LS430inDE.

Well, not exactly. Let me explain...

The other day I noticed the LS had a totally flat driver's side rear tire. No biggie. I have a 2nd vehicle (F150), so this morning, I simply used the Lexus's jack, took off the tire, and tossed it in the back of my F150. I called several shops, and they all gave me the disclaimer they can't plug/patch if the screw is on the shoulder. Totally understandable, but I lucked out as the screw was almost in the center of the tread. However, none of them could fix it immediately. They all wanted me to drop it off and pick up later in the afternoon. Again, totally understandable.

When driving away this morning to drop off the tire to the Pep "girls", I thought to myself.......I probably should install the spare tire and place a couple lug nuts onto it, juuuuuuust to be 100% safe and to prevent the car from possibly falling off the oem tire changing jack. I thought once, twice, then said----ehhhh, nothing will happen! I'll leave it jacked up like that, do some grocery shopping, and be back in 4-5 hours. Well, guess what? When I got back home about 5 hours later, THE LS ROLLED BACKWARDS OFF THE JACK, AND THE DRIVER'S SIDE REAR SUSPENSION WAS ON THE ASPHALT!!!!!

I felt myself panicking, thinking how the heck am I going to jack the LS back up so I could install the repaired tire!? After all, the driver's side rear suspension was on the pavement!

Well-----for those of you who might experience this, you can still jack the car up using the oem tire changing jack if it's on the (firm) ground. You simply must make the jack as flat as possible, then insert it in the cutout of the wheel well, then slide it forward up towards the front of the car, and you can still place the 'saddle' of the jack at the exact/proper jacking point on the frame. I also noticed that after 10 or so revolutions of the jack, the car was wanting to roll backwards AGAIN! I solved that by placing blocks of wood behind 2 of the tires. Once doing that, the jack raised the vehicle properly/straight up.

I'm not sure how or why the LS rolled backwards and fell off the jack, however, my townhouse parking spot has a TINY incline, with the front tires being ever so slightly higher than the rear. I knew this going into this repair, and I rolled the dice and LOST!

There's a huge chunk taken out of the asphalt where the large nut on the suspension dug into it when falling. The rotor and dust shield and everything else didn't hit---it was only 1 large nut.

So....to those of you who think you'll need a crane or airbag or some other contraption to raise the LS off the ground, it can be done using the oem jack! Not sure if the front is the same way though. I never plan on cutting this corner again, and might cut up a couple pieces of wood just to have, for a just in case moment while on the road.

Live and learn so the saying goes...and all's well that ends well, as some guy once said!

jayclapp

Did you have the parking brake fully engaged?

LS430inDE.

Negative. I never use the parking brake unless the LS is up on ramps when I'm changing the oil.

bradland

Romanova

OEM jack is just for roadside emergencies. Everything else gets the 3.5 ton Arcan jack that I have at the house. Glad there wasn't serious damage!

mykvr6

yeah, if you're raising the rear, parking brake and transmission don't do anything anymore. chock those front wheels to keep it from rolling. OEM jacks are for emergencies only as previously stated. and always try to use it on as flat of a surface as possible. they ar emore likely to tip because they are so narrow. They are quite dangerous actually especially if you have to use it on the side of the road. On vw's we called them widowmakers.

02Legend

iTrader: (3)

I had a very similar issue in the parking lot at my job. Driver's rear tire went flat, used the jack in the trunk to lift the car. As I was pulling the wheel off, the car shook enough that the jack slid and the car fell. Luckily the wheel was not all the way off and still partially engaged on a couple lugs and caught the car. My hand almost got stuck between the wheel and the fender, but I was lucky enough that there was not too much pressure and I pulled my hand out. Like mykvr6 said, front wheel chocks form now on, as I do now as I am paranoid now when raising the car.

Mbodall

BCT

You just describe my nightmare scenario. I never have car falling down on me, but I have heard enough story and have seen my neighbor's car rolled backward when being jacked, that makes me paranoid, especially if I have to place part of my body under the car.

What I usually do if I need to raise the car:
1. Choke the wheels, two of them, one front wheel, one back wheel, not on the same side of the car. Engage parking brake.
2. Raise car with my 3.5T floor jack, then place jack stand in the proper place. Lower car into jack stand, but still have the floor jack engaged as safety back up.
3. Shake the car with wheels still attached. My garage has a slight incline, enough to roll the car backward, so I am very concerned of my car rolling.
4. If I have to crawl under the car or stick my body under the car, I keep a beat up wheel specifically for getting shoved under the car as my insurance just in case my floor jack and jack stand fails.

I made a two inch platform/ramp from scrap solid wood (can take a picture if needed), enough space for oil change and other maintenance work so I do not need to jack the car. Just need to roll the car into the platform and I am good to go.

This is why I love working on my Land Cruiser. 10 inch ground clearance. I can just crawl under her to do most work.
Be safe!

2KHarrier

Thanks for sharing a good reminder.

Johnhav430

Sorry to hear....man I don't use the parking brake either in normal parking, but would when jacking, and would also chock a wheel usually opposite corner....hopefully all is put back and ok!

OK I'll confess one time my BMW dropped on the ground.

What happened? I was all twisted and agitated. I was doing the brakes, and my wife says you can't do it now, we have to go to an Easter egg hunt. HUH? I said I would be tied up all morning doing my 4 brakes!!

Anyway I was rushing to get one side done (left front), and in my rush I totally forgot that my reservoir was full, and I had already replaced the pads on the right. When I compressed the piston, it forced fluid out and into the fender! This was a panic to me because I saw fluid hitting the ground, so I thought in my panic I had crushed a brake line underneath, so I dropped the car hahahahaha onto the brake rotor. I said wait a sec that fluid is not from a broken line (how could it be?) so I lifted the car back up. Then I used a bottled water container to flush the area that the fluid ran down. A search online showed that DOT 4 really doesn't harm paint the way DOT 3 and older do...I know, cool story bro!

p.s. crazy nutso thing about the BMW...after 9 years on the road, I hit the hat of the rotors with my palm, and clunk, they came loose. No rust. Just yesterday I could not get the rotors off my wife's 2011 GM, they are OE and rusted really badly incl. the inside of the hub (maybe to be fair BMW is not driven in winter)

TriC

One of the hard lessons learned in my 63 years is that when the little voice in my head says, "You better do this, that, or the other thing," I do it - pronto!

LS430inDE.

Thanks for all the comments guys. I totally learned my lesson. I thought I'd get all flamed up by posting here, but posted anyway. Glad nobody publically flamed me, lol.

I'm a jackstand lover, TRUST ME! However, I literally didn't have any jackstands at my townhouse (because we're breaking the townhouse rules if we're "working" on a car), and the parking spaces aren't conducive to working on a vehicle anyway. All my car stuff (including FOUR jackstands) is at my gf's house!

I've learned my lesson!-------next time I'll apply the parking brake, chock the wheels, and use jackstands if available! Probably the worst part of this is that I knew better---I was cognizant of the danger, yet took a chance, and lost. I'm not a fan of the "there's a first for everything" saying, but this was a first for me. Hopefully everyone learns from my mistake, but also know that IF your LS does fall, you can raise it back up with the OEM jack!

Scootymad

Did this at the drag strip one night. Was on a concrete pad but it must have been a bit cockeyed in one direction. Like you it was sitting on the jack nicely but as I got my 20" into the wheel well, she starts creeping forward and rolled off the jack. Unlike you however, it managed to nearly fold the jack in half, so jacking it back up with your method was out of the question. The only reason it didn't hit the ground was because the wheel was inside the guard and sitting on it on a strange angle. Thankfully there was no damage to the wheel, tyre, inner guard or rear quarter

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

I have yet to post, flame and scold you for your mess up lol Its ok I was using the jack in the trunk and had the jack just blow up while I was next to the car changing sockets, and the car fell on the other jack ripping the undertray and missing the rack and pinion by a inch or two haha.

Just chalk it up to a very important lesson and move forward only thing you can do.