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View Full Version : Safety PSA - Or, I damn near got myself killed today. Read.



LordAthens
06-30-2005, 04:03 PM
Over the last few days, the Jeep has been making some bad noises and I was going to wait until this weekend to tear it apart as I'll have some time off.

Well today, I had to run over to Jackson Welding Supply on East Carson. I had the trailer on with ~700lb worth of oxy cylinders on it, so I was taking my time, especially with my current "situation". (Shut up Bill).

I was stopped at a red light, light turned green and I slowly let out the clutch to hear a "pop". Nothing majorly violent, so I figured I didn't have it completely in gear since 1st gear synchro is about shot. Put it back in gear and attempt to go again.. Nada. Throw it in 4HI to get the hell off of Rt51. Get up the road a bit and pull off, nothing underneath looks horrific, so I put it in 2wd throw it in first and slowly let the clutch out, still no movement. I look under and the driveshaft is sure spinning.. Hrmm..

So I hobble home in 4HI. I put the Jeep up on jack stands like i've done numerous other times, put it in gear and set it in 4HI so it can't roll. Pull the diff cover off and don't find and readily apparent carnagel. Hrmm.. Interesting. I put the t-case in neutral so I can spin the driveshaft by hand. Odd, the driveshaft, pinion and ring gear all spin, but the carrier doesn't.

Apparently, my buddy who own's a garage and does mostly race cars neglected to use some LocTite on the ring gear bolts :minigun: . Bastard. 3 bolts worked themselves out and 5 sheared off.

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/ring-gear.jpg

So I head into the garage to call up my buddy and tell him the news. My mom also came down to see what happened to the ring gear.

Then I heard it.

Boom, smash, crunch.

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/off-stands.jpg

Unfortunately, I took that pic at a bad angle. What may or may not be evident is that the Jeep fell off of both jackstands and was sitting on the pumpkin. I was under the Jeep not 5 minutes before.

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/smashed-stand.jpg

Obviously, I made a BFM (BF mistake) by not chocking front wheels. I've done it so many times in the past that the "little" things tend to be forgotten, especially when you're supposed to be at work in ~3 hours and need to get your only vehicle, back together. When I put the t-case in neutral, obviously it can now freely roll and it did so. It rolled forward and kicked the 2 jackstands out from under, crushing them. If I would have been under the Heep, I would have either been dead or atleast in an extreme world of hurt. I probably had the stands extended out to far as well. I'm going to pick up a good set of stands with a much wider base.

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/smashed-stand2.jpg

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/smashed-stand3.jpg


I did manage to get the Jeep back off the ground and up on some other stands under it. This is now it how looks;

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/proper.jpg

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/proper2.jpg

http://www.hundredacresmanor.net/jeep/proper3.jpg

The weight seems well distributed between the 2 stands on each side as both of them are firmly planted into my asphault driveway. I gave the Jeep a solid shake and it stayed firmly planted with no rocking. And yes, the wheels are now chocked properly.


What it comes down to is, working fast and stupid can get you killed or at the least, FUBAR'd.

Take your time and make sure you are working safely. Use the correct number of jackstands in the correct places and CHOCK YOUR WHEELS PROPERLY.

This day was already bad. It could have turned out MUCH worse for me.

Be safe guys.

MF Steve!
06-30-2005, 05:47 PM
remind me to stay away from you when you're workin on your cursed jeep...although i dont have much room to talk, i almost rolled matts jeep over the hill at his house. t-case was in neutral, moved the wheel chock and weeeee, good thing my jeep was there to stop it...

LordAthens
06-30-2005, 05:59 PM
The curse will be passed to the new owner shortly. Well, as soon as DCX matches GM's employee discount offer offically, atleast.

Who the hell am I kidding. The curse is on me, not the Jeep. I'm going to sell it to my buddy Dave and he's going to not have a single problem with it for 200k miles.

r6cyclegal
07-01-2005, 11:04 AM
I'm glad you weren't under it! 8O Be careful and you should know better!! :wink: Hope you get it fixed fast!

OverkillZJ
07-01-2005, 02:27 PM
Even without loctite, if those bolts were torqued properly there'e little chance they're coming out... They're ribbed for her pleasure (or rather for not working their way out.)

Impact gun to put a diff together... brilliant...

Bill
07-01-2005, 05:24 PM
Ummm...

1. I am glad to hear you are okay. I would hate to see anything happen to you because of a simple error.

2. YOU ARE AN IDIOT! If you wouldnt be illegally driving the Jeep NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED! You are so damn close to being on the road legally why would you risk it all now? IDIOT I SAY!

... and that is all I have to say about that.

TimMichaels
07-03-2005, 08:23 PM
Glad to see your ok. I had a close call from my own carelessness not too long ago. I was behind putting my ZJ back together in time after installing a BB for my brother's wedding for which I was the best man. Ended up busting a sway bar link so I just left both sides disconnected. I finished up, showered, threw my tux on, and drove overly fast to pick up my date. A little wobble, but I had to hurry. So we get on our way and not more than a mile from my date's house there's an insane thud, the back end drops and I lose control of the Jeep. I struggle to regain control with no idea whats going on and it slides sharp to the driver's side, very very nearly rolling over. Finally I'm able to regain control and bring it to a stop, just inches from a tree. After calming down my date (and checking my pants) I got out to see what the hell happened... I forgot to tighten the lugs up on the rear wheel and it flew right off. I accounted the wobbling to the broken sway bar... we were both damn lucky to make it to the wedding at all (and trust me its not easy for a guy in a tux and a girl in a dress to get a wheel back on a ZJ when its sitting on the rotor.)

So never rush or you'll make a stupid mistake.

OverkillZJ
07-03-2005, 10:00 PM
....and never assume a sway bar makes your jeep do anything more than sway when it's off....