GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I just read an article in my local paper about a man who was crushed by his car while working underneath it. He was using a scissor jack which is a HUGE NO NO!I always block my wheels, set the parking brake, car in park and use a deisgnated 3 ton jack and jack stands. There is a reason they hacve equipment for this work. It sucks he died but I would never be under a car on scissor jacks. I would just assume pull up onto a raised curb.

There was another guy that I heard about on Bob & Tom this morning that while looking underneath his truck, with it running and in neutral and the drivers door open, his dog jumped in and managed to get it in gear. It ran over his left side, but was not severely hurt.It just seems like a little commen sense can go a long ways. But we tend to get complacent in things we do, me included, and it takes something like this to give us a lil reality check.

Yeah, I ALWAYS use wheels chocks, parking brake & Jack stands(or metal ramps) when working under my car. Even then I am still not very comfortable under there sometimes.

I always put the parking brake on & i NEVER use a scissor jack....even for a oil change. If im going to do something where im going to be under the car for a while I will pull out my jack stands, wheel chocks & pull out the spare tire & place it flat near the jack....if all fails I might have some room to squeeze out LOL. Thank fully the Vibe is an easy car to do oil changes. I dont really have to do under the car. Just enough to reach over for the drain plug & filter.

Back in the '70s while I was working at Buick, a co-worker watched as the vehicle her husband was working on fell on him. I can't imagine a worse memory than the one she has of watching her husband being crushed to death. And all because of carelessness. Be careful out there.

i absolutely hate scissor jacks!!I have had to change tires on cars at work. (Car rental Company)I had one car fall off the jack twice! Fortunately, I was not under anything and the tire I was changing was still on the car so no damage was done. I keep a bottle jack in my car and won't use the scissor jack.