Alwas use jackstands!

[The_Vermonster]

You may have heard that northern NJ experienced a 4.8 earthquake the other day. I was outside working on the Van and felt nothing. But my jack certainly felt it! Luckily I was only doing a tire rotation, so I wouldn't have been hurt, but lifting the van back off the ground would have been quite difficult.

The worst part is that I have to buy a new jack

[1der]

Dang, a bit scary! Glad all is okay.
What is the rating on that jack?

[N147JK]

One time I had a van on a jack with no stands and the jack collapsed - the jack was a cheap piece of junk. I had been under the van moments before it collapsed. It was one of those moments when you stand there and realize you just barely avoided death. Never again..

[arctictraveller]

Damn, that’s really scary. Fortunately my van is lifted far enough I can work under it without jacking it up. Glad you weren’t hurt.

[The_Vermonster]

Originally Posted by 1der

Dang, a bit scary! Glad all is okay.
What is the rating on that jack?

It's a 3 ton jack. I'm probably just going to get a larger bottle jack for those few times I need to jack up the van, and a smaller jack for the other cars.


Edit. I should add that this is an Arcan aluminum and steel jack. The red plates are aluminum and I believe they couldn't resist the sideways motion. From reading other forums and reddit, it seems that this is not an uncommon failure type.

[yonah]

Glad you're okay. A good reminder of how dangerous activities like this can be. Always best to slow down and add some redundancy like you did with jackstands.

Reminds me of this tragic story.
Jeep Crushes Nevada Man to Death After California Earthquake Knocks It off Jack
https://www.thedrive.com/news/28930/...ks-it-off-jack

[kbeefy]

I only use aluminum jacks on my toys, not my trucks.




I had a jack fail once on a helicopter... eyes get pretty wide when an 8000# $10 million dollar helicopter starts falling. Fortunately this style jack had safety stops and it was only able to move an inch or less.

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by The_Vermonster

It's a 3 ton jack. I'm probably just going to get a larger bottle jack for those few times I need to jack up the van, and a smaller jack for the other cars.e.

A bottle jack would likely be even less stable in an earthquake, but chances are you won’t be under the van during the next one. 🤣

[yonah]

Yeah, talk about bad luck.

[posplayr]

The only time I get under the vehicle with a floor jack is after both jack stands are installed and the vehicle is on all three.