Axle U-bolts...

patmat2350

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Not a machining oops, but you'll appreciate.

Working late one night on the car- years ago as a 20-something- for some reason, needed to loosen rear axle from the leaf springs. Jacked up car, put stands under the axle, got underneath on my back, went to work on the u-bolts with a 3/4" ratchet.

There was no moment when the car was falling... it was up, then it was down, BANG!
Of course, the jack stands were holding the axle up just fine, but not the car once it and the under-slung leaf springs were loose from the axle.

My right arm (wrist actually) was directly under the falling leaf spring. But the spring stopped and came to a rest on top of the ratchet, whose socket was still pointing straight up. The whole car resting on that Craftsman socket... and JUST enough clearance to leave me with no more than a pink slap mark on my wrist.
 
OK, that had to first, scare the living life out of ya. And second, make you pause and re-evaluate EVERYTHING! You were one lucky man that day.
 
Similar experience, '36 Ford, transverse rear spring, center mounted on the differential. I had two bumper jacks on the bumper, holding the car up..I put a breaker bar/socket on one of the nuts and gave a healthy yank. Tne nut didn't give, but the car shifted sideways, off the two bumper jacks. I found I was supporting the car on my left shoulder, right shoulder in the grass. At that point I regretted the several hundred pounds of wet sand I'd put in the trunk to lower the car. A buddy jacked the car off me, fortunately he was near by. My sternum ached for a bout 6 months. no other damage.
 
it didn't happen to me, but a forklift mechanic i worked with when i was younger, was under a Yale G51 forklift supported off the ground on 4x4 cribbing.
he was starting to remove a leaking steering cylinder and had the steer tires removed, lying on his back. i was working on another forklift at the paper recycling plant.
he made a secondary stack the of 4x4's he didn't use to support the lift for catching the hefty steer cylinder we was attempting to remove.
the stack of the secondary cribbing was about 2 inches taller than height of his head, laying on his back.
an extremely careless and speeding lift operator came around the corner of the building with an obstructed view, loaded with a waste paper bale, struck the forklift
my partner was under and knocked it off the cribs with a terrible noise.
i ran over, expecting to see a dead man.
to my relief and amazement, he was not seriously injured a few scrapes- but in shock and white as a ghost.
he didn't say a word about what happened, just asked me to help pick up his tools.
he called the boss on the radio, said he was gonna do something else for a while.
 
Glad you didn't get hurt but a scare sometimes is good reminds me when I was corting my wife and we went to a place in the pine barrens to walk around and neck I guess. We took her Plymouth satellite 1970 I think . Well went to turn around and got stuck in the sugar sand . Well we couldn't push it out so I used the bumper Jack to get it out of the drive wheel hole kicked some sand back in and told her to drive forward when I pushed it from behind off the Jack YUPP the car went forward all good right nope . That DERN trunk lid came down like lighting and knocked me in the head . I tell you what that's the closest I ever want to be knocked out . And of course I couldn't cry , I sucked it up she cleaned the brains up or blood oh well what ever. But we got out of there. Couldn't wear a hat for two weeks. Maybe that's why I'm a toolaholic no brains left .
 
Had to do a little cleaning after one, Father had a old Ford pickup, he had it on a blocks in the front, I was removing the tranny, Well someone removed the blocks from behind the tires while I was not looking. I'm yanking on things and all of a sudden the truck starts moving, about that time the old C6 auto falls out and hits the ground, as the truck rolls off the blocks Do not know if it was the case on the trans or what but something stopped it and all I had was a sore leg where the tire hit it. He had to replace a few parts, And I made sure that it was blocked before I would get under it again.
 
Glad you've made it out alright, it has happened to me too so now even when changing tires i'm using jack stands, believe me lifting half disassembled economy car chassis form on top of me by my self alone in the garage has taught me to be cautious.
 
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