Spot the problem...

[Sonic]

The first time ive ever tried doing anything mechanical on the car... somehow the result of death and/or serious injury was prevented, and no damage to the car in the slightest.

[Acidburn]

Lol first time i've seen that done.
Glad your ok tho, those jacks are a health hazard.

[S2central.net]

Its no joking matter really ! What happened Sonic ?

[TEKNOPUG]

Scissors jacks.....the warning is in the name...lol

2-tonne trolley jacks aren't very expensive and are infinitely better than the one in the pic. Glad no one was hurt, could have been nasty.

[Acidburn]

Sorry if I was not sounding serious, It just took me a while as I was not looking at the screw part and was looking at the whole jack/background to see if I could see whats wrong. I personally hate scissor jacks and mean to purchase a proper jack instead of borrowing my fathers. They truly are leathal.

[s2driveruk]

yep the car goes for a wander on those things especially at the rear...scary stuff glad all is well anyway!

[S2central.net]

I've had the car fall on me once with that emergency jack... Was at the rear on the slightest of inclines - handbrake was on. I was changing a wheel in a tight space parked alongside something else. The wee lad was with me at the time as well. Cos of that and the limited space I put the wheel under the rear subframe - boy was I ever glad when that feckin car dropped on it - it was the old spare wheel - not a shiny new one so I was extra lucky !!!


Paul

[Jamo]

I just bought a 3 tonne professional jack from a warehouse for £52 + vat as I find the 2 tonne jacks just don't go high enough.

Those scissor jacks are lethal I never use them if possible.

Lucky escape dude!

[The Chef]

I agree, I only use a scissor jack to lift the car high enough to slide the trolley jack under...

[S2central.net]

Agreed, but who carries a trolley jack in the boot all the time for emergency wheel changes ?

[Baldy]

Agreed, but who carries a trolley jack in the boot all the time for emergency wheel changes ?

My girlfriend !!!!
she carries my small trolley jack in the boot of her polo cos she couldn't get to grips with the stupid scissor jack that vw supply

[rj scotty]

Draper do an air jack that runs of the exhaust. Fits into a small bag and can lift 3000 kg.

All for about £50

Not sure how you go about inflating the thing with twin tail pipes.

[Sonic]

Lethal - i guess that about sums it up!

Story goes...

After an inspirational talk from Ross one night about getting hands-on with the car, i decided that when my exhaust started sounding very strange, i'd try and get under the car to see if it was something i could fix with a screwdriver.

The plan was to put the rear of the car on axle stands, so i got the jack from the back of the car, put it under the far side rear and jacked the thing up. Got it to a point where the axle stand would just about go under the wishbone i think it is, behind the wheel, and decided to put her up another inch or so to get the axle stand under easier.

At this point i didn't pay much attention to the jack, and had taken the tyre was off for easier access. My mate was just about to dive under the car to put the axle stand under, when the jack suddenly lost all grip and skidded under the car. I jumped a mile as the car moved about 5 inches to the side and the rear far-side dropped to the ground with a nasty sounding clunk.

My immediate thought was ******** - i don't have another jack, and even if i did, i didn't think there was one that could get under the car to jack it back up. I then dived down next to the car to check what damage it'd done. Luckily, the jack had tipped over in such a way that the side of the car was balancing on it a couple of inches above the ground, with the disc about half an inch away from the ground

Luckily my mate had a jack in his scooby that fitted under the gap and got the car back up again, amongst jokes about the japs making kit that's designed to work in a real world situation, not on a perfectly flat grippy tarmac road in nice sunny conditions. To be fair - the scooby jack seemed a way better design than the Audi one!

Eventually got the corner of the car on an axle stand, with a tyre under the side just to be extra safe this time! The exhaust seems to have 2 problems - a nasty rattle sound that appears to be coming from the silencer, and a blowing sound from somewhere under the middle of the car, near the cat's i think.

I think i'll stick to detailing

[Fat Audi 80]

Trolley jacks only for me. The sissor jack is for wheel changing only and even then I try and give it a miss...

Glad to hear you are all okay.

Be careful out there everyone and always have at LEAST TWO forms of support for the car. DO NOT rely on a jack alone....

Cheers,

Steve.

[AAH!]

I have had the standard issue audi jack collapse during a tyre change twice, much as sonic describes, damaging the sill, although not too badly. A real hazard and a real pain, especially if there isn't a spare jack to hand..

I replaced it with a much sturdier and more stable draper scissor jack that fits in the spare wheel in the boot.