Very, Very Scary Moment

[Cobia]

No!! Thank God it was not on the motorcycle......
Went over today to help a buddy change the rear leaf springs on his 34' motorhome. Had a hell of a time because the u-bolts didn't want to come out. So after trying every trick in the book, we applied some heat, a lot of PB Blaster, a lot of banging, pressure with floorjacks, and they finally came out. But we needed about an extra 3" of clearance to get them out because we needed to use his engine hoist to manage these 125lbs leaf springs.
So my friend starts jacking it up some more. Mind you, he's a very cautious type person, to the degree that he got two 6 ton Craftman bottle jacks and a similarly strong jackstand to bolster up the behemoth. As he was doing this I was under the MH adjusting the floorjack to provide support to the axle, then I got out and came around the back to chat while he jacked it up.
The MH was now about 3' off the ground and going up, and my hand was on the rear bumper when I felt a slight movevement forward. I emphatically told him about this movement and was just about to tell him to let up on the jacks when he bolted/rolled out of under the MH as it fell off the jacks and came crashing down. As it turns out, the MH rolled forward about 18" because he had forgotten to block the tires, or apply the emergency brake to prevent it from moving!!! The incline that the jacks created was enough to break the inertia of the static multi-ton vehicle and propelled it forward.
Honestly, this is one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced, the plethora of thoughts that went through my mind as I witnessed this beast come crashing down was morbid to say the least.
Fortunately, the jackstand caught the very rear of the frame and prevented any real catastrophy, not even the fuel tank was damaged as it landed on the floorjack that was previously supporting the rear axle.
We kind of both shook for about 1/2 hour and had a beer and a smoke before getting back under there and completing the job.
Kind of scary, don't you think?

[natemoen]

YIKES! Glad everyone is OK!

[DGXSER]

Now THAT definitely qualifies as a first you say it, then you do it moment...."SHHHH!!!!!!TTTT!!!!!"

Very glad to hear no damage done, especially to the folks involved!!

[Ken Talbot]

Sort of reminds me of the time my buddy came over at supper time. He parked his car in the side yard while I finished supper, put it up on the bumper jack, and was working at something underneath. When I came out, his legs were sticking out to the side, but the bumper jack didn't look right. Yup, it had failed, and the car came down on him. He was a bit on the husky side, but fortunately, when the car landed on him, it only pinned him to the lawn. I stuck the jack back where it belonged, raised the car, and he came out unharmed. I don't know about him for sure, but I do know that was the last time I ever went under a vehicle that wasn't sitting solidly on some sort of solid blocking or good axle stands.

YMMV

[James England]

You're very lucky. I reckon you need axle stands... can't ever trust a jack or even several jacks. Two people near me have been killed in jack incidents. On person was changing his front wheel and had his legs under the car. It came crashing down off a scissor jack (no axle stand) and the brake disc severed his femoral artery. The other one was under the car and it dropped onto him, leaving a hemisphere in the passenger floor where it landed on his head. Very, very bad. Both within 10 miles of where I live..........

[jetmechmarty]

I knew of a fellow working on his old Ford truck in the driveway. It was an inclined driveway. He removed the driveshaft. No blocks under the tires and no parking brake. Yep, the truck rolled over him. It then rolled across the street and up the neighbor's driveway. Yep, it rolled down the neighbor's driveway, across the street, up his driveway and ran over him again! It's a good thing he wasn't working on a motor home.

I hope the lightened the moment.

[bikerphil]

Cobia, glad you guys are ok. I've had some close calls back in my younger day working at junkyards. Man we used to do some stupid sh!t. One time I had a Fairmont hanging from the hooks of a cherry picker by the metal front bumper. I was standing under the car unbolting the engine and realized I had the wrong size socket. I walked over to my yard car for the right tool and the front bumper ripped right off the car and it fell right where I was standing 5 seconds ago. After that, I've been a bit more careful lifting vehicles. ALWAYS USE JACKSTANDS UNDER A VEHICLE!

[Cobia]

Went back today to really finish getting the spring in and installing it. I mispoke yesterday when I said we went back and finished the job. The job we completed yesterday was gettting the MH back in the air, AFTER blocking ALL the wheels on both sides. It was late and I was somewhat lubricated when I wrote the post. And btw, we've only done one side. He was saying something about taking it in and having the other side done at a shop. We'll see.
Thanks for the 'well-wishing' comments, all.

[DGXSER]

Funny thing is, I've used this exact thing to my advantage on several occasions, well, back when cars did have bumpers and bumper jacks. Car would get stick in the yard or the gravel driveway would develop a sink hole and get stuck. Just take out the bumper jack, put it on some concrete blocks, lift the back of the car up and push it forward off the jack. Car no longer stuck! I miss the ole bumper jacks!

[XS1100 Newbie]

I too am glad you guys are ok. I lost a brother from something similar. He had his car blocked up, and pulling his driveline. Thing was, he forgot to block the rig from rolling. It came down on him. I have not went under any vehicle without proper support, and blocking since. That was in 1976.

[cywelchjr]

Yeah, glad it turned out ok. I was under a car, with the bumper jack holding it up, working on IIRC the u-joints. The car moved sideways and came off the jack, fortunately we had all 4 wheels still on, just had it jacked up for a little extra clearance while I installed the parts. My Dad ran over and jacked it back up so I could get out. I wasn't hurt fortunately, but there was no way I was going back under there without jack stands in place (we had them, it was just a quick slip under to replace a couple of nuts. I've never gotten under a vehicle since without stands. When I change a tire or do brakes, I often don't use stands for that, but at no time is any part of my body under any part of the car without stands.

Again, glad everybody is OK.

[xs11jack]

I, too am happy you guys are alright. As to DGXSER, those old bumper jack had several tricks to hurt you. One was when you are jacking up a car and on the down stroke your hand slips off the handle, being spring loaded, the jack filps the jack handle staight up in the air towards your head. My buddy and I were working in a shed on a car and the handle flipped out and went right through the roof boards and the shingles! Think of what that handle could do to your skull.
Ole Jack

[Cobia]

I do remember those jacks, they had a bracket that hooked to the bottom of the bumper. Then they 'improved' them by making a slot in the actual bumper that you hooked the jack to. But then again, that's when cars had 'real' bumpers not all the plastic they have now.
Those jack handles were handy to have around too......hmmm.