We lended out our shop to a friend once, he had an early sixties caddy and the gearbox needed replacement, so he figured he'd do it himself on the floor. We helped him to jack up the caddy as he had only one leg and then he'd got under and stated to work. My buddy and I went out to lunch and to do some shopping and got back two-three hours later. The guy was still under the car, with the gearbox on his chest, unable to move... We got him out and he sweared to sell the car and buy a motorcycle... It was a blast to see him riding that bike with the replacement leg strapped on the passenger saddle.
Split my thumb wide open from the knuckle down the edge of my nail changing my oil. Why do stubborn bolts let go real fast? Punched the bottom of the car when it cut loose. Needed stitches but I just butter flied it. Still have nerve damage 10 yrs later. Watched my friends Beetle fall on him when he was all the way under it. Luckily it was a beetle and not Detroit Iron. He still has back pain from it. He was out from under it before I could slide the jack back under it. Adrenaline is amazing!
I had an older model Bronco about 10 years ago that had a suspension lift and big tires, so it was easy to get under and work on without a jack. I was still paranoid about it rolling because my driveway sloped a little bit, so I would always chock the wheels....except for that one time. I crawled under the Bronco to look at something and my shoulder took the tranny out of park. It took off down the driveway. The front end hit the back of my head because I was reaching up when it happened. It started curling me up in a ball and dragging me down the driveway. I could actually hear my neck cracking. Somehow, I got myself uncurled and scampered out the side. The Bronco rolled across the street and stopped at the neighbors curb. I was sure my neck was broken, so I didn't move an inch. A neighbor saw me in the driveway with the truck in the street and he ran over and called 911. Somehow, my neck wasn't broken, but it hurt like hell for months. The driveway rash on my back from being dragged about 20 feet wasn't much fun, either. The ambulance ride was pretty exciting and it gave the neighbors something to talk about for weeks. My kids were only 3 or 4 at the time (twins). I have preached shop safety to them from day 1. I remember, when we were waiting for the ambulance to arrive, one of my sons walked down to the back of the Bronco, looked behind the tires and then walked back up to me - still sprawled out on the driveway. He looked down and asked, "Dad, why didn't you chock the wheels?" Priceless!
This girl broke up with me while I was replacing U joints on a drive shaft... I now run a torque tube... I learned my lesson. CheaterJack
My wife and I were out in the front yard one day, I was about 25 then, I noticed the older fella across the street running his 80's crown vic up on ramps. About 15 minutes later we heard a lady screaming her guts out, the guy had pulled the driveshaft out and didn't shore up the rear tires, it rolled onto his chest ...pinning him. Note: This seems to have turned into a common OUCH on this thread!!! I ran across the street, being alot younger with a GOOD back, picked the side of the car up long enough for him to squirm out from underneath. I have seen that look twice now in my life .... the look of "I coulda died". Another story and I'm done: When I was about 12, our family was on hard times for a while. My dad was doing all he could do to keep us afloat. He had put a used engine and trans in our 70 model Ford Country Squire family wagon. With the car runnin, he was under it in the driveway just behind the left front wheel, all the sudden it dropped into reverse and he scrambled to get out but it ran over his arm (the second time I saw the look of "I coulda died") That car went backwards out of the driveway and took a hard left going down the street in front of the house, took another hard left heading backwards for the house but caught a telephone guidewire...snapped the telephone pole in half and flung the drivers door into a pine tree. Here's the funny part my siblings and I now laugh about (wasn't funny then), dad replaced the door with the cheapest used door he could find, an EDGEFIELD COUNTY SHERIFF's door and left it like that. That was one ugly ass car you didn't want to be taken to school in.......... I have taken some chances with jackstands and jacks but after reading some of this...... never again.. got too many more cars I want to do and my wife and kids need me......
LOL. Once or twice. Here's the worst one. I'll just cut/paste the story I posted on another board the day after it happened... Woops. - Matt
On a warm summer day I was lying under my 69 dodge dart drag car changing plugs in the 440. I had it properly supported. My cat was under there too. I went to sleep. My neighbor being concerned that I hadn't moved for a while sent his kid over to check on me. Derrick grabbed my legs and yelled. Not only did I hit my head on something and cut it, the cat scratched the hell out of my chest as he was sleeping on me.
My worst one (so far) was cutting away some metal under my '35 Chevy truck with a torch . It sat pretty high so I didn't have to jack it up just had to wiggle under . I was on my back when a big glob of molten metal dropped into my shirt sleeve then into my armpit . I was wedged under there and it took me about 20 seconds to get out . I still have the scar .
I think I get hurt everytime I walk out in the garage. One of the worst one was when I was trying to remove the gas tank in my 56 Chevy wagon. I had The car up on stands, about 3 feet in the air and everything disconnected and drained the tank as much as it would drain. I was directly under it, trying to shake it loose, and it wasn't budging. After about 45 seconds of shaking it, banging on it, and kicking and cussing, I gave up and just laid there, trying to compose myself, when all of a sudden it just fell out. It landed squarely on my nose. I picked the tank up off my face and laid it to the side and just laid there in the driveway in pain, when all of a sudden I got a good strong taste of blood.
the closest call i ever had was many years ago i was working in a one car garage in the winter with the door closed and welding with a old lincoln buss box. while under the car on a creeper i drug the welding cable with a creeper wheel and the stinger fell on the gas tank and arc burned a hole in the tank the size of a quarter before it stopped. i am more than fortunate to be able to tell this story.
A friend was under a big early 80's olds years ago when it fell on him. I wasn't there, did not see it happen, but the pictures he kept of his two broken forearms was enough to make me a little more cautious when planning on getting under anything.
I worked in a small automotive repair shop for a couple of years. seen my share but the best one ever is the guy working on the lift beside me was putting new exhaust on a car,so he used the gas ax to remove the old rusty stuff. When he cut the pipe ahead of the cat ,it came swinging down only hooked on by a small piece of rust. The still glowing RED end hit him right in the twig n berries!! He then burnt his arm trying to get free from it.
Almost. I'm really good about the jack and jackstands. I even toss the wheels under the rockers when they come off just in case the stands and the jack fail . Once however, I was working at a salvage yard, cutting cars up. There were three bays all had lifts with cars on them. The guy next to me finished cutting the engine and trans out of a car and let them fall to the ground. The rest of the car, now lightened considerably, shifted on the lift and proceeded to fall backwards missing me by about three feet. FNG! I went home sick for the rest of the day.
I was lowering my wifes 2000 expedition...had it on 2 jackstands in the driveway (yea it was on an incline)...just after I got the coils out I saw movement and tried to roll out. Just as I got sideways it fell on me, my 56 inch chest squished down sideways and somehow I was able to get back flat staring at the spare tire under the truck.... just got seperated ribs from that one...NEVER use elcheapo stamped steel jack stands on anything you want to be under!!!!
yeah, 19 yrs old half a sleep one morning, woke up late for work which i never do, i decided ahh this day is off to a bad start, take the day off and fix my u joint that is clacking away on my truck. 730 am went out and started messing with it. pulled the u bolts, and couldnt figure out why it wouldnt just pull out, i got a screwdriver and pryed it out. the truck took off rolling, i lived on a corner on a slight hill. i never chocked the tire, turned the wheel towards the curb, or even applied the e brake. dumb ass. cant tell you how many times my dad told me to make sur ethe car was safe beofre getting under it. it was enough hill that i could stop the truck, but i couldnt get out it would just take off i had nothing to stick under the tire. i didnt think i could fit under the 9" rear. even with the 31"s it was pushing me towards the cross street and i thought man what if a car comes, i really started to panic, the driver side tire grabbed my arm i nan instant i turned my head sideways and sucked it in, hopped up as fast as i could and ran after the truck to stop it. it was nasty. when the tire ran my arm over it lifted the axle high enough that instead of getting my face ripped off i only got greas smeared on it.my shirt had holes worn through it and i had road rash on my shoulders, down my spine and from my wrist to almost my shouler with a hole about 1 1/2" across that was pretty deep about 3/4". went to the family dr as it was 6 days before my insurance kicked in and i didnt want to go to the e.r., he stuck his thumb in the hole and freaked me out, the scarey part was i didnt even feel that. he cleaned it up and wrapped it and sent me to the e.r. told me i more than likely broke something and had nerve damadge. all kind of x rays and tests, there was nothing wrong but the wound. sent me on my way it was ok, the next day it hurt all the way up to my neck. couldnt even pick my arm up. by about 5 oclock that day my hand blew up liek a baloon and turned red. my grilfriend took me back the er, the triage nurse told me i probably had a blood clot and it was my fault, i didnt elevate my arm liek they told me to. i was not leaving the hospital that day, id be lucky if it was a few days, and id be lucky if i left with 2 arms. the same dr was there and when he saw my he got kind of mad he checked it all out real good and sad it looked good, it was a huge wound and of coarse there was going to be pain and swelling. it was pretty scarey. oh yeah my buddies dad had a fwd caravan fall on him while working under the front of it, no one was even out there with him but they were abale to save him, the kid and a few niehgbors picked the van up off of him and one guy pulled him out, not the best way but the fastest. he had all kinds of broken ribs, the blood vessles in his eyes broke or something, his eyes were filled with blood. he got it pretty bad, but lived to tell about it.
1983 graduate college and two months later almost bought the farm. Changing a turbo 350 had the car on ramps in front, slight grade to the driveway rearward. Done with the job, driveshaft doesn't align with the rear pinion. Lift the right rear tire one inch to spin the wheel to align. Had the tire chocked with one of the big rubber jobs that surrounds half the tire...but now it's off the ground! Drive shaft too far in, hydraulic lock or something couldn't get it out. Get under and pull real hard.... broken scapula and many cuts in my back. Saved by a 4x4 block left under the car that jammed under the oil pan. no one home. Had to yell for a neighbor to jack the car off of me. Two old guys come, one who just had heart surgery to boot. Fast forward to GoodGuys last year. Wife sees the Kwiklift and demands that we get one for her peace of mind.
Other than the regular whacks and bangs received while working on cars, not much. But I did fall asleep under the car while in the driveway one afternoon. I live just around the corner from a grocery store, so it didn't take to long for someone to notice, 'hey that guy ain't movin'. I'd been snoozin for about 20 minutes or so, and somebody woke me up by kicking my foot. When I looked over to the rear of the car, I had three heads peering back at me, and whole bunch of legs and feet around the car. I had managed to attract a small crowd. When I slid out, I got the 'we thought the car fell on you'. But it quickly turned to, 'Dumbass was sleepin fer Christ sake' and 'Hey fuckstick, next time make it worth while'. So I guess you shouldn't piss off the would be "amature rescue team". They wanna see blood.
Got pinned under the backend of my beetle when I was 15. Been really careful ever since. Strangely I have grown claustrophobic too. It has to be from getting pinned that one time.
2 stories for ya... My wife and I were doing an engine swap (yes my wife wrenches too) and she was under the car I was on top muscleing the engine aroung...when a bar on the other side of the car from me slipped down and bounced off my wifes chest...no big deeal right....about 30 minutes later she was having trouble breathing so we took her to the ER...turns out the beaterbar hit her just right and it collapsed her lung...so the rest of the evening was spent at the hospitol... The second... I was under my Nova. I forget what I was doing but a few buddies were over with their kids. I hear those imfamous words...What's this do?.....Next thing I knew the Nova bounced off my chest. My buddy's son turned the jack handle and very quickly dropped the Nove on me...broke 4 ribs. Luckly there were a few people there who saw it happen and just as quickly raised the car off me...
I did that under my '37 Chev truck And again under a '54 F500. Only that time the red hot glob of crap rolled into my ear. Nothing quite like hearing your own ear burn
you fuckin' amatures... Every last one of 'ya... Yea, I'v been hurt "under a car"... One second I was riding my Harley down the road..... BOOM! Next second, there was a Ford Maverick on top of me, my nose touching the gas tank.... No "jacking" required! Oh, by the way, my friends from back then still call me "Frankenstein"
I was under a Dodge truck putting a new rear end in it and tried to catch it, (the axle, not the truck) as it slipped off the jack stand. The brake drum landed square on my hand. It felt like my hand had been hit with a sledge hammer. Guess I forgot to take my Superman pill that morning. That ain't the worst I ever been hurt under a car though. I ain't telling that one.
I broke my nose on time while I was changing my oil. I don't know what Dodge was thinking in the mid 80's with their plastic drain plugs.
Dang, I do feel like an amateur, you win. But I bet I can beat most with total injuries from one accident!!
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