So a buddy and myself were swapping out the winter wheels this afternoon, and we work our way all the way around the car and get the final wheel, in the front on the drivers side.

We were using a slim floor jack that seemed to be doing a great job.

I am not exactly sure how it happened but all of the sudden the car slams to the ground and the jack punches a small hole through the floorboard of the driver side footwell. From the underside it looks to be a hole about the size of 6" in diameter, and from the inside, there is alot of carpet that is skrunched up.

Doesn't look like we were on metal like we thought, or it slipped off the jackpoint.

Not pissed it happened, just pissed I did it.

 

Glad you're okay at least man. Accidents happen. Good learning experience. That's the kind of thing that scares the shit out of me about using jacks and working on cars.

 

ya i would be pissed at myself too

 

Yea, I hope its an easy fix. I am not sure if I need to take to a body shop, or of my Acura dealership can handle it.

We were lucky that neither of us were near the car.

On the plus side, I got the wheels on.

 

so you got a holey on your floorey? Is the only thing in the way between the pavement and you the Carpetey?

 

Not really, it just popped for the floorboard like a pop-top from a can of soda.

Its just on a hinge. It will need to be hammered out then something used to seal it back up.

 

damn thats weird, did you have the parking brake engaged?

 

I didn't. I am not sure what would have caused it to happen, if we did indeed have it on the wrong jackpoint, or trying to get the wheel off just caused the jack to move.

Either way, I hope I can get it fixed pretty easily and there is no real damage to the car itself.

 

You depending on how bad it is (cant tell with out pics) you may be able to pull the carpet back pound it level and get any thing that has a hole close together and clean it up and use JB Weld to fix the hole? Any pics?

 

its flimsy as hell. you can push it down with your foot. it doesnt take much pressure at all. this happened to me as well. happened on the front drivers side.

 

was this a bottle jack you're talking about?? never trust those things as cheap as they can be...but if it was a regular floor jack then idk what you did i do it all the time and usually have apiece of wood between there to distribute load to jacking point and keep things like that from happening. good nothing bad happened.

suggest you weld/jb-weld that shut and do some rust prevention ~ buy underbody rubber coating and rostoleum the inside it'll cover up nicely under the carpet!

 

I would never trust a jack to hold the weight of the car for any length of time. I always prop the car up with jack stands.

 

Eeek.

$400 to fix.

Luckily, it sounds like its going to be covered under my Comprehensive Insurance.

 

Holy Shit!! That could of been bad if you had your hand or leg near there! Glad you are ok! Since my jack is getting up in age, I am paranoid too, so when I jack up the car, I place one of my rhino ramps near the jack to stop the car from slamming down should the jack fail. The ramps are right about the height I jack up the car..not the best solution, but a failsafe nonetheless! Can't believe it went through the floorboard though...dammit!!!

 

Probably wouldn't have helped in your situation, but whenever I take the tires off I always place the tire under the doors so if a jack fails, the frame will sit on the tire and I can jack it back up.

 

Don't worry, you're not alone on this one.

I knew nothing about working on cars 4 years ago. This happened to me like 4 years ago. Yes, I placed the jack in the wrong place. But you live and learn I guess, except it just cost you money.


Costed me about $500 to fix. You probably will need to have it welded/sealed back up.

 

Wow, that does suck. I was stupid with my car today too. Drove into the driveway too fast and scraped my OEM skirt. Not as bad as a hole on the bottom of my car but scratches in the skirt. Not pissed it happend, pissed that I was stupid and did it myself, like you said.

 

Damn bro that "SUCK'S", I'm glad your ok though, most Importantly!

 

Mine looks pretty similar.

 

If you will all please look at the right side of the pic- just outboard of the damage, you will notice that U shaped double-walled tab

Thats the jackpoint for the front, has similar for rear

There is even an arrow or similar mark on the body panel just outside the tab
to help you locate it quickly

 

Yea, we had found all the jackpoints in the manual. The car was up, I had just took the wheel off and turned to grab the wrench when the jack either gave out or slipped off the jackpoint.

Scared the crap out of me.

 

what model floor jack?

 

I am wondering if this happened on the car jack used for changing flat tires, not intended for auto repair use.
Always use jackstands for safety

 

US General 3000 LB Racing Jack

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=91039

 

i know one time when i was jacking a side up with a race jack the car started sliding away from me. since then i've only used the center points on the frame in the front and back with jack stands.