Close Call

So I was taking the trans out of a truck today to investigate a noise with the engine running. I'd tracked it to the bell housing area and suspected that the flex plate spacer was not installed (I was right BTW).

Anyway I got the trans out in record time (for me) and was so happy. Stopped, strapped it down with one of my 1200 lb test straps. The same ones that I use for lifting engines, holding up engines, and on occasion towing vehicles around.

Loosened the last bell bolt and the trans shifted a bit. Ok, not unusual, thought about grabbing someone to help keep it steady but I've done this before like this without extra hands and I was working through lunch so nobody else was around.

Ran the bolt the whole way out and the bugger rolled/tipped right off the tranny jack!!!! Almost killed me on it's way down too. I have a nice red mark on my chest where the... well.... something hit me, right above my heart. Probably the T-case. If I'd been standing a few inches close it probably would have hit me in the face and broke my jaw.

Sucker landed upside down, broke the trans pump, and made one heck of a mess. Best part, the whole reason it was able to fall. Remember my 1200 lb ratchet strap? It snapped in two. Nice clean break, probably couldn't have made it look nicer if I'd cut it with scissors. This transmission might weigh 400 lbs.

So now I have a broken part that is $550 and we can't have for two or three days, a pissed off boss, and a pissed off customer.

I'd had a scared, something wrong, bad pit of the stomach kind of feeling all day up to that point too. But it could be worse I suppose. The case didn't sustain and structural damage. A few fins are messed up, but it is sound and useable. And nobody got hurt.

If I were the boss or the customer I wouldn't be mad at all, you almost killed yourself, accidents happen. Glad your okay though. Do you know why the ratchet strap snapped?

Back in late September of '01 I was pulling my T-case to replace the
rear seal in my M50D-R1 (this was the event that schooled me on
NOT trusting that seal) and when I pulled the t-case back while still on the output splines
but the dowel disengages the T-case swing down and broke my nose.

It hurts now from memory just talking about it...

AD

getrdone52 said:

Do you know why the ratchet strap snapped?

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Not a frickin clue. It was one of my older ones, but my oldest ones are less than 6 months old because I bought them after I moved, and I just cleared out all my frayed or torn ones.

Even my weakest set is rated to 600 lbs, so that still doesn't explain it.

AllanD said:

Back in late September of '01 I was pulling my T-case to replace the
rear seal in my M50D-R1 (this was the event that schooled me on
NOT trusting that seal) and when I pulled the t-case back while still on the output splines
but the dowel disengages the T-case swing down and broke my nose.

It hurts now from memory just talking about it...

AD

Click to expand...

Ouch. And that was just a T-case. I dropped an assembled 4x4 Torqshift.

adsm08 said:

a pissed off boss

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Now, this would have me upset. You damn near lose your life because of faulty equipment, and he's mad at you? Not cool.

BTW, Glad you're OK!

shane96ranger said:

Now, this would have me upset. You damn near lose your life because of faulty equipment, and he's mad at you? Not cool.

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No, he is mad because the customer is mad. I don't think he knows that it fell because the strap broke. His box was already wound up pretty good before this happened.

i had a 600 pound strap break while i was putting my 2.9 back in my b2. i was underneath the truck with my hand up in the engine bay when it happened. not even a scratch on me, just needed to change my underpants.

I think its error code # 15.

We had one of our senior guys off work for over a year because of the exact same thing, it caught him in the shoulder and buggered it up something good.

Sasquatch_Ryda said:

We had one of our senior guys off work for over a year because of the exact same thing, it caught him in the shoulder and buggered it up something good.

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My foreman told me I should probably go to the hospital even though I didn't.

I told him that it caught me in the chest, and that I didn't feel so great. I think it was just the rush though. It took a while to get my head straight again though. Still a bit gah though. Kinda wish I had gotten hit when it fell. Not sure why, but I do. Maybe it's just because then the focus would be on my shattered bones and not the busted part.

Good thing is that ur still with us, and in one piece man.

glad to here yer Ok . Parts can be replaced , your life can't. PS. Got my TRS PM sticker today!!!!

Being a heavy equipment tech I have to contantly remind myself and my co workers of just how dangerous of business we are in. Things get so reputitious that you tend to get complacent and thats when you get hurt. Dont get me wrong, accidents happen but its usually the things youve done a hundred times that get you. I lost a coworker about three years ago over something that could have been avoided with just some common sense. Him and another co worker had an injector out of a V12 cat motor. Engine had a miss so he was looking at the rocker arm assembly to check for damage while my other coworker bumped the starter. There was fuel on top of the piston. They had forgotten to vacuum it out. The piston came up and about a pint of fuel came out of the injector hole like a bullet and hit him just above his eye and shot into his brain. Killed him almost instantly. One, shouldnt been looking where he was. Two, should have followed procedure. And three, most importantly, should have been wearing his safety glasses which are a requirement. Such simple over sights but with deadly consequences. Im glad you werent hurt seriously. Doesnt matter how long youve been wrenching try to always remind yourself of the dangers of what your doing. Been very forchunate of not ever being seriously injured on the job but have seen plenty of my coworkers get hurt. Almost lost another coworker last year when he hit a punch with a hammer and a chunk came off. It hit an artery in his leg and he almost bled to death before the helicopter got to where we were. Again common sense would have went a long way. The head of the punch was mushroomed and he hadnt taken the time to grind it down clean.

ADSM.......glad you're not broken....

as for the bad strap....I got two scenerios.......


1. a razor blade

2. Satan, himself

(of course, whoever used the blade was being used by #2.)