----- Original Message -----
From: "Adrian Jones" <adrianjones747@earthlink.net>
To: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 6:27 PM
Subject: Jack stands or ramps? Surprise me.
OK, I need to relay my recent experience with jacks and ramps.
I jacked up the front end of my wife's MGB and placed my ramps underneath
the front wheels. I then lowered the front wheels onto the ramps and
assumed all was well.
I went to the rear end and put the HF ultralight AL jack under the diff and
jacked it up. As I got the rear axle nearly as high as I wanted it to place
jack stands underneath the axles, the whole damn car rolled off the rear of
the ramps and down onto the garage floor. Scared the crap out of me as I
assumed the front end was set fine.
I did the whole process over again, except, after each two pumps of the jack
under the rear end, I went back up front and rolled the front wheels forward
onto the ramps again. It is real easy to roll it forward by grabbing the
wheel and rolling it. Lots of leverage there. I have no idea why the jack
would not roll forward rather than the front wheels roll forward on the
ramp, but, that is what happened to me.
Once the front was on the ramps securely and the back axle was also on the
stands securely, all stood well.
The moral is: don't trust the car to stay on the ramps as the other end gets
jacked up. It can, and will, roll off the ramps.
Be careful out there,
LD
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