Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - My harrowing and life threatening car experience today (pics!)

yakimushi · 07-06-2003, 02:29 PM

So... my little bro asked me to help him change the oil in his car. Ok, no problem.

He owns a 1991 Mercury Tracer GT, a POS but fun to drive. Because its so low and the oil plug is towards the back of the engine, we have to drive the car up onto stands.

Now, our stands are kinda old and they don't like to stay in place, so we'd just jab big screwdrivers into the seams in the cement and butt the stands on em. Done this lots of times, never failed.

Well, this time my little bro decided to break the world speed record for driving up onto stands and FAILED. The front right tire went completely over and the stand got stuck under the car. The tire was on the ground though, so no biggy.

However, the front left tire didn't make it to the ground. It did this:

A better angle:

And one more:

So... I'm left in a dilemma. The stand isn't holding up the car at all. Its just wedged. The screwdriver is taking all the weight. I don't want the tire to puncture, or the car to fall, so I grab the hydraulic jack and look for a good spot to put it. There isn't one. I have to settle for a point in about the middle of the car.

I get it jacked up as far as I dare (both front and back left tires off the ground now) and I still can't get the screwdriver out. I tried to hammer it out, it wouldn't budge. Plus, things shifted, so if I let the jack down I had the bad feeling that the whole thing would get very ugly.

Thats where I got the brief reprieve to grab my camera (naturally

) and give my dad a fast call for some advice. My brother is stuck in the car with his foot jammed on the brake to provide some stability since his e-brake is shot. He got real pissed when he saw the camera, even deleted the pics but this nifty bit of software fixed that: http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm

Anyways after consulting with me dad we decided the best thing to do was get the angle grinder out and cut the screwdriver out. Yay. I had to trust a shifty hydraulic jack in the middle of the car while I cut one of the only things holding holding up the car in half.

Luckily, I cut enough out that I could hammer against the cut and bend the screwdriver enough that letting the jack down bent it safely and without damaging the tire. So, without further ado, here is the final pic. It speaks volumes:

Oh, and no. His oil didn't get changed. I'm not touching that thing again.

07-06-2003, 02:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
yakimushi Addict	My harrowing and life threatening car experience today (pics!) So... my little bro asked me to help him change the oil in his car. Ok, no problem. He owns a 1991 Mercury Tracer GT, a POS but fun to drive. Because its so low and the oil plug is towards the back of the engine, we have to drive the car up onto stands. Now, our stands are kinda old and they don't like to stay in place, so we'd just jab big screwdrivers into the seams in the cement and butt the stands on em. Done this lots of times, never failed. Well, this time my little bro decided to break the world speed record for driving up onto stands and FAILED. The front right tire went completely over and the stand got stuck under the car. The tire was on the ground though, so no biggy. However, the front left tire didn't make it to the ground. It did this: A better angle: And one more: So... I'm left in a dilemma. The stand isn't holding up the car at all. Its just wedged. The screwdriver is taking all the weight. I don't want the tire to puncture, or the car to fall, so I grab the hydraulic jack and look for a good spot to put it. There isn't one. I have to settle for a point in about the middle of the car. I get it jacked up as far as I dare (both front and back left tires off the ground now) and I still can't get the screwdriver out. I tried to hammer it out, it wouldn't budge. Plus, things shifted, so if I let the jack down I had the bad feeling that the whole thing would get very ugly. Thats where I got the brief reprieve to grab my camera (naturally ) and give my dad a fast call for some advice. My brother is stuck in the car with his foot jammed on the brake to provide some stability since his e-brake is shot. He got real pissed when he saw the camera, even deleted the pics but this nifty bit of software fixed that: http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm Anyways after consulting with me dad we decided the best thing to do was get the angle grinder out and cut the screwdriver out. Yay. I had to trust a shifty hydraulic jack in the middle of the car while I cut one of the only things holding holding up the car in half. Luckily, I cut enough out that I could hammer against the cut and bend the screwdriver enough that letting the jack down bent it safely and without damaging the tire. So, without further ado, here is the final pic. It speaks volumes: Oh, and no. His oil didn't get changed. I'm not touching that thing again.