I cannot believe nobody has advised the Squirrel to use a monkey wrench!

Wouldn't want to work on any sort of slope. Least of all, not UNDER the vehicle. 

BenT

sent from my electronic leash

On Jun 4, 2011, at 3:04 PM, David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET> wrote:

> At 11:53 AM 6/4/2011, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
>> Would such a jack be helpful when working on a not-level car? I find
>> that when all four tires on on the ramps, the van seems mighty stable
>> and high enough off the ground for me to feel comfortable.
> 
> It's more stable than before...probably.  If you've spiked those
> ramps into the ground then definitely; otherwise you're still
> depending on ramp-to-ground friction with the same vectors
> involved.  But.  From your numbers I'm guessing you have to raise the
> wheels about six inches to level the vehicle.  That means your
> driveway is about a thirteen per cent grade, or a bit under four
> degrees.  Your Westy at gross weight is shoving 5300 lb straight
> down, but the driveway is converting that to about 350 lb of
> horizontal vector.  This total doesn't change just because you've
> transferred the sliding surface from the tire patch to the bottom of the ramp.
> 
> Once you start lifting things up in the air, it gets hairier, and the
> problem is that the vectors get worse in a hurry if things start to
> go.  So if it starts to move and lift one side of the jack stand or
> jack, the horizontal force will rapidly increase and either squirt
> the stand out or slide the vehicle and topple the stand.  Even if it
> just starts to roll, you're dead meat if you can't leap out of the way.
> 
> I'm with Scott.  Find or build a flat place to work, or get out from
> under.  Not that we care about you or anything, but reading gory
> stories can ruin your morning. ;-)
> 
> Yours,
> David