Short people

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My main squeeze is 5'1", Im 6 foot. She is in on the summer project of getting the ole dart on the road. I can finally get her in some heels! Cool!

All joking aside, you can let the air out the tires if your gonna be working on it awhile and have a compressor. Itll make some difference.

OR, you could make some catwalks that are lightweight but sturdy and put them around the front of the car.

See, now Im six foot. So my back takes a beating when working on a low car. So my solution is a car lift. I can just lift it up. Seems pretty sensible to me.

Matter of fact, I got a friend with a scissor car jack, and he drives trucks in (Hes short too) and jacks the scissors up with the truck on the ground. Then he stands on the scissors. See there! Solution. YOU GOTTA GET A SCISSOR CAR LIFT!

Your Welcome!
 
OH YEA, and I aint picking on short people either. How many of you six footers have been hit by a MSD with an ACCELL coil and got a good two or three licks to the noggin on the hood?
 
I'm only 5'7" and I use a milk crate. Also, I lay on or lean on the engine or fender.
I must be in the minority, but when it comes to working on cars, I think it's easier if you are shorter...
 
flynlady you are the perfect heigth my wife is 5'5" interesting when we kiss. but then she fells short in my house, my son is 6'3" at 17 years and my daughter is 5'10" at 14 years. there is always away to work on thing. i think a few years ago i saw a proto type creeper that started you out in a sitting position the layed you flat and in the flat position it would raise or lower you up or down to help with reach. it ran off an 18 volt battery. i think the cost is what killed it. how big is your garage? costco sells a lift that will go into any garage and can be removed and put in to the corner when not in use just thought i would through that out there for you!
 
ocdart said:
I'm 6'3". My ex was 5'4". Years ago I made the mistake one day of telling her the top of the refrigerator was dusty.
Her response: "If it bothers you, clean it"
Click to expand...

Sounds like what I asked/told Ernestina one day.....We were having dinner, fridge was about 6' away. Ernie, you want something to drink? She replied with yes please. I pointed to the fridge and said it is right there......still sleep with one eye open....
 
I'm about 5'6" my wife is 5'9". If I can't reach something I ask her. I'm 200lbs (but you'd never know it)... if we need anything broken, she calls me. I have yet to have to do anything major to my toy... its 6' 6" at the top of the roof. So far, I can hang off the truck frame to add fluids. :p


As a side note, I added 2.5" exhaust from the headers back without needing a lift :p
 
On daily drivers I will lean on fender, lay across engine, sit on fender with my feet in the engine compartment, etc. When I was putting the engine in a 72 Pontiac Grand Prix I had, I actually stood between the water pump and radiator core support when working on the engine. I am 5'8"ish and have gorilla arms.
 
Northern Tool has a cheap step ladder that hangs over the tire and has two grating steps so you don't slip. I use one when working on my Mack truck or the Dodge trucks and I am 6'
 
I'm also 6'4" and agree that leaning over is a real pain in the lower back. Don't last as long as I used too. Always enjoyed working on my 4WD van, that sits nice and tall for working on and sometimes in bad weather I can work from inside it.
 
I was wondering if anyone makes a platform that would hang from the tires? It would only need to wrap around the tire to give us tall people a step up to reach things down in the engine well. Perhaps I will need to get the tools out and make such a beast?
 
I have used the tire step that 1968dartman posted and they do work great.
memike is 5'7'' and short stubby arms and hands :coffee2: Living here on the hill I have a place
I do drive my Ramchager next to my shop in the shade :glasses7:
when working on the front stuff , the ground is uneven
and when I pull up to it the top of the grill hits me about at the waist
when I work on the side to change spark plugs or starter I have a cool neat hole I
put my front tire in and it lowers it a good 10''. Living in the sticks on a hill does have it's
advantages :happy1:

You could build a deck that you can pull your car inside of and have a 4' walk way around the front of your car :cheers:
 
Dang, how'd I miss this thread??? I'm right smack in between Flynlady and Rani at 5'0 and a half inch (don't take my half inch lol) and have had more than a few laughs -- and knowing nods -- from the responses already. For under hood work, I prefer to jump in and sit on the inner fender or the motor itself, and have only hit my head on the hood a couple times over the years.

After I decided to quit my job, pack my crap and move to Louisiana to catch up with Billy, I bought a bigggggg truck to pull the U Haul car trailer for my Cuda. A 1986 F350 dually crew cab ... 22 feet from bumper to bumper, about 3 feet off the deck, and a big ol' 460 under the hood. People would laugh when I jumped out of that thing LOL! While getting it tuned up and road ready for a 2300 mile trip, I wore myself out trying to balance on the bumper -- mostly one-footed while stretching into the engine bay trying to reach the back 4 plugs. There was so much motor under the hood there wasn't much room left for me in there. I went and bought a 2-step step stool for $5 at a neighbor's yard sale. It worked great! And what's funny is I still have it almost ten years later and use it all the time (even though I sold the dually).

I've got a couple pictures of the truck as I was loading up; I'll see if I can dig them out. :-D

Great thread! Thanks for the smiles this morning.
 
To all the short ladies here, This is so true, Yes! By experience :D because
my mom and grandmother was under 5'4'' Tall
 

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My solution ...




I took WRB426's idea and ran with. I can reach the bottom of the engine with the car up on jacks!!!
 

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flynlady said:
My solution ...




I took WRB426's idea and ran with. I can reach the bottom of the engine with the car up on jacks!!!
Click to expand...

Uh Oh, watch out folks, the girl is more than a pretty face, she's got skill.
:prayer:
 
I'm 5'9" but still find it hard to reach things sometimes. That tire step is a great idea.. Will have to buy one. When working on my 67 Ranchero that's lifted right now for engine work I will often get bruises across my chest from trying to reach things. On my old 78 Ranchero (yes for some reason I had another one) I would often have to sit on the block or the fender to work on the car. Massive boat of a car. My wife is 5'4" and she will usually sit on the fender to work on her Dart with me.
 
flynlady said:
My solution ...




I took WRB426's idea and ran with. I can reach the bottom of the engine with the car up on jacks!!!
Click to expand...

Awesome job! See all you needed was a little direction.:thumblef:
 
im just 5´10 and 200lbs and built like a gorrila its a useless bodyshape for working on cars short legs,long back, long thick arms and large hands,i think it would be easier being shorter and smaller overall,atleast you smaller people can get your hands at whatever you need to work with without using excesive force just to get the hand and arm to the offending bolt. im seriously considering makeing holes in the firewall to reach the bellhousingbolts.

anyway back more on topic, since i got short legs i have found "lightconcrete"(if anyone knows the correct name feel free to correct me) blocks to be a great tool,they wont slip,they will easily hold your weight and are easy to move around with just your foot when they need to be moved. otherways a good tip sometimes is to just jump into the enginecompartment and work sitting on the fender or valvecovers,i do it all the time,workpants with kneepads are a great choice when working this way.

My girlfriend is just 5´5" and laugh at me all the time when i have a hardtime trying to get my hands to some location where they just dont fit,and i just smile when she cant reach stuff on a shelf.
 
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