http://www.socalsubies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4677

http://www.socalevo.net/forum/index.php?topic=96751.0

It's so sad. Make sure you guys are extra careful when working on your cars.

from socalevo:


"A friend of mine, Paul Flores passed away today (5/1/10). He was being kept alive by life support and today after his last complication was disconnected from life support.

Here are all the details that we have.

At about 1:00PM 4/30/10 Paul was changing the diff on his S2000. From what it looks like, Paul only had the back of the car on jack stands. We think the car shifted or rolled forward causing the jack stands to be kicked out allowing the car to fall on Paul. The weight of the car collapsed one of his lungs and he was suffocated. He then lost consciousness, lost pulse and stopped breathing.

Nobody was aware that Paul was trapped under the car and consequently was out of oxygen for anywhere from 20-45 minutes. Paramedics and police showed up and rushed him to the local hospital. Paul was later transferred by Mercy Air to Loma Linda hospital were he underwent surgeries and treatments for his injuries. Paul remained at Loma Linda hospital until he quietly passed away at 2:45PM 5/1/10.

Paul was not alone in his final hours/minutes. He was surrounded by a hospital floor full of loving family and friends. So many so that security asked some of us to leave.

Paul Flores will be extremely missed"

 

That is really sad. My dad has always warned me about being careful. Damn, this shouldn't have happened...

 

Man... That sucks. That is one reason I don't work under my car unless someone else is around.

 

I gotta chock the wheels more often when I'm working on my car.

 

Saw this on a few forums today. Definitely why I have the ebrake on if working on just front, or front wheels chocked if working on rear.

 

This happened to my buddy a few months ago. However he was working on a camaro which didnt drop enough to actually kill him. He was actually able to phone for help and was fine after they pulled the car off of him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3-ehGDOyw

As for the s2k guy, I'm very sorry to hear this happened. One second you are concerned about the LSD in your car, the next your dead. Its complete bullshit that this has to happen to anyone. Be careful guys.

 

that really sucks, a real horrible way to go out.....


BIG +1

or put the car on all 4 jacks and triple check its stability...

 

Damn, thats sad. This is why I always put the whole car on jack stands and leave the jack up for extra insurance...

 

Always sad to hear stories like this :(

I always use jack stands + wheel chocks + e-brake, and I'll leave the jack under there with very light tension (if it's not in my way). Also, if I take any wheels off I slide them under the pinch welds just in case. I'm almost always home alone while working on my car, so extra caution = good idea.

 

I always use chocks but I still worry about this.

 

+1... I do like the idea of taking the wheels off and tossing them under near where the pinch welds are though.

 

i do that with shitty wheels.....

 

do u think they will part it out?

 

I do some pretty ghetto lifting/support methods, but I at least try to have redundancy with my ghettoness. At least push a wheel and tire under it, or concrete blocks to at least give me room to not be crushed to death. I just don't trust regular jack stands. Always seem too tall with too narrow a base, especially when you are pulling wrenches really hard under the car. Which is why I use blocks and pieces of 2x10 either under the frame rails, or under the tires, and back that up with the additional blocks under the car. In a car as light as ours, I'm not worried about the blocks failing like I might with something that weighed twice as much. Especially with the 2x10 absorbing any concentrated forces that might over stress the concrete.

 

+1. I've become awful at remembering to do that.

 

That's the only reason I don't like RWD cars, annoying and nerve racking to work on the rear end, as both transmission and parking brake are rendered useless when lifting the back end.

If possible, I try to lift one end at a time, obviously not possible for a diff change, sorry to hear about this guy.

 

Watch out for concrete blocks!!! I had two break on me a while back working on a car. I was sitting in front of it when it fell flat on the ground. It would have killed me!!! Two or more safetys always help. E brake with chalked wheels, jack stands with tires under nieth, and a friend to be there is always good. Be carefull guys, but if you do go out, at least it was doing what you love or you wouldn't have been under there in the first place!! Better then in a hospital wearing depends. In my job I see a lot of death. I can only hope to go out doing what I love, helping another, or just plain having fun. Only ways to go!!!

 

My concrete is stronger...

On top of the blocks, I also (if I have enough room) leave the jack under it. If not I at least put an 8x8 wooden block under the frame rail. At least give me enough room to breath if it did drop a few inches.

Not that I even work on cars anymore. Since the rebuild, I have only been under the car once, and I don't recall what for. Otherwise it was just sway bar end links, which I could do from beside the car, laying under the bumper.

 

So sad. :( This is one of the reasons I've always felt a little safer working under fwd cars. On one of my S13s a couple years ago I had a similar event happen but luckily I wasn't under the car. It squished one my jack stands a little when the car came down and I still keep that one around to remind myself to be careful. I too slide the wheels under the pinch welds when they are removed from any car I'm working on.

 

Sucks.... RIP.

Any details on how he had the car supported? Actual jack stands? On a flat, level surface? I've never had an issue with anything moving at all once its set down on the jack stands, the friction has always been too large even if I bump the car/push it a little.