924Board.org

tomcooper · Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 301 Location: Waterloo, Nebraska

Here is a post to the 914 World Board that should give each of us a reason to pause to take a look at how we work on our cars. Mike is a very luck guy.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=70117&st=

Tom
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Casper and Big Red, both 1980 NA
Black Bart, 1990 944 S2 Cab

Chrenan · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 3903 Location: Canada

Yikes!!!

I am paranoid about this sort of thing. I use four 6 ton jack stands, then I put blocks I made out of 2 by 8 lumber under each wheel as an extra precaution if one of the stands fail. If a wheel is off on the front, I put the lumber under the cross member. If a wheel is off on the rear, I leave the lumber under the brake drum.

I like the six ton stands as they can get the car higher, with the added benefit that if the ratchet on the stand does fail, even at the lowest setting I still fit under the car.
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1987 951 - M193 Version for Japan

endwrench · Joined: 07 Dec 2002 Posts: 1631 Location: Victor, Montana

Scary

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'79 924NA. Rebuilt 9.5:1, MSDS header, Mega Squirt Injection, MJLJ-EDIS Ignition, 1.6L Whipple Charger and Intercooler, 10lbs Boost, 944 Trans, Custom HD Clutch.
"simsport" said....superchargers are better than turbos its official!....

Hoboceratops · Joined: 16 Aug 2006 Posts: 156 Location: Atlanta, GA

Oh great... this is all I'm going to be thinking about while I'm checking/dropping transmission.

On the plus side, I'll be very careful on positioning the car on the stands.

Down side? Well... I should probably just keep a spare pair of pants handy.
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1987 924S: Very much in love with it, even if it's all finnicky

geddes66 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 129 Location: Bakersfield CA

Myquestion is: Exactly what part of the jackstand "gave way"?

I have knocked the car off the jack stand while under it fighting to get a trans in(out?). Steel/steel don't have a good friction co-efficient. but it only slipped off the rear torsion bar housing and the car only fell 3" before the stand hung up on the sheet metal. Those "OSHA approved" stands are still crap if teh top is too flat. Still scary.

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The Porsche is now my son's, my car is cooler, slower but cooler.

Mike924 · Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 2601 Location: IoW UK

Frightning!

I'm sure we all take the sort of precautions Chrenan metioned there, but in this case, it seems the stand itself failed. All you can do about that, I guess, is regularly check the condition of the weld joints, etc; but how many of us do that...?
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1985 Porsche 924 'Lux', Kalahari Beige (my ex)
1993 Porsche 968 Coupe, Midnight Blue, 6 spd

'There is no substitute for a little grease under your fingernails.' - Chrenan, 924board.org

Ozzie · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:29 pm Post subject:

Looks like its a rachet type jack which I wouldnt use.
Pin type jacks are far safer.
I also leave the jack up as well as the stands, with all/most of the weight on the stands.
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Porsche 924 1984 (UK import) NA
Its AUTO and its BLACK
Montego Black on black/red
Engineer of Electro/Mechanical Systems Maintenance

PORSCHEV · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 7:27 pm Post subject:

I use 6 ton stands as well... I also always leave the jack under the car with a slight pressure holding up on the car. I work in my shop alot by myself with no one that would hear me if something went wrong... just extra precautions.
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1976 924
5 lug conversion, 17'C2 wheels,custom body work,327 vette engine.

1978-#53 "D" track racer.

Mike924 · Joined: 12 Aug 2004 Posts: 2601 Location: IoW UK

morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 9095 Location: Romania

too bad about the guy.....i have a big hole in my garage..so i dont have to lift the car up many times...but when i do..i use big wood logs to jack up the car.
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tomcooper · Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 301 Location: Waterloo, Nebraska

If you read through the posts carefully, Mike seems to think that the reason the jackstand failed was that he accidentally hit it while trying to remove the engine mounting bar (teeners have a long bar that goes across the "front" of the engine and mounts to either side) and that even under load the rachet type stands can slip down.

That being said, I am no fan on the OSHA type stand with the flat top. There is much less of a chance that will fail if accidentially bumped, but the flat surface is more likely to slip off a round mounting point. I like the secondary back up of a tire or other large object in addition to the jacket stands.

Tom
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Casper and Big Red, both 1980 NA
Black Bart, 1990 944 S2 Cab

Raceboy · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2327 Location: Estonia, Europe

Never had a jack stand failure before but I've NEVER trusted them also. Just put a wheel or whatever under the car just for precaution.
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'83 924 2.6 16v Turbo, 470hp
'67 911 2.4S hotrod
'90 944 S2 Cabriolet
'78 924 Carrera GT replica
'84 928 S, sold
'91 944 S2, sold
'82 924S/931 "Gulf", sold

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924guy · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:55 am Post subject:

i had a jackstand collapse on me many years ago, fortunately i also had a hydrolic jack still locked and under the car which saved me from getting crushed too badly. i think its a rare occurance though, and most of them that do give way, are due to improper placement or unstable ground (like a sandy surface.) even now though, i still not only use the six ton stands, properly locked and placed, but also block the wheels if i only have one end of the car up, keep the hydrolic jack in place and locked, and also put a spare wheel or cinder block under the frame rails as well. once the car is up and secure, i actaully wiggle it a bit to make sure theres no slippage, then and only then do i go to work under the car.
might be a bit of overkill, but you can never be too safe...
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Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
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-nick · Joined: 16 Nov 2002 Posts: 2699 Location: Cambridge, MA

This is a good reminder. I know that I tempt fate on occasion. I have the ratchet-type stands, but they are 4-legged and look like they could hold up a tank. Placement is usually more of the problem.

** The wriggle test should always be a requirement before getting under the car!
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1980 931S
15psi boost, MS-II, EDIS, 951 IC, custom intake, Ford 5.0L throttle body, Forge BOV, WB o2, G31 w/LSD, 964 wheels, 968 rear sway, Bilsteins, 200# Welt. springs. A laptop, and a partridge in a pear tree.
1991 964 C4 Cabriolet

Stu2j · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:11 am Post subject:

I am completely lost.... (probably no surprise there)

Even if my jackstand(s) were to "collapse", the height of the stand itself would prevent me from getting crushed as the stand is taller than the width of my head. I thought they were intentionally designed that way.

I'm just not getting how this happened...

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-Stu
924 owner since 1988
924S owner since 2002
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