, no one was injured and damage to your car appears minimal. As others mentioned, put the tires on the left side and slowly jack up the right side, placing cribbing under the frame rail until it is high enough to place your jack stands safely. Carefully inspect your stands for any damage before using them again.

[DFeeney]

You might try using a stout scissors jack that can fold very flat and start lifting the side that dropped a small bit at a time, then use blocking and move the scissors jack toward the low spot.  I would have a friend there just in case more problems  arrive.  

[3macboys]

The more I think about this do you know anyone in the heavy towing business that uses air bags for recovery?  Bags under the car will lift it without causing any more damage and then gently set it back down.  Just a thought.  

[M1842]

2 hours ago, 3macboys said:

The more I think about this do you know anyone in the heavy towing business that uses air bags for recovery?  Bags under the car will lift it without causing any more damage and then gently set it back down.  Just a thought.  

I thought about that but I don't know anyone in that business.  I assume a towing company would put something like this at the bottom of the list.

[Gary_Ash]

The airbag approach sounds about right.  How about a couple of big truck inner tubes wrapped in a piece of carpet as a substitute that you can do yourself?  Years ago, one of my friends built a 50,000 lb concrete table top for laser holography and floated it on 6 or 8 big inner tubes to vibration isolate the table.  You only need to get your car up a few inches at a time to eventually get a decent jack under it.  But, I'd put a couple more jack stands under the other side while you start inflating the inner tubes.  Don't get any part of your body under the car!   

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Not up yet?

Attach the tires on the side that is "up".    Place one jack stand beneath the rear axle housing as near the "down" side as possible. Do the same in the front.  Now lower the up side until the weight is entirely on the tires. I will bet the down side is now off the ground enough to get a jack under the frame.  Not rocket science!

 

  Ben

 

  

[keiser31]

16 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Not up yet?

Attach the tires on the side that is "up".    Place one jack stand beneath the rear axle housing as near the "down" side as possible. Do the same in the front.  Now lower the up side until the weight is entirely on the tires. I will bet the down side is now off the ground enough to get a jack under the frame.  Not rocket science!

 

  Ben

 

  

Or...."rocker" science....

[M1842]

21 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Not up yet?

Attach the tires on the side that is "up".    Place one jack stand beneath the rear axle housing as near the "down" side as possible. Do the same in the front.  Now lower the up side until the weight is entirely on the tires. I will bet the down side is now off the ground enough to get a jack under the frame.  Not rocket science!

 

  Ben

 

  

This was what I was thinking, I have a buddy coming over this afternoon to give me a hand.  The wife, quite understandably, is freaked out and has demanded I get help.

[joe_padavano]

I think you all are making this way harder than it needs to be. Put the tires back on the driver's side. Lower that to the ground. Place the jack under the front suspension on the passenger side, preferably with the saddle of the jack straddling something like the bottom of the shock. Slowly raise that corner. If you have two jacks, one under the rear axle would be good if access is possible. Slowly raise both. Add tires. Done.

[Digger914]

32 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

I think you all are making this way harder than it needs to be. Put the tires back on the driver's side. Lower that to the ground. Place the jack under the front suspension on the passenger side, preferably with the saddle of the jack straddling something like the bottom of the shock. Slowly raise that corner. If you have two jacks, one under the rear axle would be good if access is possible. Slowly raise both. Add tires. Done.

It looks worse than it is and on the bright side you're not replacing all 4 tires and rims.

 

With a little practice this becomes as easy as Joe's description and if you have big "vintage" steel drive on ramps handy, you can slide them in under the frame before you lower the side that now has tires and it should give you enough room to get your floor jack in under the car to lift the low side. As the car is sitting on concrete and not blacktop it will skid some when you lift to remove the jack stands and it could skid again, so don't even think about reaching under the car, use a long stick to push your ramps, or blocks in place.

 

 

[Frank DuVal]

20 hours ago, 3macboys said:

I'd slide some cribbing under the right front -

I use cribbing instead of jack stands. I build them like platform framing of floor joists/floor/ceiling.  Wood does not slide like slippery steel.  2 X 4 or 2 X 6 as the joists and 3/4 plywood or OSB as the floor/ceiling. And a piece across one end of the joists to prevent racking.

 

Also putting the wheel/tire back on the side high in the air is also VERY good safety at this time. You can remove it for more work later. Don't even need to tighten the lug nuts/bolts, just finger tight will be safe (of course DO NOT install wheel cover and go for a drive before final tightening).

 

 

Be thankful you were not under the car, get your wits back, everything is fine now, I see no car damage. Find the scissors jack out of a modern car to get under frame parts close to the ground where a standard floor jack will not fit. Get several if you can, as lifting from multiple points is good too.

 

 

[Frank DuVal]

27 minutes ago, Digger914 said:

on the bright side you're not replacing all 4 tires and rims.

Back in my "learning years" I put a Mustang up on jack stands in THE YARD, removed all four wheels to do something, maybe buying tires. Came back hours later to Mustang sitting on the ground. That was an experience in jacking from very small gaps!

[Digger914]

1 hour ago, Frank DuVal said:

Back in my "learning years" I put a Mustang up on jack stands in THE YARD, removed all four wheels to do something, maybe buying tires. Came back hours later to Mustang sitting on the ground. That was an experience in jacking from very small gaps!

I got all my get the car and truck off the ground, put the tires back on practice on my dad's car lot.

[M1842]

She's back on the level now.  Buddy came over and with 2 floor jacks and 4 jack stands we got her level and stable again.  Absolutely no drama.  My low profile floor jack really helped us to get started.  I am going to put a couple old tires under her for now and put her wheels on tomorrow.  My buddy suggested letting the body and frame recover before putting wheels on.  As it is, I don't have the mental energy to proceed.

 

Only damage I see is the right rear quarter in front of the wheel well.  I suspected there was plastic there and this confirms it.  I thought the rear bumper was tweaked but maybe not.

 

I didn't die or get hurt, the car is almost untouched, the garage was not damaged.  I was lucky.  I will be very careful moving forward.  I knew better and got complacent.  I told the wife, I'd like to get one of those quick lifts or a real lift.

 

Pictures below.

 

Mark

[joe_padavano]

2 hours ago, M1842 said:

My buddy suggested letting the body and frame recover before putting wheels on. 

"Recover"??? Oh, he was talking about YOUR body and frame. 😁

 

Congrats. I'm guessing the recovery took less time than it does to read this thread. 😉

Edited January 2, 2023 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[M1842]

2 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

"Recover"??? Oh, he was talking about YOUR body and frame. 😁

 

Congrats. I'm guessing the recovery took less time than it does to read this thread. 😉

Took us about 2 hours.

[Littlestown Mike]

Just another learning experience.  Glad no one was hurt ( ego doesn't count!) Metal, rubber and plastic are fixed more easily than bones and skin.  Get the wheels and tires back on and go for a drive.

 

[EmTee]

18 hours ago, M1842 said:

I told the wife, I'd like to get one of those quick lifts or a real lift.

Strike while the iron is hot! 

 

Glad this story has a happy ending.  Nobody hurt and the car suffered only minor damage.  I like the idea of using something in addition to the jack stands if there's any question about stability.  I have shoved one (or more) of the wheels back under the car as a final failsafe should anything move.

[JACK M]

10-4 on a real lift.

That would come after the real shop. LOL

Gald you got the car back on track.

[1937hd45]

How much does your Buick weigh, how much did you spent on the toy jack stands? 

[M1842]

8 hours ago, JACK M said:

10-4 on a real lift.

That would come after the real shop. LOL

Gald you got the car back on track.

The real shop ain't gonna happen, nowhere to build on our lot.  New house isn't happening anytime soon either.  I have to work with the foot print I have.

 

[Angelfish]

On 1/1/2023 at 11:29 PM, M1842 said:

I thought about that but I don't know anyone in that business.  I assume a towing company would put something like this at the bottom of the list.

MacGyver used an innertube to raise a car he we trapped under.  If it worked for him I'm sure it will work for you.  

[M1842]

39 minutes ago, Angelfish said:

MacGyver used an innertube to raise a car he we trapped under.  If it worked for him I'm sure it will work for you.  

I always have inner tubes laying about the garage just in case! lol

[M1842]

Baby's got her shoes on again.

[Littlestown Mike]

11 hours ago, 1937hd45 said:

How much does your Buick weigh, how much did you spent on the toy jack stands? 

I don't believe this was a jack stand failure so the cost or quality of those jack stands really doesn't count--or did i miss something?

[Rusty Heaps]

I usually like to slide the tires and rims under the car for added safety, or use what I call “hillbilly jack stands” , 6”x6” cribbing, it doesn’t slip or collapse. Glad you weren’t injured. Short sections of railroad timbers work well, too.

[M1842]

2 hours ago, Littlestown Mike said:

I don't believe this was a jack stand failure so the cost or quality of those jack stands really doesn't count--or did i miss something?

I agree, this was a user error, not an equipment failure.  The jack stands are undamaged 

[JACK M]

3 hours ago, M1842 said:

I agree, this was a user error, not an equipment failure.  The jack stands are undamaged 

There was discussion not long ago about some Harbor Freight jack stand problem.

Might have even been a recall.

Edited January 4, 2023 by JACK M (see edit history)

[M1842]

6 hours ago, JACK M said:

There was discussion not long ago about some Harbor Freight jack stand problem.

Might have even been a recall.

My jackstands predate HF, they might be Sears or Trak Auto from the early 80s.  Always stored indoors and corrosion free. I recently bought a pair of those cast iron ones with the ratchet and the locking bar.  I plan on getting two more soon.

[Tonz]

From my early days of working on cars my mentor told me to never trust a car up on jacks or up with wheels off. Safety is always first priority especially when most enthusiasts will be working alone out in the garage.

Plan "A" was only use jacks to lift car, then stands.

Plan "B" was always slide the spare wheel under the car somewhere incase the jack falls. (Usually roadside wheel swap)

Plan "C" use extra stands when possible. If only working on the front leave rear wheels on and put 4 stands up front.

 

Over the years there have been numerous news reports of a auto hobbyists being pinned or found deceased under their fallen car. Even YouTube is full of the professionals having cars fall off hoists.

 

As for your recovery it will be a bit of clever thinking, but I would strongly recommend you get a couple of friends to assist. And then take time to reflect on what could have been!

[Larry Schramm]

When I jack up a car I usually use the floor jack and then put the jack stands under the vehicle.  I do not take the floor jack out. I leave both under the car as I am working on it.  I can not remember the last time I had all four tires off a car while working on it.

[tsherry]

I've used jackstands and jacks for years, but the older I got, the less I liked them.  Hadn't had a close call since my teens; I always used cribbing or tires/wheels under whatever I was working on.   I still have a couple sets of jackstands but rarely use them, and never, ever use them without a series of cribbing blocks under the frame. 

 

I found a Rotary low-rise lift on Craigslist for $400, and couldn't get my wallet out fast enough. Bolted to the floor of the big shop; drive over it, runs on an air compressor driving the hydraulic ram.  Perfect for suspension/brakes/tires work.   If I were buying new, I'd probably look for a quickjack or something like that, although those look too light for my tastes. 

 

I've read of too many guys using just jackstands who get pancaked when they're wrenching on something above them.   Not what one's spouse wants to find when she's bringing you a fresh cup of coffee. 

 

 

[28 Chrysler]

The only bad news here is the damaged area is going to need some rust work done. The bottom of these cars are prone to rust out your little mishap just brought it out into the open.