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tbh the guy suggesting that you can work off the jack just because you dont go under the car is frightful to me as is the guy suggesting that you dont need axle stands if you have a good quality jack.... its probably the same 10 pence oring holding your 1.5 ton in the air.
you dont need to be under a falling car to be killed/maimed by it.
Having been in a garage (work experiance) where the car fell off the 2 poster (not one i was anywhere near;)) im doubly careful when i work under a suspended car.
still remember the day my dad said not to bother with the axle stand we were only swapping tires.... and i refused and put my axle stand under.
the jack colapsed (folded from under the axle) just as we took the wheel off its hub - fortunantly it was on the axle stand so the suspension just extended and we used the scissor jack to get it up to put the wheel on.
Exactly the sort of thing I mean- it's useful to correct bad advice, it's worse than useless to say "this thread has bad advice in it, somewhere"
Some jacks have mechanical locks which makes them a lot safer but I still reckon it's daft not to have belt and braces when it's so easy.
I've had a jack collapse. I was stupidly just under the engine/gearbox of the car and got out seconds before the jack folded and the car, with a front wheel missing, hot the deck.
I was lucky. And silly. And won't do that again.
Axle stands for even the most basic jobs and for anything else wheels underneath the subframe/sills if I going under the car.
Or drive on ramps and enter the car from the other side to the way it could roll off if something went wrong with the handbrake and wheel chocks.
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jack that lost the will to live.
was being used on a straight push into an axle well within its limitations.....
Some inane facebooking afternoon showed a video of a girl making herself an artifical leg out of Lego for a bet. How'd she lose her leg? Fixing the brakes on her car...
I couldnt make the bottom bolt thread 'bite' in the piston caliper tonight..
Until I put my head on the deck/underneath looking up. .then it screwed straight away.
Even with the wheel under the chassis frame it felt abit.....
Question- should I have prepped the discs first? Bro in law said they come in a rust protective film but I think the first braking would sort??
Tbh that was easier than I thought it'd be. I was waiting for a spanner in the works.
Question- should I have prepped the discs first? Bro in law said they come in a rust protective film but I think the first braking would sort??
Yes you should clean the discs with brake cleaner or methylated spirits. do not try cleaning with pads or you risk contaminating them
Cue lots of angry swearing at VW and 'who the f specs a 7mm allen bolt' rants.
The only time i ever used my 7mm allen key bit was to change the discs on a p-reg fiesta. Curse these foreigners, sneaking into Dagenham and meddling with our proper british fasteners. 😉
Right, had a first bash at changing discs and pads on my van so now qualified to answer this.
Yes, it is as easy as a bike except:
- caliper mount bolts were seized to buggery and resisted WD40, a spanner (now broken) and lump hammer. 600mm breaker bar needed in end. £25 less of a saving.
- Eurocarparts are useless and can't complete an order. Much faff.
- Carparts4less are useless and sent me the wrong discs. More faff.
- A little air has got into system via caliper so now need to bleed brakes. £30 less saving. More faff.
So an interesting experience, I learned a lot. Haynes manual was invaluable. I would take extra care to double check I had been given the right bits next time and a massive breaker bar to hand. Also my van needed an m10 spline tool (£15) and 7mm Allen key. Very much non standard bits.