just a reminder to all you enthusiasts who work on your own car...

kenchan

as noted above, us a wrench and mallet unless you have an impact gun. although flange bolts aren't that hard to get off unless it's rusted and it strips... then EZ off

m4a1mustang

One important thing I think is to keep your garage door open when you are working on the car, that way if you have to yell for help you increase the likelihood of a neighbor hearing. Also, it's nice to let someone in your house know that you're working under the car and let them know to check on you periodically.

It's also good to make sure everyone in your household knows how to operate the floor jack... just in case.

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flashburn

I see, thanks. I'm a bit of a noob at this stuff. I didn't do any of my current mods myself (exhaust, cats, spacers). Nor have I done even an oil change myself (ever). Currently I have a maintenance plan that Nissan gave me for free because of lots of headaches they put me through. As soon as that runs out I will be doing all my oil changes myself.

I'll be doing the intakes myself in a few weeks, but that seems like a relatively easy and safe job since you don't need to jack the car up.

I still think it would be awesome if someone wrote up a guide for safely jacking the car and using jack stands.

kenchan

flashburn- i think there was a DIY on lifting the car correctly in the DIY section(?). it's good to have adapters too (or make them) for your jack stands. check the service manual about the adapters. it's like a molded hard rubber block, at least for the G. i dont use them, just made one out of wood.

flashburn

I dunno, I swear I looked a while ago and didn't find a DIY on it. There were some mentions on properly using jack stands, but nothing concrete.

Liquid_G

When I installed my exhaust/HFC's, I had the car up on 4 jackstands.. way up in the air.. I have 4 Hi-lift SUV jackstands (each rated at 3tons) Overkill for the Z but at 25 bucks a pair at sears it was a no-brainer..

I actually thought the car was MORE stable on 4 jackstands then on just 2. With 2 wheels on the ground,, you have some play from the suspension that still allowed the car to move. On the 4 stands it was rock solid.. I opened the driver door and really tried to shake the car as hard as I could... didn't even budge..

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Hi-Step'n370Z

Excellent idea! There's a tutorial in the owners manual, but pic's are worth 1,000 owners manual sketches.

And bye the way, I don't think that the comment about 'wear your goggles' was meant as a joke. Let's not forget about our eyes.

Whether it's chemical, metal shavings, or just plain dirt, it's worth it to protect our eyes. Better quality goggles are worth the extra money, anti fog (somewhat), scratch resistant, and usually more comfortable/better visibility.

Many years ago, when I was at the age that I felt bullet proof, I almost lost both hands while changing a tire on uneven ground. The car shifted, the jack fell over and the rear quarter came down like a shot. The fender was like an axe. It came down on top of the de-mounted tire I was removing from the wheel and just missed chopping off both hands, or pinning me at the wrists, by maybe 1/8 of an inch. It happened so fast, I didn't know how my hands got out of there in time. I think the truth of it all was that I was just lucky. Nobody can think and react fast enough to avoid something like that.

My heart goes out to that poor fellow and his family. To me, that's so tragic. A guy working on the car he loves, doing what he loves, and something like that had to happen to him.

Jeffblue

i'm not sure if like, mechanic goggles are necessary, but like, ski goggles, or wood working safety glasses would probably be fine. Or even the cheap crap kind you used in high school chemistry are only like $10. but i can imagine, hot motor oil in the eye=blind

LinPark

Not trying to hijack this thread - I think it would be great if something as meaningful as a well done DIY helped stop another tragedy like this. I went through the Owner's Manual today and all I found was simple documentation on changing out a single tire. There was very little reference to chocks at all which I find a bit scary.

I have to put my car up on 4 stands in the next few weeks to change the oil. If someone can help step me through the proper way to do this, I would be more than willing to document what I do and then post up a thread for all interested. I already have the jack and 4 stands - I just need to know the best way to do this so I can write it all up. Would someone like to contact me via PM and get going on this?

WarmAndSCSI

Having a car up on 4 stands is generally safe so long as you have good, well-designed jack stands. I have some monster SUV/truck jack stands I use to do transmission swaps and the like. They're practically huge chunks of steel. The danger is usually when you only have half the car up in the air or when it's otherwise jacked up at an angle.

Just give the jackstands a good shove and the car as well to make sure everything is "settled." Keep your floorjack under a decent jacking point on the side of the car you'll be working on.

The tire trick is useful as well. Definitely a good failsafe and if they do end up being useful, you won't really care that they were damaged.

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m4a1mustang

Mechanic's glasses are great! For one, if you are laying underneath the car it's very easy to catch debris in your eye so you should always wear some sort of protection, but they make glasses that have LED lights that make it really easy to see. Especially helpful if you're working on brakes.

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drivin blind

First thing I bought my son, jack stands. Then I bought the tools! I had a friend lose his son last year. He can't understand what happened. His son ALWAYS used jack stands. They found him under his car.........with the factory jack, that had slipped. My son is in the USCG in Maine. Everytime he says he's working on his car, I have to ask.....are you using your jack stands? Scares me to death. RP

NeedforZ

I use rhino ramps for changing the oil. I know these things are pretty tough but I'll put jack stands under the front just in case one collapses. I do need a set of chocks though because I rely on the e-brake and put the tranny in park to keep it from rolling.

kenchan

needforz- i use these wheel chocks i bought from discountramps (through amazon) for many years. they hold the car very well. discountramps have some nice deals on raceramps too.

Amazon.com: Fiberglass Reinforced Resin Wheel Chock Pair: Automotive