I wanted to take one of my wheels off for the first time. As I was jacking up the car, the soft pavement gave way and the car fell back. It made sort of a popping sound. I'm worried it may have damaged something. I took it for a drive and the auto tranny seems fine, it shifts into park fine. Do you think everything's ok?

 

So the wheel was off when the car fell? Or it just fell off the jack? If it just fell - only real possibiity of damage is from the jack itself (maybe gouge the undercarriage). If the rotor hit the pavement b/c the wheel was off, I'd check the rotor and suspension on that wheel. Otherwise, you should be ok. That's why I always use stands. Well worth the $20 for a pair. If you dont have those I use a cinder block or something underneath so I don't get crushed

 

I was lucky the wheel was still on so the rotors weren't damaged. I'm more concerned about what holds the car in park.

 

nothing got damaged. just don't make it a habit.

and obviously pull up the ebrake up TIGHT, put the car in neutral, PUSH IT so it settles on the ebrake completely, put into park, jack up, put jack stands and have fun.

on and please don't do this on gravel.

 

I think your Max will be alright. Remember to use the ebrake next time.

 

So the car needs to be in neutral with the e-brake and not park?

 

Put it in park. I don't know what Evil is talking about, he could be referring to a manual transmission.

 

maan, that's scary... what if you were under the car?

 

Evil did say put it into park.

 

Never jack a car up without using at least 1 jackstand, and preferably using wheel chocks on the wheels you're not lifting. The cost of wheel chocks (I use yellow plastic ones from Walmart) and jackstands (also from Walmart) is minimal against the amount of damage, quantifyable or not, of being injured or having the car damaged in such an incident.

 

oh and btw READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR JACK!

It will tell u SPECIFICALLY to put it on a LEVEL STURDY SURFACE and also to use jack stands. NEVER HOLD UP A CAR ONLY ON A JACK!

 

If I'm jacking up the front driver's side, where do I put the jack stands?

 

i assume push it backwards?

 

btw don't use the car's jack...get a nice big hydraulic jack....makes like much easier.

 

Why were you taking the wheel off??

 

Check the manual for jacking points.


~limsandy

 

My jack fell off when I was changing the flat. The jack itself broke, I was so mad since the front rotor was on the ground. I was freaking out, that I thought i might have broke my rotor or my caliper. I had to call my sister to get me a floor jack, the car was a b!tch to jack it up cuz it darn heavy. It was okay after I took it to Nissan to check out my rotor. However, i couldn't get a new jack, Nissan don't warranty jack, and they wanted 80 bucks!!!. Hell, I bought a floor jack, drawback to it, it's not portable to keep in the trunk.

 

BTW, does anyone know the parts number for the Nissan Jack, since I threw my broken one a long time ago, I need to get one since I don't want to keep a floor jack in my car. Only for at home use.

 

OEM jack is


~limsandy

 

I was at a friends house when he was moving the car around (no engine in the car, front suspension apart). Somehow the car slid off the jack. Luckily the only damage was the license plate frame. We were worried about the strut mounts and rotors but they escaped unharmed. Only time I've seen a car laying on rails lol.

Personally I have a 3.5ton jack that I've used on everything, I got it at Costco a year ago . Also technically when your jacking up the car it should be in neutral and no parking brake and chalk the wheels.

 

What kind of pavement are you referring to? If it was dirt or gravel, it's never a good idea to use a jack on it without some kind of float pad underneath the jack. I would recommend you use a 1 foot square piece of plate steel to place the jack on before raising your car if you don't have a concrete surface to park your car on. The palte will distribute the weight over a larger surface area.

 

Buy ramps!

 

They will only help when working underneath the car. He wanted to remove a wheel. You still need a good and stable surface to use ramp on.

 

yeah, evil said put it in neutral, pull the e-brake, then put it back into park..... But what do you manual guys do? Does the front brakes lock also with the ebrake?

 

New one from dealer would cost $$$. Maybe you can buy a replacement jack from the junk yard?

 

Put it in gear.

 

i got a hydraulic jack and 2 stands for like 20 bux at Pep Boys ~

it was on sale from 30 bux which is still a damn good price and worth it even if you only use them once. although you will end up using them a lot.