m73m95

Oh, if this was the "close call" thread, I could type for a while...

nasty9er

4 of July 2 hours befor a party i was changing the bushings on the 924s A arms. so i was knelling down on the shop floor cutting threw the old half melted rubber bushing when my razor slipped. i sunk that think in my bent knee about an inch deep to the point that fat was sticking out of it. so i hooped in the old jetta drove to the ER waiting room with paper towels and blue painters tape raped around my leg. ended up with 5 stitch's that by the end of the "long" night i lost 3 of the 5 now it is healed but looks funny. the best part was when i can out of the hospital i found my Friend try to jump start my car after his G/F killed the battery my waiting in the car for the 3 hours i was in there for.

mazdaverx7

i was removing a backing plate to remove a rear axle shaft on my 85 RX-7 and one of the nuts was really tight. too close in proximity to a rubber brake hose to use heat.. so out came the sea foam and a cheater pipe. it was really on there, so i leaned into the wheel well and when pulling up, the bolt snapped and i smacked myself (inadvertently) in the left eye socket with the metal pipe. i saw a flash of purple and was on my hands and knees.i could see blood dripping on the ground at an alarming rate and i stood up and looked in the outside mirror on the door and i saw the blood was pouring out. i went inside and cleaned the wound and i could see my skull through the skin. i made a trip to the emergency room while holding a rag over the wound while driving (a 5spd of course because i'm too stubborn to own anything with an automatic trans). i got all glued shut and released..only for my fellow coworkers to make fun of me mercilessly.

River

knuckles, head bangs whilst under car dealing with 02 sensor, poked finger tips trying to reach dropped screw (that sucks), spilled beer, electrocuted while pushing in plug wire that looked loose (apparently it was old and needed changing). Yeah, that was like drinking four cans of Rockstar and sniffing a red bull up my nose. WIDE AWAKE after that jolt! LOL!!!

Oh, and does teaching the spanish kids next door art? (you know, art. As in profanity to an art from?)

87 944 C

i've had a lot of close calls.

i do know someone who was working through lunch on a car at work. everyone left for lunch, but he stayed to finish a car. somehow his hands both got stuck in the door when it closed and he obviously couldn't open it. it wasn't untill 30mins later when we got back from lunch that someone could open the door to get his hands out.

Van

I want to add, on a more serious note, that everyone needs to be careful with working under a car... Always use jack stands before putting any part of your body under the car (unless you have a lift - in which case make sure you're lifting the car properly).

We've all had a lot of "close calls", but about a year ago, someone in my town was more unfortunate. He was working under a car when it somehow fell on him. The fact that it was fatal was pretty sad. But it was more sad that his wife and new-born daughter were in the house when it happened and now he's gone.

Be safe enough that you can still be here to laugh about the "close calls".

teamking

Those are good points.

...

So my dentist called me back last night and told me to put the tooth chip in milk overnight. He met me at his office at 7:30 this morning and glued it back on. It took him about an hour and a half, so I guess he wasn't using superglue. Alls well that ends well, I guess. I'll get the bill tomorrow!

nasty9er

yeah my buddys dad knew someone that died that way. it happens, thats why after i get a car on stands i give it a couple pushes and pulls just to make sure.

one close call for me was when i was working on my jeep changing the exhaust with all 4 wheel on the ground. i bumped the starter with my wrench and the motor jumped, thank god i dont keep my car in gear like some plp because it would of jump on my legs but it still scared the crap out of me, so now no matter what i always disconnect my battery before doing anything.

Butters944

My grandpa (or dad, I have terrible memory) told me once I have the car on jackstands, if you take off a wheel to work on something, store it under the car, as a kind of safety stand. Makes sense.

BeerBurner

I once had a really close call while working under my old Jetta.

(Come to think of it, this was during the initial installation of the shocks/springs that I referred to earlier!)

I had never done this kind of work before so my friend who had the suspension set was going to help me swap the parts over. He told me to get the car ready so that we could get started right away.

Well, I had always put my jack stands under the rear torsion beam because it was easily accessable and the cars were stable on them. Yes, it was the suspension be never something that would move while the car was on the jacks. Anyway, once we got started I was under the car removing the lower shock bolts.

Yeah... you can probably see where this is going...

After removing the second shock bolt, the entire rear of the car fell down to about an inch or so above my face. I should have put two and two together on that but I didn't and my friend had assumed that I put the jack stands under the normal jack points because I wouldn't be stupid enough to use something like the torsion beam during a suspension swap.

I stopped using the torsion beam after that...

BB.

Hollywood D

I've only had busted knuckles and scrapes. I HATE being under the car when it's on jack stands. I always put at least two tires under it and jump up and down on it to make sure it's not going to slip. Even then it makes me really nervous.

Marajit

My wrench slipped while changing the fuel pump check valve and my arm flew back, right elbow hitting the locking pliers on the fuel tank hose and snapping it open...

Hose was aimed straight at my face.

The heavy stream of gasoline blinded me immediately, and in the ensuing panic, I could not find the pliers somewhere on the floor of the garage. Meanwhile, the gas tank was emptying itself furiously on me and the garage floor.

Kept groping around blindly and was finally able to find it. Somehow, I managed to clamp the hose shut with the locking pliers after what seemed an eternity. I was blind and soaked to the bone with 93 octane.

I'll leave it to you guys to imagine the rest.

m73m95

That's the kind of thing that makes you want to have a cigarette

pkt1213

I ususally slide my ramps under either side of the car.

Nothing scary. Just the usual bruises, scrapes, stuck hands, burns, cuts....well lots of cuts because I use razor blades for everything. We were making a custom y pipe for my buddies car and he tried to catch a spinning angle grinder, didn't go well for his nuckles. In retrospect, notching tubing with the band saw sticking straight up in the air, wearing welding gaunlets because I hope it'll give me that extra split second before I lose something, was not a good idea.

Darwantae951

Some spring compressors slipped and almost cut off my pinky.