Long story short I was jacking up my car today to change out a flat tire, before I had a chance to put the car on to the jack stands for insurance the sissor jack snapped. One of those unfortunately events I suppose, anyhow this was my first time using the darn thing, I ended up finding one of my old steel jacks after I got over the WTF moment. Just wanted to remind everyone to be careful.

 

Here's a photo I coincidentally took before it fell, was excited to get this done until my Jack broke

 

Yikes, hopefully no damage to the car. This is why people should only use them in emergencies and never get under the vehicle supported by them.

 

Glad you were far enough back not to get injured, did it break while it was up on the jack or as you were cranking it up?
Did it scratch or dent on the way out?

 

PSA 2.0

Scissor

 

PSA 2.0A
fixed
But only the title

 

Were you trying to raise it just enough to get the wheel off or to place the jackstand? I wouldn't trust these to go any higher than absolutely necessary to get the wheel off.

Got a pic of what actually broke on the jack?

 

That's a scarey thing man which is why I never use that jack ever. Bought myself a 1 ton jack from auto zone and keep it in my trunk. It's really not that big but I can't trust it NEVER to do what this scissor jack did. Really glad you didn't get injured and hope the car didn't get messed up either.

Also that's an awesome turbo snail decal on your rear window lol When are you going boost!

 

scissor jacks are not designed to raise the vehicle high enough for you to put jack stands underneath the body or under suspension components. i can see in the first pic the scissor jack being fully extended into the highest position. this may be a case of user error instead of a psa.

 

Wow Mr. Moto, glad no-one gut hurt !
I have jack stands but as extra security I always place my tire under the frame of my G as soon I remove it from the rotor.

 

It broke about 12 minutes into my tire replacement process. I had loosen the bolts to the rims (before jacking up the car) to make it easier to take off the wheels. I was about to insert the jack stands in when I heard a snap and the car went down. I'm glad nothing big got damaged (dented brake rotor dust cover & minor scraps to the undercarriage).

 

Wow, sounds like a very close call, glad nothing happened to you and just minor dings under the car.
This thread is a good reminder of what can happen w/ those minimal jacks.

 

Remember the dangerous bumper jacks of the 70s??





Oops, I meant these:

 

I had the bumper (note correct spelling) jack in the lower picture in both my 1968 and 1972 Cutlass.

My 1967 Dastun 1600 Roadster had a screw jack that plugged into the rocker panel under the door. It wasn't any more stable than a bumper jack but it would lift both wheels on a side at one time. It's the only jack that ever hurt me.

Every car/truck since then has had a scissor jack.

As soon as I purchased a floor jack, I used it exclusively. A relatively light-weight aluminum "racing" jack (extra-low cup to be able to slide under lowered cars) acquired from Harbor Freight. Worth it!

 

I hate these jacks. Glad nothing happened to you or the car.