Need Some Help After Jackstand Failure

OP, glad you are okay. Hot asphalt and/ or slight grade - this was not equipment failure. I do agree that it was brave of you to admit to this, as it could save someone in the future. I hope the problem is something simple and easy to fix. We all have those moments and it's our duty to help others learn from our mistakes.

Just drifting slightly off topic, I use the plywood square method with my stands on sand frequently - I live on a big sandy hill and I sometimes work in my barn rather than in the driveway. Works great.

 

My drive way is gravel and the plywood squares give a more stable surface. But I used it in a parking lot once to help a buddy out.

I've had a motorcycle tip over twice on asphalt in the summer now. Sank in about 2" and over it went. You could drive a butter knife through hot asphalt. 1/2" ply? Not so much.

 

OP never mentioned if he had chocked the wheels and from what it sounds like he was only using one jack stand. Jack stands are designed to be used in pairs. If anybody has never watched jack safety videos I highly recommend that they do. Could save a life. OP glad your OK. Sounds like a bad wire/sensor to me too and BTW the wheels look good.

 

OP stated jack stand(s) with all the wheels off.

 

Opps. Sorry my bad. If on any slope he should not have had all 4 off the ground. Should have only been a pair jackstands with the other wheels chocked. Still just glad he is OK

 

That driveway looks like 7% to me, not that it matters.

 

ABS light was lit up on my 05 Tundra. On the Tundra the speed sensor is tucked away coming in from the top of the drum. I assume its similar on the Tacoma. If your speed sensor didn't physically break then it should be good. Don't go buying a new speed sensor because you "think" it's bad, it's just way too expensive.

On my Tundra it turned out the wires inside the sheathing were broken in two. The sheathing "looked" fine where the wires were broken. Don't just LOOK, you have to feel it. Run your fingers slowly feeling for any breaks. Repair the wires if needed.

My father in law used to work at a shop and I came in and he hooked up this crazy snap-on computer to my truck. It reads absolutely everything in the car. I had the computer in my lap and he was driving, I was getting identical speed readings from every sensor except right rear which was reading "0" the whole time. My broken wire was in the middle of the right section of the axle. Paying a shop a few bucks to do this for you is still a whole lot cheaper than a speed sensor.

Good luck OP.

 

So OP driveway is less then 10%. Hard to tell really with the original pic.

 

Scary stuff!

Thanks for the reminder to be safe with jack stands. Ive never felt safe enough to remove all 4 wheels at once in the drive way.

RJM

 

Use your Ultragauge to check the trouble codes

 

Did you chock your front tires while jacking the rear? Always a good idea

 

jack stand probably slipped up the back of the axle n snagged the ABS wire on its way up. shouldnt be terribly hard to fix.

 

Wheel chocks don't matter if OP has all 4 wheels off of the ground.
I was reminded recently, once again that jack stands, and even hydraulic jacks on wheels will sync in hot pavement. I used plywood, my buddy uses concrete pavers he keeps in the garage. You can forgive a lot of slope if everything is stable, but once you have that stand begin to sink, well over it goes, and that's exactly what it looks like.
I've never had a garage, let alone a driveway that was completely flat.

I've got the UG and an ELM device, but haven't seen either (several different programs with the ELM) that provided ABS codes, did I overlook it?

 

Sorry, but the jack stand did not fail, they are not designed for a load sideways. The Jack Stand that was in the picture was crushed from the side load from the truck landing on it after it sank into the asphalt.

 

It's not the jackstand, and very little to do with the slight grade. It has everything to do with sinking in the hot asphalt. Once the load starts to shift from vertical compression to lateral, that's all she wrote.

OP, glad you were not injured. Good advice given re using plywood stock under jackstands if you have to be on asphalt, particularly 'thick' and 'hot' asphalt. I've actually had the wheels of a floor jack sink into the asphalt.

I use stands of similar design to yours, and I won't even use them in the street (in front of the house) anymore w/o a pad. Even the macadam will fail with enough load.

Concrete is what I look for now.

 

I too had a truck fall off a jack on asphalt. I hadn't taken any wheels off and the jack didn't poke through anything so it was a cheap lesson. Always use plywood under jack stands and jacks on asphalt.

 

Just a suggestion for those working on uneven surfaces with jack stands.
You can improve stability if you weld jack to square sheet of metal, like a platform. It will prevent jacks from sinking and it will make them more stable.

 

Check the ABS sensors at each rear wheel. I bet one of them got ripped out.

 

so i had the code read and it said right rear ABS sensor. Im going to reset the battery and check the wires and see if that works otherwise ill just order another one. Any reason i have to go with an OEM vs aftermarket? does anyone have the OEM part number?

thanks!

P.S. i ordered these to put under the jack stands in the future! they were only $2 each so if they dont work out ill just go with plywood.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251939107276?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT