Use CAUTION when jacking!

[the nsxnut]

So, serious damage to my NSX occurred recently when the jack slipped and the car fell to the floor... the head of the jack crushed the rocker panel and the bottom of the door sill, and scraped all the way up the door to about knee high... all this in my shop, on my jack, by my hands. Self-inflicted to the max.
"Is this guy a total noob?", you're thinking?

Actually, no I'm not... hence this post... the point is, it can happen to the best of us, so CHECK YOUR JACK!

I've been doing all my own NSX service for years, and I continuously work on several fully track-prepared NSXs. I've jacked 'em up successfully countless times. I use high-quality motorsports-style low-rise floor jacks on very good casters. I always use the built-in factory jack points on the bottom of the frame rails.

On the occasion in question, I was preparing to do brake and tire service, and jacked up the passenger side, using the center point under the door. Got the car to desired height on the jack, and turned away briefly to get the jack stands and position them under the jack points at the ends of the rail, next to the wheel openings. In that moment, the car came crashing down and the damage was done. How? After dispelling my total stunned disbelief that this could happen, a little forensic reconstruction revealed that the rubber pad on the jack plate had some lubricant spilled on it. The pad is black, the lubricant could not be seen on casual inspection. As the car was tilted up on one side (driver's side wheels on the ground, passenger in the air), the lateral load on the jack was right on the area where the lubricant was spilled. It slipped. The passenger door is ruined, and cannot be repaired because it is caved in on the bottom door sill. The rocker panel was a hundred shards of urethane scattered across my shop floor. With OEM replacement parts, and careful work by a bodyshop that I've been using for years, it will be restored for $5,000. [it's not just bolting on a new door... de-trim/re-trim R/R rocker panel, blend paint work into fenders fore-and-aft, and more. it's about 30 lines to describe the scope of the work] It's fully insured (less deductible). And, naturally, all enthusiasts should always take the oppty for an upgrade when you can... so, I'll get the whole front end freshened, to erase years of track chips on the bumper, headlight covers, hood, etc...

When all done, it'll look better than it's looked in years.

So, the lesson: OBSESS about your jack placement, and check the jack pad for contaminants! EVERY TIME!

 

[the nsxnut]

Oh, PS, I got the only OEM brand-new passenger door in the country currently. Brand-new, in the box, not a take-off. So, if you happen to need that door, oh well, you'll have to wait for the next one to come from Mother Honda!

 

[Hrant]

A good reminder. My floor has a vinyl cover so the potential for slipping is less but I have often thought of the possibility so I don't remove the tires until I have the jack stands in position first.

While not exactly your scenario where if I understand the jack itself slipped because of an oily rubber cap didn't keep the car up, I have used/applied a rolled up tape on the cheap rubber piece on my Harbor Freight jack to avoid the rubber cap from slipping - not the jack.

 

[EAC]

Mine fell off the jack yesterday. Thank god I wasn't under it. And thank god it tilted backward so that it cleared everything. The scary thing, I have no idea how it happened. I've been working on cars for years and this has never happened. I'm using a aluminum craftsmen jack.

 

[shawn110975]

same thing with a new rear quarter, there is only one in the USA.

And I know for a fact I got the last 2002+ front acura emblem. the guy at the dealership told me

" WOW this is the last one"

I said "cool lucky me "
he said " no I mean the last one in the USA "
I said " no shit i should play lotto tonight huh "
he said " dont forget who sold this to you "
I laughed

 

[pgilliam1]

I have had that rubber piece on the jack plate slip out of place while jacking before, but I never thought the jack would move because of it. It really isn't attached very well to begin with. Were you on the very edge of the plate or something? I make sure to center that plate because it does swivel/rotate. Your incident happening to me would make me feel inept and like I shouldn't work on cars anymore. As I get older, I wonder if I'll realize when it's the right time to quit wrenching. It might just take something like that to make the realization happen :frown:. Glad noone was hurt!

 

[docjohn]

thanks for sharing Mark what must have been an embarresing/crazy/scary moment....how did Maria react?

 

[warrenw]

man my gut hurts reading this!
so sorry to hear of this mishap...
I have jacked up many cars over the years and never thought to check for oil on the jack.
I always thought the NSX was well designed with three jack points on each side.
don't blame yourself, you did everything right. You were using or about to use jack stands, and this is always the correct safe way to elevate the car.
I see cinder blocks used to hold up a car (very dangerous) and that is not what they are designed for. In fact they have little strength.

chin up, the car can be fixed, no one got hurt, thanks for the lesson.
I will check both of my hydraulic jacks for oil on the rubber pad. One has a hockey puck notched to fit the jack head. I have been using it for 25 years.

 

[tucsonsx]

I have had that rubber piece on the jack plate slip out of place while jacking before, but I never thought the jack would move because of it. It really isn't attached very well to begin with. Were you on the very edge of the plate or something? I make sure to center that plate because it does swivel/rotate. Your incident happening to me would make me feel inept and like I shouldn't work on cars anymore. As I get older, I wonder if I'll realize when it's the right time to quit wrenching. It might just take something like that to make the realization happen :frown:. Glad noone was hurt!

I feel the pain of the people who have had this happen - it happened to me as well, but on my Accord, and my first thought ( like you ) was that after 45 years of working on cars I don't need this **** anymore maybe it is time time to lock the toolbox for the last time. What happened was that I was jacking the car up in a different spot in the garage than I usually use and the wheels on the floor jack stopped moving when they rolled into an expansion joint in the concrete. The head of the jack kept moving of course until the rubber pad slipped off the front cross member. All of a sudden the car dropped 8 or 10 inches and the sound of refrigerant escaping was accompanied by the sickening sight of coolant pooling on the floor. The core support, radiator, ac condenser, splash panel, etc. were toast. After getting over the amazement that this actually happened I took the car apart, had it towed to a body shop for a new core support ( thanks Formula One - Tucson's premium body shop ), had it towed back, and put it all back together. Needless to say this wasn't cheap.

The things that I took away from the whole experience were 1) the only thing that the rubber pad was doing was preventing whatever part of the car that the jack contacts from getting scratched and that the jack never would have stopped moving if the metal lift point on the jack was in contact with the cross member because it has a recess where the cross member fits ( hence the wheels on the jack would have kept moving ) so the rubber pad went immediately into the garbage can 2) this sort of thing is why when I was working as the service manager in a high end repair shop I always flipped out when I saw a mechanic using a floor jack at all since policy was to always use a lift and cars falling off floor jacks is more common than you might think and having to send the cars to the body shop to be repaired at our expense never made the owner happy and 3) there is no fool like an old fool.

 

[Hrant]

It seems this is not so uncommon

But my first question as a matter of extra safety (if not common sense paranoia), why would you not leave the wheels on the car until you have first secured the jack stands

I have worked only once under the car with four jack stands (and the jack still almost at engagement level), and that was scary enough for me - because of what if the jack stands failed. But at least I know for a fact that when one corner jack stand is removed, my NSX still floats pretty much on a horizontal plane with the other three.

 

[Track Addict]

Warrenw pretty much covered what I would like to say.

Glad you're ok
Glad you're fixing her
Thanks for warning us.


Post pictures of the work when it's all done and she's back into ship shape

 

[captainjman]

I'll sell my door for 65k if anyone needs one LOL.

Sad and scary about the last emblem in the usa.......

 

[goldNSX]

Pics?

 

[chudson1549]

Hey Mark Glad you're Ok Tell Maria hi for me

Charles

 

[the nsxnut]

It seems this is not so uncommon

But my first question as a matter of extra safety (if not common sense paranoia), why would you not leave the wheels on the car until you have first secured the jack stands...

...to clarify any confusion, wheels were on the car. The car had only just been jacked up, and the slip occurred in the brief interval between raising the car and positioning the jack stands....

 

[EAC]

LOL, my problem was.....My car slipped out of gear.

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

I have 2 jacks. One from sears that doesn't have a rubber pad but has like 4 little nubs. I position the nubs diagonal so that I guess if it does slip then it's going to slip and catch on either 2 nubs on each side if that makes sense.

I also have a harbor freight jack that's low profile since my craftsman one doesn't go under the car unless I ride up on 2x10's and that got annoying real fast. The harbor freight jack has a little rubber pad with bumps but no nubs to keep it from sliding really.

I use jack stands right now that are completely flat because I took off the adjustable height portion because the grooves were to deep and would hit my side skirts/other things before being fully supported on the jacking points.

I know I need to get better jack stands but does everyone always park in gear? I always pull my E-brake but do you park in first or reverse or is it just in the opposite direction of the slope on your garage "if there is one"

 

[ken sampson]

My wife saw me under my car and said no way. So I install a 2 pole lift. This was just after a good freind of mine was killed when his jack slipped. You can find these for around 1200.00 if you look around. I'm sure you will spend more than that on the repair.
Ken

 

[TURBO2GO]

I sweat bullets anytime I am under the car, which is rare these days but even with 2 jacks and 2 stands and wheel blockers still... you look up and you think "what if"... really uncomfortable feeling for me.

Also it should be noted ALWAYS use wheel stops.

OP, thankfully you are OK, thanks for the post.

 

[oscar_driver]

Is incredible you were out, thank God, a door is a door, you, you can't be replaced ..

Maybe because you work on cars all the time, this can be considered like an "normal" once every 1000 type of accident? yikes, sounds scary still.

I lift my car 2 ways:

4 wheels out:
I leave the car with all 4 corners with jack stands, BUT, I am still leave the actual jack ON, activated, JUST IN CASE any corner gives up, AND on top, I leave my half of one of my wheels under the car, I know, will not save some of my bones, but it wouldn't get me killed if all 4 jack stands + teh actual jack goes off.

2 wheels out:

I leave still the jack + wheel like above, but I leave the car with thick 2x4 on the front *just in case* .. I would hate for my daughter to get "THAT CALL"

OScar

 

[Big_D]

Wow, that is a freak accident for sure. Glad you were alright!

I sweat bullets anytime I am under the car, which is rare these days but even with 2 jacks and 2 stands and wheel blockers still... you look up and you think "what if"... really uncomfortable feeling for me.

Also it should be noted ALWAYS use wheel stops.

OP, thankfully you are OK, thanks for the post.

+1 definately use the wheel stops.

 

[Hrant]

...to clarify any confusion, wheels were on the car. The car had only just been jacked up, and the slip occurred in the brief interval between raising the car and positioning the jack stands....

Mark, just to calrify for all given the nature of your incident, you note the wheels were on. So when the jack slipped the door sill didn't clear the jack when the car landed on its tires?

Given the margins involved in here, the amount of drop, it looks like even a low jack clearance may not have cleared with the wheels/tires on or not enough to cause such major damage!

But as all noted, good to hear you were not harmed.

 

[TANTO]

The issue IMO is just how far you have to go up on one side to get the stands under. The safe way to take this car up is to only take you first side up part way, put stands under that side and then go to the other and take it all the way up and then go back and take the first side up. This takes so much time that i generally just take the first side way up creating a fairly unsafe condition.

My solution was the MaxJax. I did a write up on it, but nobody came to look(?). I'm using it regularly and love it.

No one should be afraid of getting under their car if they have good steel jack stands. Before the maxjax i used 6 by 6 inch 1/2 inch thick rubber pads cut from old super heavy duty gym mats. This material is hard to find now, but it is out there. Putting these pads between the car and the jack stands provides an excellent friction surface to prevent lateral movement. Certainly oil or water on that pad totally negates it.

 

[d.n]

The issue IMO is just how far you have to go up on one side to get the stands under. The safe way to take this car up is to only take you first side up part way, put stands under that side and then go to the other and take it all the way up and then go back and take the first side up. This takes so much time that i generally just take the first side way up creating a fairly unsafe condition.

This is my feeling as well after having mine slip. It takes one extra step, but really removes the scariness when lifting the car one side at a time. I do this now (which is essentially the same as above)

- raise up (R) side enough to put 4x4 blocks under the tires and lower the car onto those blocks
- raise up (L) side and put it on jack stands
- go back to (R) side, raise it up and put jack stands

Same process but in the reverse for lowering the car back down. None of the other cars I've had were so low and thus never required doing this.

It's also not a bad practice to give the car a shake once it's on stands. It should be on there rock solid. If there is any question as far as stability is concerned, don't crawl under!

 

[the nsxnut]

Mark, just to calrify for all given the nature of your incident, you note the wheels were on. So when the jack slipped the door sill didn't clear the jack when the car landed on its tires?

Given the margins involved in here, the amount of drop, it looks like even a low jack clearance may not have cleared with the wheels/tires on or not enough to cause such major damage!

But as all noted, good to hear you were not harmed.

Hrant, in the interest of being hopefully crystal clear: the jack was nearly full height, lateral load on the greasy spot pushes the jack head back ever-so-slightly, off of the frame rail and onto the side skirt. Gravity takes over, and everything in the vertical plane above the jack gets crushed. The jack head did not go down, the car did. The side skirt nor the door frame will not support the weight of the car.