I nearly died today

Post 88434 by pzorb on 2006-03-10 21:20:04

People reading the 850 section might know I've been asking some n00b questions on changing brakes. I had a go today, and as far as that job went, everything was cool. What was not cool was the local school kids this morning who saw my legs peeping out the front of the car (my drive opens on to the pavement) and giving the front a good push to get it to collpase while i was moving the axle stands in! :mgshoot: The jack was holding up the front subframe at its centre at the time. So then I see what's going on, see the wheels on the jack start to roll and get out from under there faster than a cheeta on ecstacy. I got out literally just before the whole thing gave way and the car crashed to the ground. (whilst the jack was still fully extended and impaling itself :slap: ) Lucky or unlucky? Luck: a) I got out in time b) The extended jack missed absolutely everything expensive (like the radiator, sump, hoses, cabling) and crashed into the bottom of the radiator fan, totally f*cking it. Salvo and £40 later and all should be well. (Expect a 'how to replace radiator fans' thread this tuesday :) ) No luck: a) Local b*stard spawn of the devli gobsh*te children chosing that perfect one minute window to push the car before the axle stands were in :icon_soap So help me out. Am I really unlucky or lucky here? I could be sporting a rather unflattering Volvo for an upper body had things worked out different. PS Little f*ckers got away, I was too busy worrying about what the end of the jack was pushing against. I had visions of pushed out engines.... leaks.... :sick:

Post 88439 by Unknown on 2006-03-10 21:25:30

Little f**kers. You sir are very lucky you got out without injury and very unlucky to have kids like that around where you live. Ac.

Post 88441 by swordy21 on 2006-03-10 21:28:16

Very lucky M8. At least you got out. I would get in contact with the school though and suggest, in no uncertain terms, that they bring this up to all the inmates, indicating what the consequences could have been, not only to you, but to them had you not got out, and they got caught. - Hence the use of inmate......................

Post 88442 by BigJC on 2006-03-10 21:28:55

F*cking lucky escape! And thankfully, not an expensive result in either context! Why should little ASBO bearing morons get away with that sort of thing? It's easy to say having not nearly had a car on my head, but it would have taken a lot for me to not chase after them throwing axle stands, trolley jacks, T5's etc... :icon_soap Glad you're alright.

Post 88443 by dicky b t5 on 2006-03-10 21:30:39

Mate so Sorry to hear about this, Little Fuxkers want Shooting.... Glad to hear your AOK, (mainthing!) and minor damage to the car can be sorted. Have you reported this to the Police....You should Do, cause them Sh1t's Could've have Ended your Life very easy. Things like this Really Really Piss me off. :wtf: I feel sick....Rant Over.

Post 88444 by BlackBeast on 2006-03-10 21:30:53

Let me get this straight, you were under the car with just the trolley jack holding it up? Did you have the front wheels still on the hubs?

Post 88445 by pzorb on 2006-03-10 21:35:49

[QUOTE=BlackBeast]Let me get this straight, you were under the car with just the trolley jack holding it up? Did you have the front wheels still on the hubs?[/QUOTE] Yeah I know, there wasn't another way to get the stands in. It was the start of the day, the wheels were still on (all I had done at that point was loosen the nuts). Needless to say I won't be risking going under there again without the stands already in place. I'll make use of our mop and modify it for the job of pushing them under there. My usual levels of caution said it was OK, I wasn't wreckoning on some additional forces at the front...

Post 88447 by S60D5 on 2006-03-10 21:46:28

You should always have the car on axel stands and not just on a trolley jack. Basic safety stuff here!! When under my car, I have the on two trolley jacks and two axel stands. I also chock the wheels that are on the ground to make sure it is going anywhere. Lucky to get away without injury. Learn from your mistakes!!!

Post 88448 by BlackBeast on 2006-03-10 21:48:12

Wasnt having a go Martin, you very lucky though. At least you still had the front wheels still on there. Did they hold though i.e the wheels didnt fold into the arch. If that happened, then you were even more lucky to get out of under there in time.

Post 88451 by pzorb on 2006-03-10 21:58:37

[QUOTE=BlackBeast]Did they hold though i.e the wheels didnt fold into the arch.[/QUOTE] Yup. The luck was on my side I think. Plus as I was putting the first axle stand in place at the time, it too was under the car when it came down. I hadn't had the time to extend it, so it just sat under there. Otherwise I'd be looking at two holes in the car.

Post 88452 by wacky racer on 2006-03-10 21:59:50

THATS MORE THAN LUCKY woof woof. Glad your o.k mate. Could have been much worse. Little shi@s want a good kicking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________ Toyota A Transmission

Post 88453 by After_Shock on 2006-03-10 22:00:18

Very lucky, get the police involved if you havnt already.

Post 88478 by racer on 2006-03-10 23:05:38

Damn right. Bring in the Feds. At the very least there will be a serious lecture at the school. Might just make some of these future Burger King employees think twice. And yes, you were lucky IMHO. The sheer mass of the V70 scares me when it's trolly jack time, and I have lots of axle stands! If I'm doing stuff which does not involve taking the wheels off, I've taken to jacking the car up and stuffing a couple of breeze blocks under the front wheels, then letting it sit back down on its suspension. Then I feel brave enough to go after the sump plug!

Post 88489 by Tomcat on 2006-03-10 23:25:35

Little Sh*ts!!!!, glad you ok mate, did you get a good look at them?. As everyone else has said if you know what school they come from go have a word, you could have been very badly injured if that had fallen on you.

Post 88499 by meffs on 2006-03-10 23:57:33

[QUOTE=S60D5]You should always have the car on axel stands and not just on a trolley jack. Basic safety stuff here!! When under my car, I have the on two trolley jacks and two axel stands. I also chock the wheels that are on the ground to make sure it is going anywhere. Lucky to get away without injury. Learn from your mistakes!!![/QUOTE]Everyone makes mistakes once in a while for whatever reason. I guess some people see themselves as perfect! Glad you are OK PZorb, like everyone else says get the police round to the local school, anti-social and dangerous behaviour is no joke, especially where your volvo is concerned.:troutslap

Post 88502 by LeeT5 on 2006-03-11 00:15:26

1) Glad you are ok 2) Dont take risks ie no axle stands and going underneath!! :nono: 3) when you see those kids.....You get my drift. Very lucky escape.

Post 88505 by pyrotechnictigger on 2006-03-11 00:27:43

Glad your AOK mate, could have been VERY nasty. Go and find the kids...................

Post 88507 by pzorb on 2006-03-11 00:40:07

Thanks for the replies. I've thought about this somewhat, and I've decided that I'm not going to report it, nor write to the school. Hear me out :) I live in a rented house, in a part of Leamington that's worth about a pound. Every week the three papers we get have "stabbed" this, "raped" that, "underage" this. I really kid you not. 11 year old got raped during the day in the Sainsbury's toilet last week. Some kid found floating in the river last month. There have been four people *just on my road* seperatley convicted in court for either drink driving, general violence, or driving without insurance. Last year the house two doors down harboured two murderers. I could go on and on. The school is just near by. I can't prove it was these kids, nor ID them. I have to live here, and don't want all those kids, their familes and friends to see my house and cars as anything other than a normal, ignorable address. They walk past here at least twice a weekday. Yeah it's sh*tty. But I don't want to draw attention to it. I don't think those kids wanted to do me actual harm, they just didn't see past the 'funny' side of it. I'm sure as they ran off they were thinking it was a dumb thing to do. You know that feeling as a kid when you did something just dumb, that sinking bad feeling. They surely must have got that. What I'm saying is that all reporting this could possibly do is make my life harder. Possibly improve society? Too far down the pan for that round here. I'm alive, car should be ok, no real harm done. They might be "getting away with it", but do I really care? Afterall people need to work in Burger King. If this was where I live at home, I'd report it. Here I'm not just wasting my time, but making myself out to be a target to people who have already demonstrated their contempt for morality. I'm only here for another few months, then my last year at uni takes me elsewhere. I'm sure lots of you will disagree with my stance on this, and correctly take the moral highground, but hopefully you can see my point.

Post 88511 by Vikingxl on 2006-03-11 00:53:02

I see your point mate but you have had a very lucky escape!

Post 88536 by Unknown on 2006-03-11 07:29:48

jeez, I'm just glad you are ok mate. I can certainly see your point about not reporting it tho unfortunately its highly indicative of the the state of our society! glad its the fan and not something lots more expensive!

Post 88539 by After_Shock on 2006-03-11 07:49:29

Still report them, buy a bloody big dog that will live on the drive and get an extra length baseball bat, with everything else going on there a public beating wont be of much interest to the police.

Post 88543 by Green T5R on 2006-03-11 08:45:40

You need to report them. If you don't what will they think they can get away with next? Mugging your gran, Stealing your car or knifing someone. This is the problem NO ONE wants to report/get involved now adays and the kids think they can run riot! Bring back National Service! Rant over. Glad your ok though. Regards Iain

Post 88552 by r07s on 2006-03-11 10:09:54

Jeez! So glad you are OK mate. I think you should report this to the law as they rely on reported crime stats...which is supposed to assist with allocation of resources (although probably :pants: ) I take yr point of having to live there; noone needs to know you reported it! Again, so glad yr OK and sustained managable damage. I think marge simpson once said that her uncle had a saying: These bleeders should be hearded into a field, shot and let god sort 'em out!