What are te nastiest conditions you've ever wrenched in?

Welcome to "misery"! How long ya been here?

 

I've started cars in 40 below weather, repaired a driveshaft in a landfill in 90 degree weather. Probably the wost was working on magnet controllers inside a crane where the temperature was 120 and the controller parts were so hot that gloves would burn.

 

Slammed ,I liked your Skynard reference,been there,welding on the bottom of a garbage packer...maggots falling on ya,never again

 

Rebuilt a lower disconnect on a vacuum truck transfer case in a sopping wet slag pile at a coking plant while the snow melted off the truck down on me like a waterfall. Somebody had side stepped the clutch and snapped off the output shaft.

 

Yeah BUDDY! Smells nice too.

 

In the bilge of the USS O'callahan FF-1051. Sloshin around in the seawater and fuel oil mix while the ship is in heavy seas in the Indian Ocean.

 

Big Whoop!!!
Chuck Norris changed props on the Enola Gay over the Pacific, at 30,000 feet, in a T shirt. He then rode Fat Man down, to make sure it hit it's target. He brushed himself off, went to the Emperor's palace and roundhoused him in the nuts. He went out for a beer.

 

First off, I love you Dylan mis-quote! So funny!

Working in cheap single layer steel "barn", one open gate in one end and open on the other end. Grinding "pipes" for the Towers of Wind turbines. It's 12.5*F and a mild breeze. Shit a$$ cold and 1 on the morning.
And the MO-FU I work with hides my gloves after the break.

You fingers gets so cold they go numb, and when you fire up your grinder, your fingers hurt from the vibrations, by the end of the shift it really sucks! Glad I did it for one night only!!!

 

WINNNNNNNNER!!!

 

years ago in November was heading out in my pos chry. cordoba for a date with this total hottie I had met the weekend before. I was already late and it started to thunderstorm badly. torrential rain, lightning, cold wind- really bad! get into the city and run through a flooded intersection and drowned out the dizzy. Here I am all dressed to impress and stuck in about 10 inches of running water, so I hop out into the monsoon filling my new shoes with water, and grab a rag, screwdriver out of the trunk to try to dry the dizzy. then a cop pulls up behind me and puts on his lights but wont get out of the car. I yank the cap and try to dry the rotor and cap, all the time wishing I had a can of W D 40. the rain was blowing under the hood so badly that I was having a hell of a time getting anything dry. I finally threw it back together and fortunately it started so I waved bye to the cop and hauled ass for karen's house. I was totally soaked to the skivvies and would have just gone home but the thought of that babe waiting for me made me go to her house anyway. she was surprised to see me at her door when I arrived and we both had a good laugh about my condition. she must have been impressed with my will to see her because she offered to dry my clothes for me and we had a GREAT night at her place.

 

10 below zero, wind blowing 30 mph, in a snow drift under my 73 Buick changing the starter.

 

Did the maggot thing welding on a rear loader Leach truck--eeeyuk !! Worst thing was air arcing floors out of those filthy front loaders , some had been overlayed more than once and there was a layer of the most foul smelling gunk known to man. We had a smart ass on our shift that would bring a couple handfuls of cooked white rice and pretend they were maggots , he would walk up while guy was steaming , reach down and act like he was grabbing some -- talk about a sick SOB ! I won't go into a clean out job on a brand new Chevy wagon, suicide deal that sat in the Nevada desert for a couple weeks-- I still smell it !

 

Sounds like a "trashy" novel with hardly any "juicy" details...

 

I grow up back east in Yonkers NY . I blew the tranny in 55 chevy one night. Had a spare in the trunk and my tool box. It is raining, snowing and sleeting all at the same time.Right where the car is stuck they are doing some work on the side walks.I drag over two section of granite curb to use as blocks.All around the constrution are the old school "smudge pots" they had a small wick and burned kerosene,I put a couple under the car and went under the car and started pulling the tranny.I am laying in the cold, water flowing down the road ,I am so cold I am shaking like crazy and suddenly there is a bright light .With a cop attached to it ,he bends down looks under the car and sees me laying there with the tranny on my chest.He tells me he was going to drag me out and make me put the pots back where they belong. After looking at the whole deal he decides I can stay and finish,he tells me nothing he might do could be as bad as the situation I am now in.Makes me promise to put the stuff back an goes on his way.

 

You could be changing a broken axle on a two ton truck at the dump in the mud.
Kickin aggressive sea gulls eating rotten food out of the way to get to your tools

 

Under one of these on fresh asphalt (300*) with ambient temp in the 90s

 

I grew up on a dairy farm and, as the oldest son, soon became the main wrench.

no shop, no concrete, no asphalt

in front of a small toolshed, on sand/gravel...or mud. rain/shine/cold/hot, etc.

the best is working on the manure spreader...nothing more to say

 

My most memorable brake down, was about 30 min. north of Redding Ca,in a rest stop, during a serious rain storm. After a quick stop for a bathroom brake, my '64 Chev 1/2 t.
P/U refused to start. Turned out to be a striped timing gear. I had to hitch hike to a auto parts store and back then spent abut 3 hrs. in the rain installing a new chain and gear.
This was not much fun with no jack,I did manage to get the timing cover off without dropping the pan. Did I say it was real cold to boot ,it was late November 1980.

 

My buddy calls me about 3am and says he needs my help, so I jump to attention still drunk from earlier the night before.
It seems he decided to go out to green mountain and climb the "widowmaker", a hill that has claimed many novice (and drunk) 4 wheel drive enthusiasts.
Yes, he was shitfaced...
His K-5 Blazer had broken the rf axle at the knuckle and it in turn busted the lower ball joint.

Did I say he was stuck midway on the steepest part of the hill?

I went to his tranny shop, loaded up a floor jack, some parts and the 30 ton hydraulic press and put it in the bed of my truck.
I had to stabilize the Blazer by hooking a cable to it and attaching it to my truck at the top of the hill (about 60 yards away).
We proceeded to replace the axle, press new ball joints into the spindle, reinstall everything associated and then pull the blazer to the top of the hill.

I slid down the hill multiple times before I tied myself to the blazer so I could finish fixing it.

Oh...The temperature was about 30 degrees.

 

it changes every 5 mins, here

 

I worked on a farm, so lots of nasty manure covered equipment, out in any kind of weather.

Changed a water pump in a chevette while laying in snow in the end of a well ventilated barn.

Changed a broken CV joint in a Chevy pickup while laying is a foot of snow
Changed an in tank fuel pump in the same truck outside in the cold and snow

Changed a transmission in a dodge Dakota that was parked on top of a frozen mud puddle. It was easy to slide under the truck on the ice

Changed an exhaust manifold gasket on a medium duty diesel truck that was too tall to fit in our garage . It was 15 degree s and windy with 6 inches of snow. We used big pieces of cardboard to block the wind while we played underneath the truck.

I drove tow truck for a while. Lots of calls in the middle of the night during bad weather.

 

Nothing beats working on landfill equipment in the middle of January or July. You either freeze and chip away frozen diapers and chip bags or roast, hide from gulls and smell all the wonderfull fragrances garbage can exhibit. Glad I'm out of that job.

Sean

 

Going from Tn. to Montana - 3rd of march - blizzzzzzzzard somewhere in North Dakota - found a truck stop to let the weather pass - the pick up froze to the ground - broke a rear u joint - had to change that laying in the snow - thank God for NAPA - jaxx

 

I arrived her on April fools day 2002, so 11 years. About 10 years 364 days to long.

 

whats stands out is I was 15 and working at my uncles wrecking yard and had to pull a trans out of a 60 ford it was feb and there was 4 inchs of snow on the ground it was 28 degrees and wet and cold. on top of this i did on the ground in the back of the yard.

 

worked in a Benz dealer replacing a seat heating element because it stopped working... found out why, once i took the seat leather and foam off.. customer peed in the seat and fried it... it was terrible seeing as i had already had my hands and tools all in the mess... the reason i found out was because of the stain on the metal cushion holder.

 

The time that jumped out to me 1st was the time I was replacing the timing chain on some Ford product in my unheated garage in Detroit. It was something like -10 out that night. Just one of the reasons I live in Az. now.

 

last two years I have been working on my project out of a 10x20 tent ! i live in new england sucks in the winter! moving in May to a two car garage very happy to be moving from the tent!

 

fixed a manure spreader once. in the rain. liquid shit, folks. liquid shit.

 

Worst place was right in my driveway when we lived out in the country mid 70's. It was a dirt/gravel driveway and I had to swap out the truck 4 speed in my '64 Suburban. Had a big blue tarp over the hood, and attached it to the fence around the yard to try and help keep dry. It was winter, so cold and rainy, but I was in my mid 20's and not as bothered by ugly weather then! Still wouldn't have been out there if it hadn't been my daily driver!