Gladiator wrenching, blood and mishaps.

[Summitsearcher]

Learned important lessons today. While wrenching on my Gladiator adjusting and dialing in my towing setup, I donated some blood. I was using a huge socket wrench to tighten some nuts before torquing them down. Since I saw in an earlier post about loose caliper bolts I’d check those too.

While doing so, I’ll be damned. That SOB slipped off the bolt and hit me square between the eyes. After stars and some well timed, pain relieving four letter words, I rolled out from underneath. Drip, drip, drip, right off the eyebrow and down my nose. Scared the crap out of my neighbor because head wounds bleed profusely. Small head wound means lots of blood.

Closed it with superglue and I’m good to go. They say Jeep is in your blood, now mine is in and on my Jeep! Lesson: Push away not pull towards. And trim your frickin caterpillar eye brows before taking a picture. Sheesh!

Any other knuckle busters out there?

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[Blade1668]

Unfortunately yes and too many times too. funny you remarked on pushing a wrench vs pulling a wrench now that's where you really mess up your hands.... so head or hand

 

[JAVIERGONZO]

Not much on the Gladiator but I have some f18 stories that'd make your skin crawl.

 

[Summitsearcher]

Unfortunately yes and too many times too. funny you remarked on pushing a wrench vs pulling a wrench now that's where you really mess up your hands.... so head or hand

Knuckle busters. Funny part is when you think this isn’t going to end well and do it anyway.

 

[Bananaman]

Oh yeah. Still have scars on my wrist from restoring a '56 Chevy back in the '80s!

 

[Blade1668]

Not much on the Gladiator but I have some f18 stories that'd make your skin crawl.

Is it skin crawl or peel.
I really can bet, after having to work with Army stuff for many years.

 

[Labswine]

Been there, done that. Punched a firewall a couple of times when the wrench slipped, punched the axles, undercarriage, steering gear a few times when lifting my '96 GC Laredo and the wrench slipped or a bolt finally broke loose...numerous other times on various vehicles and of course, my Jeeps.

It ain't a good wrenching day unless you get a little bloody

 

[WILDHOBO]

Nice bolt burn from removing a heated motor mount bolt, installing skids. It bounced off a bracket and made its way inside my overalls.

 

[brianinca]

I call them mystery hurts when I can't remember why I have blood leaking out of me. Trucks, computers, doesn't matter what I'm doing, I'll have some when I'm done.

At least in the kitchen incidents, I know IMMEDIATELY when it happens and when I need stitches!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

When there's blood on the phone (which is still hanging in the garage as a reminder, even though we have not had a land line for many years), and there's blood on the garage floor, and the first responders come and one of them goes into the garage and is looking around on the floor, like he's looking for some pocket change he dropped........... it's not a good thing. Lucky for me, when they finally convinced me to look away and let them unwrap the red soaked towel from my left hand, the one guy told the other he could stop looking. Still can't use my left index finger completely because of the ER's f-ups.
On the right hand - lost part of the right index finger to a nasty infection I let go way to long until one night while soaking it - the infection finally made it's way out, causing loss of the muscle in the end of that finger. Pinched it in an axle while sliding the axle back into the differential. It was just a small pinch but apparently something made its way inside and my body didn't like it, so attacked.
I'm lucky I still have fingers and thumbs, and most of them still mostly work.
Big scar on my chin from a long crow bar flipping back and smacking me in the jaw, and marks from things I don't remember.........
Countless burns from welding, using a torch for exhaust work, being too quick to pick up that chunks of steel I just cut off, frankly, I'm surprised I'm still alive.
Statistically, I should be dead.
I have twice the likelihood of most of the population of dying early, and am twice as likely to die in an auto crash than others.
So every day I make it through unscathed, I give thanks.

There is one thing I am EXTREMELY paranoid about, and I take extreme measures - and that's being under a vehicle that's secure. If 2 stands are safe, I use 4 - plus the jack stays just in case. Who knows, all 4 stands could give out. I will not get under a vehicle until I have checked it over several times and grabbed it and shaken it with all of my might to make sure it won't budge no matter what, then I check again. If I'm under that vehicle, it means I have made it earthquake-proof.

 

[Kindafearless]

Ouch!

Worst accident last year was smashing my two fingers while trying to put the damn rear shock into its mount. Had to do the scary hot needle thing to relieve the blood pressure!

Oh, and the scar on my collarbone from welding the new bolts to the Jeeps frame (when I was bobbing it). Had heated metal drip onto me and burn through my FR shirt then melt into the blended (not cotton like I was supposed to be wearing) shirt underneath.

At this point my family likes to remind me to wear protective equipment, especially gloves :P (AKA I get lectures from literally every family member if I'm caught without them in the garage)

After that accident, and maybe a couple others, we keep multiples of everything (glasses, gloves, ear protection, masks, fireproof stuff, etc) right next to every tool location in the garage, shop, and house. It actually helps, no excuse not to use protective equipment if its always within reach.

 

[Charles 236]

About ten years ago, I had a clutch fan wrench slip, causing me to bump the hood prop rod on an '05 Durango. When the hood came down, it caught me right in the center of my forehead. Still have an annoying scar there. The ER doctor gave me a choice of glue or stitches, I told them I didn't care, once the blood level drops far enough it won't matter anymore. In over forty years of working on cars and trucks, I don't think I have ever been without at least one injury that was in some way related to wrenching.

About twenty years ago, I had a 4x4 Ram 1500. It was a great truck, but it needed gears (3.55s stock, swapped out for 4.10s). I have done many gears, so I figured I would do it myself, save the $200 that a local guy got for swapping gears in 4wds. Rear gear was no problem, crush sleeve crushed properly. Front gears were a different story. Everything went fine until time to set the pinion bearing preload. I braced myself against something and pulled on my wrench and something gave way. It wasn't the crush sleeve. I finally got it done, and the gears worked great. The hernia surgery only set me back a few thousand after insurance. But I did save $200.

 

[Rusty PW]

You ain't trying hard enough until you get life flighted.

 

[Blade1668]

There is a 24 in pipe wrench in woods behind the house where I thrown it over house after it slipped one time to many. Setting up steering on my XJ. It slipped wracking hand then into my jaw. The brute strength of pain induced things.

Bill you can never be to safe when vehicle or heavy parts are lifted... I had bolt slip / strip out on cross member on XJ then me pinned under it with weight of T-case, transmission and engine on my sternum. I managed to bump a bottle jack over where I could grab it to lift it off of my chest.... working late at night when cool enough for it. So otherwise I'd been found dead when everyone would be heading into work.

 

[Summitsearcher]

When there's blood on the phone (which is still hanging in the garage as a reminder, even though we have not had a land line for many years), and there's blood on the garage floor, and the first responders come and one of them goes into the garage and is looking around on the floor, like he's looking for some pocket change he dropped........... it's not a good thing. Lucky for me, when they finally convinced me to look away and let them unwrap the red soaked towel from my left hand, the one guy told the other he could stop looking. Still can't use my left index finger completely because of the ER's f-ups.
On the right hand - lost part of the right index finger to a nasty infection I let go way to long until one night while soaking it - the infection finally made it's way out, causing loss of the muscle in the end of that finger. Pinched it in an axle while sliding the axle back into the differential. It was just a small pinch but apparently something made its way inside and my body didn't like it, so attacked.
I'm lucky I still have fingers and thumbs, and most of them still mostly work.
Big scar on my chin from a long crow bar flipping back and smacking me in the jaw, and marks from things I don't remember.........
Countless burns from welding, using a torch for exhaust work, being too quick to pick up that chunks of steel I just cut off, frankly, I'm surprised I'm still alive.
Statistically, I should be dead.
I have twice the likelihood of most of the population of dying early, and am twice as likely to die in an auto crash than others.
So every day I make it through unscathed, I give thanks.

There is one thing I am EXTREMELY paranoid about, and I take extreme measures - and that's being under a vehicle that's secure. If 2 stands are safe, I use 4 - plus the jack stays just in case. Who knows, all 4 stands could give out. I will not get under a vehicle until I have checked it over several times and grabbed it and shaken it with all of my might to make sure it won't budge no matter what, then I check again. If I'm under that vehicle, it means I have made it earthquake-proof.

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