Reminder to be careful when your by yourself in the shop

I was trying to R&R the nv4500 on the truck today, got the old one out, but could not get the new one into the clutch and line up into the motor. Went out and bought a Harbor Freight trans jack and was still having issues with alignment. Well in the midst of jiggling, pulling, and pushing, the trans slipped off the jack sideways and caught my left arm under it. A 200lbs transmission is not a fun thing to have on your arm. Thankfully it didn't break anything, but my arms gonna be black and blue tomorrow and I won't be lifting anything with it for a while.

So be careful out there guys and gals, and know when to just get out of the way.

Ouch. Glad you didn't break anything.

I had a 7MGTE and 5-speed come down on my hand one time, can confirm, no bueno.
Though I'm a little jealous, if something like that happened to me now it'd be in my driveway rather than a shop.

Glad there are no broken bones!

Glad your OK.

Yes, yes, I once caught an NP231 with my face.

There I was expecting to have to pry and jiggle it loose, I put my hands on it, gave a little tug, then smack there's a transfer case smooshing my nose. That was unpleasant, but thankfully a busted lip, and some bruising was the worst of the damage.

No to play topper, but I had all 4,200lbs of 9C1 come down (slowly) on my chest. No fun digging gravel with your fingernails to give yourself room to slide out from under the frame rail. Never made that mistake again.

Good reminder. We spend so much time crawling around under cars we can sometimes forget the inherent danger. At least I do.

Good reminder to always check your jackstands ect when crawling underneath large immovable objects.

Yikes, glad you're ok.

While we're on the subject of garage safety, what sort of rules/procedures do you hold yourself to when working alone in the garage? Since pretty much none of my local friends are even slightly into cars, I find myself working alone probably 99.9% of the time and often find myself wondering "What the hell would I do if X fell on/burned/crushed/maimed me?"

I always give the car a few good shoves before crawling underneath, always work with jack stands, try to think things through and avoid sketchy situations in the first place, ect. but E36 M3 can still happen. I try to remember to keep my cellphone on me and accessible at all times, just in case, but I'm curious to hear what you all have to add.

In reply to Furious_E:

If I smell fumes I don't make sparks.

Nothing I can't get a tourniquet on goes in line with the cutoff wheel.

Be afraid of high voltage and batteries.

Wow, that could have ended far worse! I was taking the Trans out of a 300te (4matic) a couple years ago and when it came loose I rearranged myself quickly and smacked my head on the wheel stand. Woke some amount of time later in a pool of my own yech and battled migraines for years afterwards. Dangerous stuff out there folks, stay safe!

I always call or text somebody and tell them how long I'm gonna be in the garage. I make sure I follow up and let them know I'm done. I have forgotten and had friends show up to make sure I was alive!

If I have the wheels off they go behind the jack stands where the pinch welds will land on them. If not I throw a set of ramps perpendicular to the car under the wheels.

Also wheel chocks. Always use wheel chocks.

Glad you're ok.

Yikes. Not a great situation, but it could have been worse.

My similar story was 29 years ago when I was moving a Ford 2.8 V6 bare block from the bench to an engine stand. The stand started to move, and I tried to steady it with my foot. I ended up falling flat on my back with the block on my chest. After determining I wasn't badly injured, I just stared at the phone 6 feet up on the wall and thought about how useless it was at that moment in that location.

My lesson learned was to never try to shortcut and manhandle something heavy. Take the time to use the engine hoist to handle it safely.

Yikes. Was the transmission strapped or chained to the jack? I've R&R'd a couple of trans with my H-F transmission jack and getting it to feel secure on it was often a challenge.

Reminds me to go ahead and take measurements of the jack points on my VW for when I finally need to replace the clutch. I'll build a cradle adapter to fit into the jack points and bolt to the jack.

I try not to do heavy/treacherous stuff alone, but remember that your spouse will have no idea you're being crushed if they're in the living room watching TV and you've got a car on your chest.

I do always have my phone in my pocket, even when I'm crawling around under a car. Yes, it's a huge PITA, but it could save your life. On a similar note, I always make sure "Hey Siri" is turned on on my phone, too. Does it only work maybe 75% of the time? Yes, but I'd happily take a 75% chance of calling for help instead of a 0% chance when my arms are pinned under something.

Yikes, glad to hear this did not end up being worse! Always keep your cell on you like Tom said and I like to make sure the fire extinguishers are nearby as well. Be safe

bigdaddylee82 wrote: smack there's a transfer case smooshing my nose.

So, transfer cases behave like frying pans rather than crowbars relative to the laws of cartoon physics…correct?

Join me to the list of "xxx vehicle dropped on me" I'm lucky and it was an S10 that rolled off the ramps. Still compressed my chest a bit.

Wife was inside and heard my scream, as well as two neighbors that where inside their homes.

keep people near you when working on heavy E36 M3.

A FB friend of my wife, dropped a car this past weekend...on his wife. 30+ stitches in her leg and bruises that will last a long time. Somehow he managed to knock the car off the jackstands.

Glad you weren't seriously injured and just got a friendly reminder, instead of a trip to the ER or morgue. Be safe.

Grtechguy wrote: Join me to the list of "xxx vehicle dropped on me" I'm lucky and it was an S10 that rolled off the ramps. Still compressed my chest a bit. Wife was inside and heard my scream, as well as two neighbors that where inside their homes. keep people near you when working on heavy E36 M3.

1979 Trans Am. You never know how heavy a car really is until your legs are being crushed between it's gas tank and the top of a chain link fence.

Nick (Bo) Comstock wrote:

Grtechguy wrote: Join me to the list of "xxx vehicle dropped on me" I'm lucky and it was an S10 that rolled off the ramps. Still compressed my chest a bit. Wife was inside and heard my scream, as well as two neighbors that where inside their homes. keep people near you when working on heavy E36 M3.

1979 Trans Am. You never know how heavy a car really is until your legs are being crushed between it's gas tank and the top of a chain link fence.

Wait...trans am...top of fence....legs? How?

A friend's husband was killed when the safety catch on the air end jack he was using to change the oil in his race car failed and crushed him. She came home from work and found him under the car, cold. That was a bad day.

If I am going to weld I never leave the garage for about 30 minutes afterward. Enough time for most errant sparks that may be smoldering to either start a fire or go out.