OK, I know you've all got 'em. Let's hear about 'em.

I'll start. Too many to list but here are a couple:

- Installing Powertrax locker in rear of Cherokee. Very frustrating. Had frozen cross-shaft bolt. Hand slid. Welcome nice v-shaped bloody scar on knuckle from tooth of ring gear..



- Fighting to remove frozen tie rod ends on first TJ to replace tie rod. Couldn't get angle right with hammer to large pickle fork in driveway. 100 degrees out. Tired. Lack of judgement. Hammered toward myself. Hammer deflects off of pickle fork directly into forehead. Welcome new 1.5" black and blue circle on forehead for a week.

Too many to remember, but the latest two are worthy of mentioning...

1. Trimming the windshield trim in my 03 TJ to fit around the TBT sport cage...utility knife slips. (I knew this was gonna happen when I started) Nice 1.5 inch slice on my thumb.

2. Installing extended RE swaybar links at the end of two long days. Never ever pull a driver towards you when tightening a bolt. Whack, right in the nose. I knew better, but being tired and wanting to hurry cost me a broken nose.

HOWDY

HAMMER ONE HAPPENED TO ME TOO BUT WAS HAMMERING A DIFFERENT PART.

USING XWRENCH TO REMOVE LUGNUT AND WAS TOO CLOSE. UPPERCUT TO THE CHIN. ALSO HI LIFT JACK HANDLE HITTING ME IN CHIN!

TRYING TO UNDO WING NUT,WITH MY KNIFE(NO OTHER TOOL AVAILABLE), TO GET GERRY CAN FROM OLD SOTC/JEEP AND SLICED THUMB OPEN REAL BAD. THE BEST PART WAS THAT I WAS OUT OF GAS ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IN GRIDLOCK TRAFFIC. ONLY ABOUT 30-50 PEOPLE SAW WHAT HAPPENED. AWSOME!!!

LATER

JASON

I finished up putting new hubs on a CJ. It was time to mount up the 37" Baja Clas, those things are HEAVY...anyways I grabed my 3/4" impact and procceded to tighten up the lug nuts. Now my impact has been used so much that the tip of it is worn out, so it no longer holds onto the socket...so I usually lightly grab the spining socket to keep it in place. Now, Im on the last lug nut and Im kinda in a hurry...wizzzzz goes the impact and somehow I grabed on too tight causeing my finger to wrap around the socket and get wedged between the hub and the lugnut/socket. That was very painfull, mainly because I was stuck there for a while.

Just last week. Im at the shop and there is a front HP D44 sitting on the floor that needs to be moved, everybody is out at lunch. I pick it up and carry it over to the side...put it down and twist my back real bad. So there I was laying on the floor in pain, then a customer shows up

Two weeks ago... using a cut off wheel to remove a plate welded to my frame (don't ask). Grinder slipped and cut off wheel found my finger at the second knuckle... thru the glove thru a few "hundred" layers of skin.

Foruntaly it was only "skin" deep and didn't get to the bone. No real pain, and it cauterized the cut as it went in. A week later and it hurt... :-)

It's all cool now since the jeep is running again - better then ever.

- Shawn

The dumbest of my dumb moves has to be the time I shot myself in the eye with break cleaner. I'll leave the details to the imagination

I'm having a hard time remembering stupid moves that caused injury, but here are a few of my close calls lately.

This weekend: Drilling the hole for the snorkel using a nice new sharp 3" holesaw. I was drilling away guiding the saw with my hand when it caught some of the metal and the blade jumped onto my fingers. Tore up the gloves I was wearing, but didn't get any further.

Last tire rotation: The fitting on my impact gun isn't holding the air hose on like it used to. So while using the gun next to my head the hose blows off at 120 psi and the fitting whacks me in he head. I finish up with it only to be deaf in my right ear from the hose poping off several more times.

Jason

I was installing a CB cable connector at the rear antenna bracket, using a utility knife to strip back the cable... did what i always do, injure myself... So I call the wife up at work(she works nights at a hospitol...lucky me ) and told her to meet me down in the emergency room... The blade went as deep as it could into my leg (about an inch). Lesson learned: Be careful with utility knifes, and don't get complacent with things you have done a million times. Also, it's nice to get the employee discount for emergency room visits .

While grinding on my front bumper in shorts and flip-flops, I slipped. I'll tell you from first hand experience... Hot metal shavings DO NOT feel good as they are being ground into your calf at 30,000 rpm! That one left a nice big scar... Lesson learned: Wear pants and shoes when grinding.

Installing a cage in HighVoltages Jeep... We had the whole cage out and everything welded together prepping it for paint. We were taking turns on the grinder, removing the old paint with a wire wheel. This dude didn't have a small angle grinder...NOOOOO... the one we were using was a MAN'S grinder. It took all your strength to operate this thing! Anyhow, my turn was done, so I hand the grinder to HV and walk to the other side of the garage, removing my safety glasses to wipe the sweat from my brow. I'm at least 20 feet away when all of a sudden something hits me in the eye brow and darn-near knocks me out! It turned out to be an inch long piece of twisted wire from the wheel that flung off the grinder! If it had been a 1/2 inch lower, I wouldn't have an eye and could possibly be dead! It left one heck of a shiner that lasted like 2 weeks. I actually learned ALOT from this one: I switched from glasses to a whole safety shield every time I grind (normally I wear both). Plus, if that "MAN'S grinder" is being used, I leave the garage. One more thing, I never buy the kind of wire wheels that have the big wire twists on them.

I'm installing U-joints in my front axle shaft. The old joint was REALLY stuck in there! I couldn't break it loose with my vise and a couple sockets. So, I decide to use "George" (an old hand-held sledge that I found burried in my yard when I moved into this house. George got his name because he looked old enough to be George Washington's hammer). Back to the story... My wife is there, talking to HV while he holds the shaft still, on top of the open jaws of the vise (open just enough to let the u-joint cap slide through). I was holding a socket the same size as the u-joint endcap, on top of the cap. You get the picture. I swing at it a couple times, but it doesn't budge. So I really wind up and take a big swing at it... You guessed it... I missed the socket and sledgehammered my thumb against the vise. George got thrown and I hopped up and down the alley holding my thumb for a couple minutes. My wife grabbed a bag of frozen corn out of the freezer and I let her and HV finish the job. I don't think the bone was broken because I eventually could move my thumb, but it had a big gash on the knuckle, even though I was wearing leather gloves! It probably needed stiches, but I never got any. My hands were reletively clean inside the gloves, not covered in oil or grease, or I would have gone to the Emergency room. I guess the lesson learned in that case would be: Gloves are your friend... They probably saved my thumb a little bit of trauma. A bag of frozen corn is the perfect thing to keep in the garage freezer! Also, I MUST remember to laugh my butt off the next time my wife or HighVoltage injures themselves.

This happened about a month ago. I was putting my warn winch on the front of my CJ. I was sitting on the ground with the frame rail at a little above eye level. I was tightening the frame supports on the 8274 mount with a rachet and wham! cracked myself on the forehead with the ratchet. Of course I didn't realize the situation and the fact that I was racheting towards my face. man that hurt.

hi lift slipped off the front while i was putting a spring on the tj, whole jeep fell driver side onto the rotors and as it fell my finger (barely) got out of harms way. unfortunately i sliced it on the rotors edge while pulling away and it took all the skin off the top of my index to the meat. i almost passed out from the adreneline rush and layed there next to my junk thanking god it didnt fall towards me. i seriously would be DEAD. i got my finger out literally 1/2 a second before the rotor met the driveway and cracked the pavement.

wrench slipped open end and hit me dead center of the forehead. i let out a girly wimper and saw stars for about 4 minutes.

welding and caught some spatter. thought i was fine, it didnt really hurt, for about 3 seconds then HOLY SHIET!!!!. apparently fat tissue,(my gut) doesnt have to many pain receptors, but i felt it after it passed thru the fat layer! EVER SMELL BURNING FLESH? its not pleasant, esp when its yours!

Removing front carrier, ring gear and carrier flew out at my hand on the floor, hurt like a *****, from last whack from the hammer. Puttin on lift, control arm swung down and hit me in the forhead, twice. Checkin driveshaft u joint, rested hand on "cold" muffler for about 10 seconds. Cold=really hot, now second degree burn on arm. Puttin on steering, hit myslef in the head when removin drag link. That all i can remember for now.

ok! i think some of you guys just need to divvy up the extra money and have some labor done for you... its starting to sound like we are all a bunch of larry, curly, and larrys around here.

not really an incident involving installation, but I got run over by my YJ when I tried to stop it from rolling into traffic...

Grinding (AGAIN) Ok not griding cuting up old croch rocket in garage to make removal easier. Slipped and cut into the bone on ring finger left hand 3 interior stitchs 6 exterior

Tj overheated at gasstation after real muddy trail. I let it cool 2 mins then went to "vent" the radiator cap shot into air fluid on to face. Two days in Chapel Hill Burn unit 2 1/2 weeks no work, 6 weeks later half scared discolored face.

HINCE "SCARFACE"

uh....aside from minore bruises and cuts, I had my tcase fall on me while installing it last spring, it got away from me while I was sliding it into place off the jack I was using, umm that beotch was heavy (Atlas II)

Well lets see, so many to choose from considering a I am a moron and sometimes do stupid stuff....first off lets repeat what Norm always says " First lets talk shop safety...."

First one that pops to mind is pulling a tranny out of one of my old rigs, of course I was working by myself that day and I was pulling an auto tranny out,,,, done that a few times, no biggie, ...had the jack under the tranny and was pulling, but the dang tranny would come off engine, so finally got mad, grabbed the tranny and jerked real hard, tranny came loose...fell off jack and right onto me crotch and stomach,,,so I'm lying there on my creeper, gasping for air, couldn't budge the tranny cuz I'm hurting, so I slowly push myself out from under the the rig and let the tranny flop over,,,that one hurt for a while...