I scared a kid today...

...into blocking the truck he was working on.

I pulled up to a stop and this kid, probably 18-19, was under his s-10 changing his tie rod ends. no blocking, head under the front bumper, legs under the rotor, shitty little jack just waiting to fail.

I said "you dare to crawl under that thing without blocks?" He just shrugs and give me the "I'm too cool for jack stands" look. You all know the look I'm sure.

I say "I know a couple guys who looked at me like that... they're dead. You ever hear of that Caron guy in Charelstown whos race car fell on him"

He says "yeah"

I say "What you don't know, is that when they found him he had dug holes in the ground trying to get out. Took him awhile to go"

Look of comprehension from the kid.

I say "if you don't have any jack stands I would at least kick that wheel under the frame".

Kid kicks the wheel under the frame.

 

He probably thinks you're a dick, but you might have just saved his life.

 

They recently found a guy here under a truck, they say was dead for a week and nobody noticed.

 

I think he actually took it as advice. I was nice about it, but I just couldn't let it go. It's one of my pet peeves.

I know it has been talked about here before but it can't be said enough in my opinion.

 

A guy down this way, I think it was Billerica, MA, died last week. A SUV rolled down the mini ramps and crushed him, wheels never touched him.
And the guy was 65 and supposedly a part time mechanic out of his home garage.

 

thanks for taking the time to stop and enlighten the child. we all did dumb ass stuff like that and were lucky more of us were not hurt

 

If he's too stoopid to use jack stands then he's too stupid to live. Thin the herd.

 

I had a friend die when his racecar fall on his head. Worked a dealership as a mechanic, had racecars forever. Knew better, but in a quick instant it was all over. Left a wife and two boys. Found him in the garage hours later. Just a floor jack no stands and low ground clearance. Stupidity knows no bounds. Weather it's temporary or ignorance it's still stupidity.

 

What gets me is these asshats that jack up a car remove a tire and just walk away, don't know if they're running for parts a different tire or what. If some kid got curious and took a look it could be all over for them.

 

thats one of my worst fears....

 

Well short of giving that kid a good swift kick in the butt you did him a big favor.

Ya wanna hear Stupid with a capitol S. I once knew this guy who wired back the safety locks on his Mohawk Lift becasue it took too much time to go pull the release cables evey time he had to let a car down off the lift! Oh by the way he was a "professional" mechanic in a dealership who tried to sue the lift manufacture and the dealership.

Like I always say aint no sense in being stupid if you can't show it.

 

These are the two acceptable methods..

 

This kid was around cars all his life and made the mistake of not using a safety chain.



http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060129/NEWS08/601290420/-1/ARCHIVES30

 

I missed that story, don't read the papers much. There have been lots of stories like that over the years.

 

A long time ago...when I was just old enough to start fooling with cars on my own, Dad caught me under my car-in his garage with just his floor jack. He was a mechanic (retired now) and worked on all sizes of gas driven devices-From chainsaws to Cat D-9 dozers, trucks, aircraft, etc. Well, that normally calm guy just about kicked my ass making his point. That was probably close to 30 years ago. Many times I've been tempted to do it again...you know, "I'm only going under for a second" type bullshit...but I never did-always toss a few stands under there with me. That day still comes back to haunt me, and I've got kids, Wife, etc. Wouldn't want them to find me like that. So thanks, Pop!

 

At my shop we usually have the "new" guy take all the cars a part. They're suppose to bag and tag all the parts ect. I get them every time...I'll walk up to the car and see the jack only holding up the car. I'll ask him whats he is doing.I get the usual excuse..then I'll push the car off the jack and say " that only took a second." Usually I'll see a jack stand under it next time. I even give the car a little push when I put on jack stands. Rather have it fall then then on me.

 

those pictures are SCARY!!using WOOD to hold up METAL is NEVER a good idea!! my car's stored in my mom's garage and my dad assists me with all my repairs/mods on it and he went and got a floor jack and stands JUST for my mom's garage even though he has a set in his garage.once or twice i've had to use the bumper jack on the chevy because: A. it was all i had or B. it was all that would clear it or C.the floor jack didnt jack anything up..the front end of my chevy is so low that i've had to use a bumper jack and extender a few times,but i always block the wheels with either bricks or back it up to the sidewalk.sometimes we'll use the bumper jack just to get it up and then slide the floor jack under it and THEN jack the floor jack up.be safe!
creepy

 

Fuck the blocking, look what he's welding!



Used to work under my '57 with wooden blocks on a dirt floor in my mums garage. Young and DUMB. My uncle (RIP) made me some heavy mother f****r jack stands that I still use regularly today. He always over engineered everything...and I thank him.

Pete

 

As cheap as decent stands are now there is no excuse for not using them. You did a good thing. He will probably think of you for a long time every time he gets under a car now. My dad has a friend with a son in a wheel chair because a car fell.

 

This is the WRONG attitude. One stupid act does not make for an entire stupid lifetime. What 52gmc did was the RIGHT thing to do. He saved the kids life. Not probably saved his life. He DID save his life. 52gmc did what all of us should do, he got involved when he saw something wrong being done. He didn't know the kid, but he got involved. He taught a couple of lessons. One, use jackstands, not just a jack. And two, get involved when safety is the issue.

gasman,
Somebody leaving a car on a jack unattended is really stupid. If I saw one of those, I'd stop and lower it off the jack. And then leave the idiot a note telling him why and chew him out. Better yet take the jack, but that's stealing. Just take the jack handle so he can't put it back up.

 

I agree. There is a difference between "stupid" and "ignorant" Ignorance can be corrected through education. That is what 52gmc recognized and took action to correct.

 

Been in the forklift service industry for 20 yrs and you have no idea how many times I have seen a accident that was a direct result of someone not taking that extra 3 minutes to either chain, or block something up, or use safety equip. (gloves, face shield, weld. helmet ) Too many people have the attitude it won`t happen to them..and usually it doesn`t...but that one time...that one split second it does...it will fu@k up life/kill you/or wish it did. The extra time you think you save is usually wasted on cuts,etc. You can never be too safe...

 

At least he's a smart dick .

 

It's funny that this stupid thing came up again. I just finished saying this in another thread.

"Ya' can't fix stupid" But, you can fix lack of knowledge with education and training if the student is willing to learn.

 

try to tell that to model A restorers.

 

Absolutely, the attitude has to be right.

 

HOLY SHIT! I grew up in Sylvania, and gave Spud a decent amount of money over the years! My brother was in the same class as his kid...The last time I saw him was when they were cleaning out the yard on Holland Sylvania.
-Brad

 

Little Spud was a good kid and a smart one too, safety takes a minute more but death is forever!

 

there are some people dont need to worry about thier own stupidty, but that of others who will carelessly endanger everyone around them...