Is my working area safe?

[krazyj]

Hi all,

I'm fairly new to wrenching and I'm looking for feedback on whether my outdoor setup seems safe.

I have a gravel driveway area in my backyard where I want to jack my car up and go underneath safely (i.e. pull a transmission, diff, etc).

In my opinion, I'd say this patch of driveway is 'very flat', however it's still not a perfectly poured concrete garage floor, and is also covered in small gravel.

I jacked up my car and gave it the 'shake test'. I shook it hard as hell. As hard as I could without getting a running start. And everything actually felt really solid. But, I'll admit I noticed very minor flex in things (perhaps because all of it is sitting on wood, on gravel, and on a not-absolutely-perfectly flat patch). Maybe this is normal even on perfect concrete?

At a maximum, the slope in this area doesn't seem to be more than ~2% over any stretch.

I'm using 4x '3 ton' HF steel jack stands to support a 1.5 ton overall car. The jack stands are placed on 12" x 12" x 3/4" pressure treated plywood, on the gravel.

Below is a picture of the driveway area in question, with the car up on the jack stands. Also, I took pictures of my 9" level placed in the middle of the 12" plywood base under each jack stand. I superimposed both directions in each photo.

Thoughts on whether this seems safe? My backup plan was to build [URL="http://imgur.com/j1VtpHF"]wooden wheel cribs[/URL] for each tire. I assume the larger surface area and more solid construction would be safer, hopefully in spite of the imperfect ground. Or maybe there's another recommendation that would work? (Perhaps some style of ramps?)

Thanks!

[flat4olsen]

I would say, that you are safe. At least compared to this guy:

[nsracing]

Yes, pretty safe. But I am paranoid - I always have a jack up there under too. IN case the damn teeth on the stands break off. Chinese made - ..many are.

[EverettB]

Yes, you should be fine, I've worked on my Bus in my gravel side yard like that a few times.

As nsracing said though, I always have a floor jack underneath the end where I am doing something.
My floor jack is on a big sheet of plywood too.
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[helowrench]

[wombatventures]

[nsracing]

He is at the proper angle so when he is crushed wont suffer too much.

[lightice]

Like someone said, I'd use a few rims under the sills on each side as additional insurance.

In any case, take precaution...


Link

[Dale M.]

NO... I always though jack stands were for the stupid people.... Real mechanics use cinder blocks.....

Yes you are about as safe as it gets.... Still there is no guarantee, even jack stand fail....


http://lmgtfy.com/?t=i&q=jack+stand+failures

JUst check occasionally for any stability changes... Soft ground can allow one stand to sink a bit and everything changes...

Dale
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[KTPhil]

[mark tucker]

just pull over a ditch yes you should be fine, but remember shit happens so if somethen happens it aint on us...it's on you.

[nextgen]

Add Fire to the next on your safe list and it can sneak up on you.
Have friend working on bug with a gas leak in garage, and he drops his light.
Bulb breaks and FIRE!!! We push it out and hit it with hose. The house could have went up.

A month ago was taking out my rear seat. It drops on the battery, the hay under seat instantly blasts into fire. Lucky II was able to get it out fast enough and Took my shirt off and used ti to smother the fire. Again very lucky.

Car falls maybe you die. With fire you can take your home and family with you. .
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[lightice]

Upgrade your work light to LEDs.
I have and I don't have to worry about the bulb breaking.

[nsracing]

That is why I do not go under a carlift without the tall jackstands. They make them so you can put them under the car in case the lift arms let go.

It is scary working under a carlift. Terrible what happened to those two guys getting squashed.

[pondervwmike]

Indeed throw a couple tires on rims under the car and have a fire extinguisher handy.
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