Thread: safety

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Dave Severson brought up a very important point about jackstands. Those cheap stamped ones will sometimes collapse at the worst times. I have had it happen. Now I use only the ones that are cast iron (like 20 ton ones) and these have become inexpensive enough, especially when on sale at places like Harbor Freight. However, I still leave the floorjack under the car at the same time, for extra security.

One other item to keep placed around the shop are fire extinquishers. You can place 3 or 4 of these around in very accessilble places, because anytime you are working with gasoline, or laquer thinner, or whatever, you have the potential for fire.

I also always put a fire extinquisher somewhere in the cockpit of my cars. I have seen quite a few cars burned to a crisp along the interstate over the years, and one time I actually saved a guys truck. I did a U turn in my roadster and put out the fire under his hood. If I hadn't shown up it would have burned to the ground, as all they could do was stand around watching it burn. Even the grass under the truck was on fire.

I think it is also worth mentioning that gas tanks are a particularly dangerous area. One spark while you are removing the tank or working on it and Kabooom. And it isn't the gasoline that gets you, it is the fumes from the gasoline. So a drained tank can be more dangerous than a full tank. I am deathly afraid of gas tanks, and really stress out when I have to work on or around one. I put soapy water into the tank to try to neutralize the residue and leave it uncapped so it can breathe.

Hotroddaddy mentioned getting burned while welding without a protective shirt on. I have gotten quite a few sunburns while doing this. I will be welding for a couple of hours, and when I look in the mirror my chest and arms are beet red. Usually with a white stripe across my chest where my right arm was held on an angle and shielded me. I've only done that like a million times.

Don

And, if you can't find suitable jackstands, make sure the lumber is at least 4 x 4's. Don't use 2 x 4's under any circumstances.

Actually, I pirated this picture from someone else on here awhile ago, but it demonstrates exactly the kind of stupid stuff to avoid.


Don