United By Trucks podcast- garage accident topic

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waterpirate

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v10
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Local horror story. Guy was changing out the rear in his pickup, wife and kids went to get the pizza. When they got back he was deceased. Skilled mechanic, years of experiance. Complacency kills people. Stay safe out there.
Eric
 

ChuckN

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Local horror story. Guy was changing out the rear in his pickup, wife and kids went to get the pizza. When they got back he was deceased. Skilled mechanic, years of experiance. Complacency kills people. Stay safe out there.
Eric
Man, that’s awful.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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Many years ago, Dad and I were changing the rear leaf springs out on our '79 Burb, on the driveway. Had the rear axle on a jack(lifting /swapping one side at a time) and the body lifted on another jack. We were swapping to 3/4 ton units with an extra overload, on a C10....He was moving the new spring into place and something got jostled, damn Burb came off the jack and landed on the drum with him still partially under it ....he moved but not quite fast enough. Scared the livin crap outta both of us, seemed like it took me an eternity to get the truck jacked up so he could get out. I think now that he probably cracked his collarbone or shoulder blade, took him a few months to get full use of that arm without pain. Of course he wouldn't go to the ER....
 

ali_c20

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I always use jackstands, even for the smallest task. Thinking about working under a car sitting only on a jack gives me nightmares.
Good thing on lifted trucks you can just crawl under them and have plenty space to work.
 

HotWheelsBurban

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I always use jackstands, even for the smallest task. Thinking about working under a car sitting only on a jack gives me nightmares.
Good thing on lifted trucks you can just crawl under them and have plenty space to work.
I think we were using stands, maybe one of them tipped. That was the closest call with the '79; the '84 Burb tried to kill me at least twice. Once when we were doing a tire rotation and it slid off the jack, bent the backing plate behind the right front brake rotor and very nearly bent me too, and another time I had it on jackstands and was fixing to slide under it for an oil change and grease job. The city had come and paved part of our driveway that had been just gravel and dirt, and they hadn't sufficiently rolled the asphalt (prolly hadn't rolled it at all).... And of course that's where I had it cause the rest of the driveway had trucks on it! Damn Burb started tilting on the stands, you never saw somebody move so fast(I didn't think I had that kinda speed in me!). I had a love/hate relationship with that Burb for 13 years...every time we had a family trip planned that wasn't for a swap meet, it would break. Once was the tire rotation, one time I was doing the oil change and grease job, motor mount bolt on the right side is coming out, yup right by the fuel pump. Several other times, don't even remember the details..., yep, no AC and good tunes and comfy seats/ride for you..take the '79 and pray you don't get caught in traffic....
The '79's name was Shake & Bake, from the HD 2500 springs and lack of AC, and the '84 was Squeak & Leak.
 

Moodyalaskan

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For me always jack stands or ramps. A tip on jack stands
for those of you on larger or really heavy loads- check the load rating
paperwork. Most of the stands are rated per set i.e. 4 ton set equals
2 ton per stand. You can buy stands rated per stand, however they
are more expensive. Federal law says it has to state which rating they
have printed on the box or instructions that come with it.
 

1STLS1

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MIchael
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350
I use jack stands and leave the jack with tension on it to add stability. Don't forget to chock the wheels or parking brake. One wheel wonders in park isn't going to prevent it from moving once weight is removed from one of the wheels.. Look at the situation and think twice before doing it. An old friend was working on his tractor and it fell on his chest, killing him. I really don't want to go that way.

I am also going to suggest everybody know where their fire extinguishers are located, .....what? what are those? There are 4 in my garage, they are inexpensive insurance. The stupidest sh$t can happen at any given moment working on cars and trucks. They have inexpensive 2 packs at Sam's Club and Costco.
 

TotalyHucked

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I just saw Ron a couple weekends ago, he's doing very well thankfully. Said he still has some stiffness but very little pain. Still doing some rehab but he's essentially back to normal. I'll rotate tires with just jacks under the truck cuz I'm not under it but that's it. Otherwise, there's a stand, wheel/tire, something under the frame rail to catch it at the very least
 

YakkoWarner

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454
I lost an uncle decades ago to a car coming off a jack while he was still under it. Did not live in the same state so was not a personal witness (and thankful for that) but still keep that hard learned lesson in mind. If its not on its wheels it better be on solid stands before I'm going under it.
 

KXKID

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350
Sorry to hear about accidents like that. I'm in process of finishing 4" front lift. Had to remove axle,so started with a set of smaller jack stands off the frame behind motor. Had to put cement blocks and wood blocks with smaller jack stands. Was a little nervous, so sailed to the harbor and bought a pair of 12 ton for piece of mind. Luckily I have a shop to park it in.
 

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