Digging a pit

[Bob Mannix]

Why, thank you!

See other post of mine

[Mary Fisher]

Oh, that's quite boring though :-( I could imagine three long haired young men lifting a corner each.

Or turning them on their side, which prompted my memory of the Moggies ...

Mary

[:::Jerry::::]

Err !!!...

To take a wheel or two off, and don't come back asking why one should need to do so, you either know what is involved in maintaining a vehicle or you don't.

[:::Jerry::::]

Yes, sigh, and very big SIGH :~(

Your 'repairer' was a clueless idiot, I suspect he was responsible for many a banana shaped Minor...

[adder]

Ok, how about you *both* know what you're talking about?!

While I agree that there are dangers to pits, like many things they have to be used responsibly. certainly the more people you have around the more likelihood there is for an accident, i.e. in a commercial setting but I've never had an incident with a pit other than somebody letting the dog out with the pit open & it falling down. Now, that *could* have been my young daughter. ....but I don't have one. If I did have one, I'd have to be more careful of course. As for pits collapsing, it's a bit like garages collapsing - if they're built properly then the risk is all but eliminated.

Personally, from a safety point of view, I'd rather work under a car in my pit than have it up on stands with me lying under it.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Like I say, you've not done much serious stuff.;-)

You generally lift one end of a car with a trolley jack, so it goes in the middle. Most cars are provided with a pad on the 'chassis' for this.

And if the pit is long enough to access most of the underside, there will be times when you need to lift the car or parts of it with a jack - with the pit under it. ;-)

The garage I had with a pit I shared with three other blokes. The one next door also was used by several. The pits were almost always left open.

Humping old oily chunks of sleepers wasn't too popular a job.

[Mary Fisher]

You have no idea what I've done.

So that was, um, shall we say twenty people?

So that was 'most' in a population of - a few thousand - with pits?

Sleepers aren't the only fruit.

[:::Jerry::::]

Not a lot if you have never jacked a car up so the wheels can be removed, that is for sure - IMO you are nothing but fake.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You asked why you'd jack a car up if you have a pit.

Most common things - apart from routine servicing - would involve removing the wheels. Brakes. Shock absorbers. Suspension bushes. Steering components. You need a jack for this - regardless of whether you have a pit or not. There's really not that much you commonly need to get underneath a car for these days.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Pits had more of a use - possibly - when cars needed servicing often. Greasing. Changing gearbox and rear axle oil. These days, most of them don't - or at least not with the same frequency.

We're discussing whether it's worth building a pit now. I'd say probably not.

[Jerry Built]

I can see the difference. IMM's postings are at least DIY related. They have sometimes contained useful stuff. Very occasionally they contain humour. They are certainly different from your postings.

I can't. I wish I could, but that would only be treating the symptom, anyway.

J.B.

[Mary Fisher]

Non sequitur.

er - so why do you need ramps?

>

[Mary Fisher]

That doesn't address my point about how you know what most people do about their pits.

Fair enough.

[Mary Fisher]

So why did you say I was IMM?

I'm not international, I'm not a man, there's nothing mysterious about me.

You still don't need to open my posts :-)

[:::Jerry::::]

For the jobs were the wheels don't need to be removed or for inspection only.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It's perfectly pertinent. If you spout on about something, it's expected you should actually have used it and or know what it's likely to be used for.

You're asking this question while purporting to know all about car repairs and servicing?

The answer is they don't. If you have a decent jack and axle stands you can use those instead. I have all of these, but very very rarely use the ramps. The odd occasion would be when I want to have the whole car off the ground. Now on that rare occasion, a pit would be useful.

[Mike Mitchell]

One SAFE, one ALIVE clueless idiot!

MM

[Mike Mitchell]

Waist bin, eh! Trying to fatten me up for ritual slaughter, maybe?

By the way, the planks were railway sleepers, like I said. I do find it peculiar that you should become so apoplectic over such a mundane issue as a hole in the ground.

MM

[Mike Mitchell]

Bravo, adder! A voice of reasonablenss in the face of considerable venom from Dave and Jerry, who must have been watching too much of Miss Hardbroom.

MM

[Mary Fisher]

Who?

Mary