Fortunately as the Chevette had a tiny engine me and another person managed to lift the front of the car enough to relieve pressure on the person under the car and someone else got a jack underneath so the poor guy could get out. So for me just axle stands -.
Surely the lesson to be learnt here is not just about how to support a raised car ? It's to make sure that car cannot roll, either forwards or backwards. Maybe that chap put it in gear and then forgot that the front wheels weren't on the ground .... :-(
So from that angle, ramps may be safer ?
Edited by Andrew-T on 20/10/2023 at 09:32
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Surely the lesson to be learnt here is not just about how to support a raised car ? It's to make sure that car cannot roll, either forwards or backwards.
Indeed, but if you look at the laws of physics you need very little movement forwards / backwards to topple axe stands especially if well extended. With ramps you still have to consider rolling but you have a lot of ramp to go at usually with a stop at the front. So yes ramps are much safer but not always possible if wheels need to be removed etc.
Fortunately in the case I witnessed / helped with many moons ago (late 80s) the outcome was ok but it was a lesson leant for me going forward.
Edited by Big John on 20/10/2023 at 09:57
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There's no way you would get me under a car on a jack or axle stands, particularly if I was trying to wrench an oil filter off.
Ramps are the safest bet if you are doing it yourself. Maybe borrow some from a friend if you don't have them. Make sure the handbrake is on and it's in gear before you start work.
Ideally, find someone with a pit or a lift to work safely. It will make a huge difference to how easy it is to do the job too.
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Axle stands are OK, but you want meaty blighters with strong well shaped cups that will fit around strong underbody points, typically sold as suitable for 4x4's vans etc, stands sold for cars tend not to be as solid, but you'll need a decent trolley jack to get a normal car high enough to get the larger versions under.
But the best axle stands i ever had was when a teen working on my own cars frequently, my dad got a couple of hefty hardwood blocks cut from tree trunks some 14/16" diameter, dropped onto them you would have to tow the car to get it to move, various bolts etc digging slightly into the wood.
I have some extra long extra high ramps, which also have a plate inset into the top with easily removable jacks underneath, in their normal state they stand a little over a ft tall (much longer approach frame to help with poor approach angles) but can be jacked up another 8" or so once the wheels are safely in the trays, heavy and take some room up, though stackable, a normal ramp is nothing like these, lots of this type to be found online, worth investing if you spend some time under cars for servicing rustproofing etc.
this sort of thing ebay 295983403300, and the ramp extensions i talked about to help with cars with poor approach angles are ebay 144623516011, not suggesting these are the best or would work with any particular car, but to give some ideas what can be done.
Something i've never seen before, and the fact they don't appear to have a locking mechanism so presumably relying on the hydraulics alone to keep them up! means ahm oot, are these, brilliant bit of kit but i'd definately want a safety brace once raised, ebay 295986961130 they'd be a good idea otherwise for low cars.
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When raising two wheels, I use axle stands BUT also jacks under the jacking points - so double safety if one fails.
Not had an issue in 60 years DIY on cars.
Tried ramps but decided unsafe when driving on, So gave up and sold them 30 years ago, Less storage needed as well.
Edited by madf on 20/10/2023 at 11:49
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Never ever punch a hole through the oil filter with a screwdriver!! I did that once, many years ago on a mini metro as a last resort. As I turned the screwdriver the filter metal ripped and I was left with a large jagged hole, a drastically weakened filter that couldn't be grabbed and an immobilised car! I think I ended up driving it off very gradually with a cold chisel. It took hours. Never again, if it won't come off take it to a garage!
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Ramps are perfectly adequate. I've always used them. But as said above, a jack and a few bricks or wooden blocks for safety (I never trust a jack alone) once you've jacked it up is enough to get at the sump plug and oil filter. If you haven't got an oil filter wrench, find some thin old rope and wind it around the oil filter (wiped clean so it grips) anticlockwise several times then pull hard to unscrew it. Don't do its replacement up too tightly! Make sure you have a tray and plenty of old newspaper and rags handy - there's usually lots of mess! After around 80,000 miles I used to wait till our old Focus had burned the oil down to the minimum mark. If you don't have a tray, cut a panel out of an old 5l oil can and collect it in that. I pour it into an old 20 litre can and take it to the tip when full, although it's surprising how useful old oil can be.
PS I think engine flushes are a waste of money. Far better to leave it to drip overnight to allow complete drainage of the old grot. You might be surprised by the size of the dark brown puddle. I usually tilt the car to ensure the sump plug is at the lowest level.
Edited by John F on 20/10/2023 at 12:47
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If you haven't got an oil filter wrench, find some thin old rope and wind it around the oil filter (wiped clean so it grips) anticlockwise several times then pull hard to unscrew it. Don't do its replacement up too tightly!
As above - it's worth repeating - if you expect to do the next filter change, smear the sealing ring with the old oil before fitting the filter. That way you will never need the screwdriver ...
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If you haven't got an oil filter wrench, find some thin old rope and wind it around the oil filter (wiped clean so it grips) anticlockwise several times then pull hard to unscrew it. Don't do its replacement up too tightly!
As above - it's worth repeating - if you expect to do the next filter change, smear the sealing ring with the old oil before fitting the filter. That way you will never need the screwdriver ...
Good advice - unless its a Toyota genuine oil filter as these come with a pre greased sealing ring - just remove the clear plastic protection packaging from the filter.
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I had an A35 collapse on me when it rolled off a hydraulic jack. Fortunately I locked my fore - arms and a couple of passing blokes heard my shouts and lifted it enough for me to get out - impetuous youthfulness!
More recently I had a car roll off ramps. I was fitting a particularly recalcitrant air filter and the force I used was sufficient to move the car. The ramps consisted of horizontal bars which I (mistakenly) thought were sufficient to hold it in place without using the handbrake.
I'm getting too old!
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Those ramps-with-stands could be made cheaper and lighter if they didn't come with jacks, so you could just use the bottle jack you already had to raiise them and then lock them in place.
I think I used (borrowed) ramps once, but the possibility of driving off the end made me too nervous, plus, working in the street parallel parked, as I usually had to do, there often wouldnt be room to use them. So made do with stands and a bottle jack, the latter smaller, cheaper and more versatile than the trolley jack someone mentions as essential up above somewhere, though have had one or two close shaves. Both are especially dangerous on granite sets, the traditional, slippery and uneven square cobblestone road surface outside my flat in Edinburgh.
The jack can be made slightly safer by putting it on a rubber or carpet tile. I've thought of "upgrading" the stands with those screw-adjustable scaffolding feet, but never got around to "acquiring" them.
I wouldn't use bricks, (also mentioned above) They can crumble. Wood also has to be selected with caution since it can split along grain, though latterly in Taiwan I acquired some mahogany planks that seemed reliable, also a batch of industrial floor tiles made from stainless steel and rubber, chucked out from the local railway station, and some hefty rubber bricks that had been aircon machinery mountings. Plywood (preferably shuttering ply with a waterproof glue) is also OK
Steel (or I suppose alloy, though not tried that) wheels, with or without tyres can sometimes be used to give axle stands a useful height boost. for particular jobs.
All that said, I think on most of my past cars I could do an oil drain with the car on its wheels, though I would usually jack up to get better drainage.
I suppose if you need to jack up, and you are only doing this very seldom, as for an oil change, the jack that came with the car might be adequate, but some of these (not the GP scissor jack types) only work with the factory jacking points; I dont habitually use these since they tend to be rot traps, and on some of my past UK cars have been none too solid.
Edited by edlithgow on 21/10/2023 at 05:42
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I think I used (borrowed) ramps once, but the possibility of driving off the end made me too nervous obs.
I agree re driving onto ramps being difficult/dangerous (driving off the end, burning clutch out etc) but I generally use combined with a trolley jack to lift the car up then slide the ramp under the wheel.
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Both are especially dangerous on granite sets, the traditional, slippery and uneven square cobblestone road surface outside my flat in Edinburgh.
Yes indeed, Ed, I had a flat in Circus Gardens years ago and rather than risk jacking there to swap a bald tyre for the spare I was fortunate to be able to use a forklift truck at work, much the easiest way to do the job. (NB, smooth tyres were legal back then, though somewhat tricky on wet cobbles.)
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These look quite useful if you can justify the price: tinyurl.com/58aw7y9p
If the hydraulic ones in the ebay link are from the same company then it looks like they have a safety lock at the full height. They look seriously useful but a bit pricey for the casual user.
tinyurl.com/59a3wxha
Edited by Xileno on 22/10/2023 at 17:35
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(NB, smooth tyres were legal back then, though somewhat tricky on wet cobbles.)
Must have been quite a while ago. Those were the days
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(NB, smooth tyres were legal back then, though somewhat tricky on wet cobbles.)
Must have been quite a while ago. Those were the days
1966, I used to go down the A68 to see my girlfriend at weekends. That road has been spoilt by 50 mph limits, observing those limits increases the journey time from what I used to do in a Ford 100E with drum brakes.
More traffic and more regulation has taken much of the pleasure out of driving, even though cars are more reliable, faster and more comfortable.
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<< I used to go down the A68 to see my girlfriend at weekends. That road has been spoilt by 50 mph limits, observing those limits increases the journey time from what I used to do in a Ford 100E with drum brakes. More traffic and more regulation has taken much of the pleasure out of driving, even though cars are more reliable, faster and more comfortable. >>
A few months ago I drove from Cheshire to Cardiff via mid-Wales - Welshpool, Oswestry, Newtown. This place is no longer a bottleneck, with a fine recent bypass. From then on the road through Llandrindod to Brecon was a joy, hardly any traffic, just like the 1970s. Until reaching Merthyr, where the roadworks on the Heads of Valleys road show no sign of ending. After that everything goes downhill, lit. and fig.
No doubt things have been infected with 20mph limits since, but hey-ho ....
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I'll just add, 4WIW, that I had made a set of floorboards for driver and passenger footwells with my scrounged up bits of varnished mahogany plank (originally room flooring,).
Looked pretty fancy. I didn't have carpet and dont think much of it, having chucked it a few years ago.
These planks were tied together venetian blind stylee in two sets with heavy industrial nylon monofilament fishing line (as used for bamboo oyster-farm rafts) scrounged up from the beach.
The idea was that I could also use these for variable height jack footing, and as an under-wheel recovery mat if I got the car stuck in soft beach sand , This has happened in the past, and I've used footwell mats as a recovery aid, but they did tend to get damaged.
Floorboards were not really tested in this role since the car was out of action since I made them, and they went with it to the sc*** yard.
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