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Spudrig
07-10-2008, 05:30 PM
Just to let everyone know, my jack collapsed today when I was changing the front right wheel which was punctured. I held the car up with my arm and leg, until my next door neighbour heard me shout for help and he placed a bag of cement under the car to hold it off the ground. My leg is bruised and my arm is sore but I'm ok other than that. The car is bruised too though!! There's a dent on the underside of the driver's door and the plastic trim is bent, but is should just pop all back into place. Hopefully! I'm going to get a photo of the damage caused and get it posted up later on for you all to see

Basically, the moral of this story is not to jack up the car in the pouring rain!! And be extra careful even if its being done in the dry.

Col
07-10-2008, 06:28 PM
Glad your ok.

Shocking isn't it, the quality of the jacks supplied with our cars.

You really would think they'd be better.

vince47
07-10-2008, 06:29 PM
That sound horrible. A puncture in the rain isnt fun but....
Can you give a bit more detail of the `collapse.` ie did the jack fail with a stripped thread/come out of the jacking point etc. I think we would all want to know what to look out for as I dont think I could hold up a car and shout unless part of it was resting on me:aargh4:

euroslap
07-10-2008, 06:42 PM
A moron I know tried to change the gearbox on his XR3i with a boot jack under each side. Lucky for him he'd put the wheels he'd removed under the side car out of his way. Needless to say the jacks collapsed and left him with a broken nose, had the wheels not been there he'd have most probably been crushed.
http://www.clipartof.com/images/thumbnail/1239.gif (http://www.clipartof.com/details/emoticon/1239.html)

kite
07-10-2008, 07:19 PM
On some forums these VAG jacks are known as widow-makers !
I would never use a VAG jack, buy a small hyd. jack.

Spudrig
07-10-2008, 08:15 PM
Thanks for all the replys. As for more detail about the collapse, I just heard a creaking noise a few times, then i just saw it slowly drop then I stuck my leg under the wheel arch and used my arms to support the car up. I don't really know why it happened as I can't see any threading of the jack, but I will take it to VW when I get a chance. I'll keep you all posted about it!

euroslap
07-10-2008, 08:40 PM
The flat base slides away from underneath them, not the best.

Crasher
07-10-2008, 08:46 PM
I stopped to help a woman with a new Beetle Cabrio and a flat. The car was on a gentle slope and nearly fell off the jack, it made me jump! I quickly got it back on the floor. Many many years ago (it must have been around 1983) I jacked up my Beetle (a proper one) and walked around the front only to get pinned between mine and another Beetle with my legs trapped. Even when we have to use a trolley jack at work, which isn’t often, axle stands go under as the car gets high enough.

Spudrig
07-10-2008, 09:49 PM
These jacks are a joke though, mine is now destroyed due to the weight of the car!! I have to say bags of cement really did the trick until my neighbour got the trolley jack underneath it!! But having said that I'm considering myself lucky not to have been crushed, but I have a feeling I'm going to feel the pain in the morning :(

Quatrelle
08-10-2008, 02:59 AM
Used correctly, they work perfectly well - or so the manufacturer will tell you if you try to sue them - it's the using correctly bit that's difficult and dangerous.

For general work I use a 2-ton hydraulic, but I have changed a flat outside my garage with the VW jack. This was under perfect conditions and useful practice, but I was still worried, and I'd hate to do it in the rain in the dark at the side of the road.

I have to say Spudrig, there's no way I'd attempt to support the car if it wobbled off the jack, but I do put the spare under the car next to the jack while I remove the wheel. It's only a car, let it go......

Stuart W
08-10-2008, 05:38 AM
To be fair to VW, a jack shouldn't really be unsafe, because you should never get into a position where a jack failure could injure you; they're not designed for working under the car.

Of course, we can't all act as heroically as spudrig, but it's a relief to read that he escaped serious injury :D

Sam
08-10-2008, 10:34 AM
I know someone who tore his front wing off when the widowmaker slipped.

There are many reports of similar accidents but as Quatrelle says, VW will tell you you weren't using it correctly.

Doesn't help now, but I always slide the spare wheel under the car while I take the flat off and then switch them over. If the car does fall off the jack it wont land on the road/brake disc/your leg.

euroslap
08-10-2008, 10:40 AM
The thing is, if you get a puncture you could be on any kind of road surface at any gradient and these jacks aren't safe unless they're 100% square and solid on the ground. They really aren't up to the job, dangerous at best.

Col
08-10-2008, 11:07 AM
The thing is, if you get a puncture you could be on any kind of road surface at any gradient and these jacks aren't safe unless they're 100% square and solid on the ground. They really aren't up to the job, dangerous at best.

Agreed.

They are not fit for purpose, that is where the law would make a distinction.

Fit for purpose could mean that the jack should be able to do its job wherever the car can travel and more importantly get a puncture, that being on gradients and uneven surfaces.

At present they do not meet this criteria and I'm sure if someone were to test this, their claim would be successful.

Stuart W
08-10-2008, 04:06 PM
Agreed.

They are not fit for purpose, that is where the law would make a distinction.

Fit for purpose could mean that the jack should be able to do its job wherever the car can travel and more importantly get a puncture, that being on gradients and uneven surfaces.

At present they do not meet this criteria and I'm sure if someone were to test this, their claim would be successful.


Problem is that there are all sorts of warnings about using car jacks, but of course most of us take a risk occasionally but many want to shift the blame if things go wrong.

We could all carry a trolley jack if we wanted, but how many do?

Spudrig
08-10-2008, 04:09 PM
Well I'm never going to use the VW jack again (even though I can't as my one is destroyed!). But I'm really lucky that I wasn't underneath the car and that I was only changing a tyre. The car is away now to get looked at by a bodyshop man and his initial diagnosis is that its only the plastic trim underneath the door that is bent and he is confident that with a little heat, it will bend back into place!! As for supporting the car with my leg, I wouldnt even consider that again as my leg is aching and my lower back is sore as well, but I just didnt want to see/hear the car smashing off the ground :p. God knows how much damage that would have caused:o

P.S Thanks for all your kind words of support :D

bora(ing) nick
08-10-2008, 04:40 PM
Problem is that there are all sorts of warnings about using car jacks, but of course most of us take a risk occasionally but many want to shift the blame if things go wrong.

We could all carry a trolley jack if we wanted, but how many do?

I do :D

The boot of the Bora is almost as well equiped as an AA van :D

My dad has always had bangers, and constantly needs, a jump start, a tow, tools etc...

Plus i go camping a lot, and tools always come in handy!

There is quite a bit of extra weight in there though.... I emptied it once on a trip to ikea, and it felt like my car had been on steroids!

Quatrelle
08-10-2008, 08:23 PM
You could always carry one of those pressurized inflator thingies and drive slowly to somewhere safer (I always carry one for my trailer). I don't think the tyre fitters are so keen on the mess they leave in the wheel though.

SteveX
08-10-2008, 09:54 PM
Hi Spudrig, glad you're not too sore. I'm sure if I'd tried to hold the car up I'd be plenty sore now, but I'm probably older that your dad.

Loads of good advice here from the fellas; and here's some more; a 2-3 ton hydraulic jack (about £12 from machine mart) will fit very nicely in one of the corner compartments, and you may even be able to help a damsel in distress one day

Spudrig
08-10-2008, 10:03 PM
Hi Spudrig, glad you're not too sore. I'm sure if I'd tried to hold the car up I'd be plenty sore now, but I'm probably older that your dad.

Loads of good advice here from the fellas; and here's some more; a 2-3 ton hydraulic jack (about £12 from machine mart) will fit very nicely in one of the corner compartments, and you may even be able to help a damsel in distress one day

Thanks Steve I'm definitely going to get a hydraulic jack and that one sounds perfect. I'm get it when I get my car back on Friday. As for the soreness, its not too bad and its definitely not as bad as the time I fractured my skull on a BMX bike :biglaugh::biglaugh:

Spudrig
08-10-2008, 10:05 PM
You could always carry one of those pressurized inflator thingies and drive slowly to somewhere safer (I always carry one for my trailer). I don't think the tyre fitters are so keen on the mess they leave in the wheel though.

Quatrelle, thanks for that info as well but I think the hydraulic jack is probably better. :beerchug:

It was not even on a dangerous surface, it was on the flat ground outside my house, but it definitely taught me a lesson to be extra careful in future

Quatrelle
09-10-2008, 04:36 AM
Thanks Steve I'm definitely going to get a hydraulic jack ........But still don't get any of your body under the vehicle, even with that!

richard t
09-10-2008, 01:07 PM
I have been in the motor industry for 20 years now and i have seen many close calls and one my self when i was younger. Now i always prepare everything first and even fully remove 3 of the bolts and have the spare next to me so the car spends as little time on the jack as poss, and never go under a car or have your legs under it while just on any sort of jack. cars can be fixed and repaired, your legs and life isn't so easy.

Spudrig
09-10-2008, 08:31 PM
But still don't get any of your body under the vehicle, even with that!

Yeah Quatrelle, I've definitely learnt my lesson after this 'mishap' :biglaugh::biglaugh:

SteveX
09-10-2008, 08:35 PM
But still don't get any of your body under the vehicle, even with that! Q, I think Spudrig may be focusing on the 'helping a damsel in distress' bit.
Anyway, after 3-4 years of Uni, Mr Spudrig will be earning enough to have someone change his wheels for him :biglaugh:

Spudrig
09-10-2008, 10:42 PM
Q, I think Spudrig may be focusing on the 'helping a damsel in distress' bit.
Anyway, after 3-4 years of Uni, Mr Spudrig will be earning enough to have someone change his wheels for him :biglaugh:

:beerchug:

Very funny Steve, but you may be right about the helping a 'damsel in distress bit' :D But, all joking aside I think I will consider my own health in the future over a 'damsel in distress'!!!:biglaugh:

As for me becoming an actuary after uni, I'll be hoping to be rolling in the money, but with the state of the economy, am I going into the right market.......????

:p

Spudrig
10-10-2008, 05:09 PM
Well I got my car back today and it didn't need any new parts. The bodyshop man just heated the plastic trim underneath the door which was bent and moulded it back into place. Only cost 20 quid too!! Thats me happy now, car is looking as good as before :D

euroslap
10-10-2008, 05:35 PM
Could have been a lot worse than £20, Laughing! ;)

ionic
11-10-2008, 07:30 PM
Good news then mate, nice one.

Flipping lucky you weren't crushed!

Spudrig
12-10-2008, 08:38 AM
Yup, it really could have been a lot worsw than 20 quid, so now fingers crossed everything will run smoothly from now on :D:D