Thank God you're OK.. I worked with a guy that was a great mechanic and knew better, but was in a hurry because he wanted to get started on a vacation, so he didn't use chocks or jack stands. He never made that vacation or any other vacation ever. Since then, I use redundant stands - jack stands plus a few big blocks of wood, in case the stands fail.
LOL we had to lie to pull it off. Both sets of folks said not married until after college, well there was no college money for either of us. So we told our folks that she was pregnant. No one even though to check I guess no one would say that if it weren't true. I know a pretty funny story about a kid and a 4x4 but I don't want to clutter the thread. drop me a Pm if you want and I'll tell ya.
Good thing you are here to tell the tale. I pulled a bonehead move yesterday myself, when adding fluid to the power steering resevoir with the engine idling I shove my hand right into the fan. With a certanty I can tell you that you feel each blade. I'm lucky it was an aluminum blade fan, if it was one of those razor thin stainless I'd be missing 2 fingers, As it is I lost the nails & meat on my little & ring fingers.
Glad you are OK and a good "wake up" for the rest of us. Sometimes we get in a hurry. That's when something happens. BE safe guys!
maybe the only good thing to come from harbor freight http://www.harborfreight.com/rubber-wheel-chock-with-eyebolt-69828.html we used these at the shop to keep semi trailers from moving and they do there job . But you can still pull a truck ( semi) over them with a little effort . but a passenger car it will keep from moving ( use 2 of them ) as for ramps . I am kind of lucky as my dad made a set when I was a kid , that I later inherited , they are made from real 2x sawn lumber ( cottonwood ) and heavier than heck . but they are 12" wide with a center rib that supports the board . and it has stop cleats on the ends . its lagged and glued with some steel straping so it will not come apart . I as I get older I realize why he gave them to me I am going to have to put wheels on them to move them . they have to weigh about 75 pounds each .
oh I forgot to mention I set my chocks on my floor jacks tongue or on the tops of the jack stands so I cannot loose them and it reminds me to use them too . ( plus it saves space )
I was taught as a young pup to always ask yourself "What if....?". For instance, "What if" this wrench slips off? What part of me will it hurt? "What if" this thing I'm sawing slips? What part of me will it hurt? "What if" this jack slips? What part of me will it hurt? If you get in the habit of asking "WHAT IF...?" then your chances of injury are much less. Building cars is a thinking man's sport.
I had a similar situation with the ramps. I was pulling the transmission on my 57 Pontiac with the front wheels on the ramps. I was just pulling the driveshaft and rolling out from underneath when the car rolled forward off the front/high side of the ramps which pushed the fenders up behind the front wheels and stopped it from rolling any further. Thankfully I was just able to scramble out from under it in a very crowded one car garage. The hood slammed shut and it made a big enough noise for the wife to come running out. She was so upset she actually threw up and was not very happy. What I think happened is that when I backed it in the garage I put it in park. Now jacking up the front to place the ramps under it loaded the rear wheels and unbolting the driveshaft released this energy to the rear tires and caused it to lurch forward. Had I properly blocked the rear tires this would not have happened. Lessons Learned: #1 Block the wheels #2 Ramps are dangerous - They were set out for the scrap guys the next week #3 Take your time #4 Have someone around in case you get stuck #5 Have good insurance - It was nearly $5,000 worth of damage and Hagerty delivered flawless customer service throughout the claim and repair process. It's hard to enjoy a hobby if it kills you!
Man, I'm glad your OK. Being dragged under a car is nightmare material. I have the steel ramps with the strap from the first part of the ramp to the upright. I havent used them for years as I like to make a grade and put the wheels on 8X8 oak. At work they replaced the chocks on the dock and I got a bunch of those. they work great. A friend of mine was pinned under his POS for a couple of hours from the scissor jack rolling. He's kinda different now.
i had a dodge dart fall on me. i had received car stands as a birthday present a few weeks earlier. i had them under the car as i was removing the rear end. when a u bolt broke the car shifted enough to fall off the stands. a friend was assisting me. the car had air shocks on it. he was supposed to let the air out. he didn't. the pressure when the bolt broke was all it took. the rear end shot up the car came down. my head was in-between. luckily i fell back and was not decapitated. the reared fit my forehead. blood was everywhere. that was not fun. still have a good scar from that. since then I'm a freak about how the car is supported. i have a lift in the shop that makes thing much safer now. i use screw jacks with it just for good measure. i always lift the car a foot then rock it just to be sure then put it up the rest of the way.
Caught out twice, maybe old man Dorman was right with what he said.....glad you survived both times, as I always enjoy your post and comments ! To OP ,glad you are alright and learn't from your experience.
There's a reason companies feel a need to continually pound safety into the heads of people. My buddy works as an outside contractor. This particular outfit was up to 1000 some days without an incident. Next time he goes there this was posted on the board and down to 5 days. Seems the guy was fishing a sticky nut out of impact socket.
Alright, I had 2 teenage lapses of judgement: 1. Bumper jack only on a '67 Mustang that I was parting out. It fell. Luckily the floor was rusted out enough to give way & only pin me under it with the rocker panel just taking some skin off my shoulder. Buddy was there to lift the car enough for me to slide out. 2. Front wheels only on ramps to change the flexplate. I assumed the parking brake was on. When the driveshaft was unbolted, I probably should have asked myself why it didn't just pull away from the rear end. Pried it off with a tire iron. Stored energy is a bitch. I tried to stop the car from rolling over us with my foot. That didn't work. I was under feet first. My buddy was under head first. After slowing it by running over my ankle, I scrambled out & helped pull him out. He got 2 big scrapes, chest & stomach. Car (freshly painted) rolled out of 1 car garage without hitting it, & we chased it down & dragged it to a stop a couple feet from a tree. Never used ramps (or assumed my work partner knew anything) again.
First, let me say I'm glad you're here to tell us about your experience, and remind us all how safety in our hobby is still a BIG priority in the shop/garage. Lost a co-worker back in the 80s, similar deal as yours. Getting the car ready for the family vacation. Tragic and sad, left two little ones. Second, I hope you know you need your ass chewed out big-time, pulling a stunt like that. Land barge, ramps, graded driveway, and you're gonna trust an Ebrake?? NO FREAKIN' CHOCKS?? C'mon man... Again, glad you're OK & here to remind us, we all need it from time to time. Things can go wrong in an instant. Had PPE & safe work practice pounded into my head for over 38yrs. When I was a pup I always bitched about it. Too hot, can't see, cumbersome, too heavy, blah,blah.. As an old dog, I was the one doing the pounding. Seen the safety equipment work as designed, too many times not to use it.
I suppose the old adage of young and dumb is a term the more fortunate members of the grey beard society can throw around having survived our youthful transgressions with using bumper jacks,concrete blocks and anything a arms reach to get a car up of the ground. My personal experience came one Saturday morning in my girlfriends front yard,I had the drivers side of my 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint dangling on a bumper jack to replace a bad wheel cylinder and I did have the presence of mind to use a brick to chock the front wheel. In all my youthful exuberance I neglected several common sense issues,the ground on which the small foot print of the bumper jack was standing wasn't the most ideal surface for a bumper jack. I had remover the wheel and tire,the brake drum was removed and I had just finished removing the brake shoes,I was sitting with my legs under the car facing the backing plate when my future father-in-law grabbed me by the arm and jerked it almost out of the socket before I knew what had happened the car was on the ground and had barely missed my foot. The jack had sunk into the soft ground and rolled to the right just enough to tilt and fall,I was fortunate that Clyde had just pulled in the driveway and he noticed the car was already leaning toward me. Had he not showed up when he did I am sure I would have be hurt badly,,I was totally oblivious to my intimate danger,thank God Clyde was my angel that day. HRP
@HOTRODPRIMER Damn your girlfriend is homely. Oh that's you sorry. One thing that you and I had that a lot of today's youth don't have is old folks. They didn't appreciate a lot of the things that we did but they looked out for us. Something that we should be doing if we aren't already doing it. @clem Ol Man Dorman was a pretty cool guy. He actually reminded me of my dad, his nature, his manner of speech. Once I was using his boring bar to punch a 283 block. he came back and layed his hand on my shoulder so I shut the machine down. He said, "come over here" and he gave me a hat to stuff my hair into then he reached up and gave the leather thong I had a girl's class ring hung on around my neck a hard tug. Hard enough to hurt and said, "I am not nearly as strong as that machine and I can stop pulling when you scream." My watch, the necklace and my own class ring came off and went into a bucket he kept for things like that. Old guys looking out for us taught us a lot more than any book we read in school I think.
Beeno,you can see the Coble dairy bottling plant across the street from their home on main street,that's where Clyde worked at the time. And you are 100% correct,the older generation,make that the Greatest Generation,men like Clyde and thousands of others took us under their wings and taught us many things that the text book could not. I loved my dad and he was a hard working man that taught me a great deal about life but Clyde was my second dad that taught me just about everything automotive,he loved cars. HRP
I think that was common when we were kids for middle class Americans to work in some sort of a plant and often lived close to work. Driving was fun not just commuting. We are a lucky generation.
The Jalopy Journal
