Thanks!
Man stuff! Rotated tires on wife's car.
- Thread starter Racer88
- Start date
I did the same thing today on my truck, with nearly the same tools and jacks/jack stands. I do a 5 tire rotation on my truck. It's quite a job, but saves money to do it yourself. Plus, I like knowing my lugs are tightened properly to 85 ft. lbs.
I then changed the oil and filters.
Real men do it all in one day and cut the grass.
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Yep. Gotta use a torque wrench!
It was hot! Daylight was running out.I then changed the oil and filters.
Real men do it all in one day and cut the grass.
You can also use these torque limiting extensions. Each one has a torque value to prevent over tightening. This what the local tire shop uses.
1/2 In. Torque Limiting Extension Bar Set, 10 Piece
Amazing deals on this 1/2In Drive Torque Extension Bar Set 10Pc at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
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@Racer88
There are a decent number of jack stands very similar to those in the shop here. I never use them now and they really should just be tossed.
The failure here was not like the ones you see online where the pawl has little contact, or a weld simply breaks on the upright. Those failures had a recall from what I can see.
No, the stands here actually folded like a cheap suit. And they folded on a car that was jacked up on all four corners just like yours. I kept them for awhile to show folks and warn them in person, but have tossed them. The chinese steel and the design was the major culprit as I have never had a stand fail except for those and I've had cars jacked up on all sorts of things from the garage to the race track on all types of surfaces and angles. since my teens Looking at your photos, the ones you have are not a lot different in design from the ones that failed here.
What made the stands fail here was that the car was jacked up on a slight angle. But, not much of an angle. Not enough to warrant failure and it is easy to jack a car up at a slight angle. Folks do it all the time when they jack up only one side the left or right side.
Here's what I began typing earlier when you started this thread. Yes, I know you don't have welder, so you can't do the fix for safety.
========================================
Failure of small Harbor Freight stands happened outside my shop when a friend (an engineer, autocrosser, DIYer and highly technical guy) jacked up his car and placed it on four Harbor Freight stands. His Toyota ended up on the ground/concrete, but he was not under it. He had jacked the car up on a concrete entry area to my shop that had an ever so slight angle to get cars into the shop. How slight? We are talking about a 3-4 inch rise in about 15-20 feet (not much!). I watched the entire thing happen from my home 400 feet away. And, his car is arguably one of the lighter cars at around 2,000 pounds and he had it jacked up about as high as your car. The jacks failed on the end where the engine was in the back where most of the weight is.
I will never buy Harbor Freight "small" jack stands unless I weld a flat plate on the bottom that connects the four standing uprights that are fairly thin metal. I would use quarter inch steel plate, but I imagine 1/8 would work too. You need to connect the four legs basically and give them rigidity so they won't fold up on one side.
Race tracks and/or race sanctioning bodies can often require in their Supplemental Regulations that all jack stands have flat plates welded like I described. Mainly to prevent damage to their tarmac and paddock by jack stands digging into the asphalt. COTA, VIR and others require this. But, perhaps the most important reason is safety. Often you jack only one end of a car, or one half of a car at a track. And often it can be at a slight angle. Particularly in a paddock with tilted roads or areas that are not around the garages.
Just warning you man. I would not use those stands.
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Listen to Pat.
Don't put any body parts under the car supported by those stands until they are reinforced.
The internet is full of the failure of Chinese metal goods. That is the price we pay for a cheap price.
Without X-Ray inspection, you can't tell if those welds have good penetration. They look good with paint on them though.
We are forbidden to use Chinese rigging and fall protection at work for this very reason. It has failed and caused injuries.
Don't put any body parts under the car supported by those stands until they are reinforced.
The internet is full of the failure of Chinese metal goods. That is the price we pay for a cheap price.
Without X-Ray inspection, you can't tell if those welds have good penetration. They look good with paint on them though.
We are forbidden to use Chinese rigging and fall protection at work for this very reason. It has failed and caused injuries.
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I got these for wheel rotations. I'm not planning to use them to get under the car. Personally, I wouldn't trust ANY jack stands with my body underneath. Gives me the willies thinking about it. The only thing I'd trust that way is an actual lift, which I don't have. So at that point, that's what mechanics are for. I'm not doing any of that kind of work.
I use ramps when necessary to change oil.
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Oil changed. Air (engine) and cabin air filters changed.
Now this is a cool (new to me) gizmo! A screw-in oil funnel. Keeps things very neat / clean!
Go here and scroll down for your brand / car. Ignore the "currently unavailable" tag at the top of the page.
You don't have to use one hand to stablize the traditional funnel, while you try to control the pour of the 5-qt jug with the other hand. Now you can use both hands to carefully pour the new oil. The funnel stays put and won't leak a drop.
Air filter changed... maybe the first time since the car was new (3 years)! The OEM filter (bottom) started off as white! New (STP) filter is red.
Now this is a cool (new to me) gizmo! A screw-in oil funnel. Keeps things very neat / clean!
Go here and scroll down for your brand / car. Ignore the "currently unavailable" tag at the top of the page.
Motivx Tools LLC: Oil Funnels
See the difference our advanced engine oil funnel can make. No more messy oil changes!
www.amazon.com
You don't have to use one hand to stablize the traditional funnel, while you try to control the pour of the 5-qt jug with the other hand. Now you can use both hands to carefully pour the new oil. The funnel stays put and won't leak a drop.
Air filter changed... maybe the first time since the car was new (3 years)! The OEM filter (bottom) started off as white! New (STP) filter is red.
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THIS ^^^^^ You have to look at price and increased shipping when you add it to your cart. So an $8 filter might add $12 shipping while a $15 filter may not add ANY extra shipping.
Those jack stands look stout. My rule with jacking is to put most of the weight of the car on the stands while leaving the jack lightly engaged with the jack point. Verify all the corners of the stand are touching the ground, readjust if necessary. Give the car a good push/pull to make sure it isn't going to fall off the stands. If it feels solid you are good to go. I've NEVER had a car fall off stands (or a lift) with this procedure (knocks wood
). Project Farm on gootoob did a test on jack stands I think you would be enlightened by. View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ufAL5R0mg
PS: I have that same jack in my shop. No complaints.
I WAS considering the Pittburgh? HF brand but for $30 more the Daytona seemed better build and I could get it in orange. HF red turns pink after about a year... I also use pucks with a slot in them for the pinch welds which are the jack points on my VWs.
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THIS ^^^^^ You have to look at price and increased shipping when you add it to your cart. So an $8 filter might add $12 shipping while a $15 filter may not add ANY extra shipping.
Those jack stands look stout. My rule with jacking is to put most of the weight of the car on the stands while leaving the jack lightly engaged with the jack point. Verify all the corners of the stand are touching the ground, readjust if necessary. Give the car a good push/pull to make sure it isn't going to fall off the stands. If it feels solid you are good to go. I've NEVER had a car fall off stands (or a lift) with this procedure (knocks wood
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6ufAL5R0mg
PS: I have that same jack in my shop. No complaints.
Funny... I watched that video earlier today.
I wouldn't trust any jack stand with my life. I just use them to raise the car so I can remove all the wheels simultaneously.
It took me a second or two to figure out what was holding the car up! Yikes!