sled dog
Senior Member
Long long ago when I was a younker, I was helping a friend pull the rear diff on a triaxle. I knew nothing about dump trucks and very little about wrenching. Bed up, him on one side, me on the other between the tandems, one foot in front of the other. Both of us turning out u joints and diff bolts. The max extend cable was in the way, the one that pulls the valve to neutral when the cylinder hits max stroke. I didn't know, so I asked him "if we bump this cable will the bed come down?" He said "no, it only pulls the valve to neutral, see?" AND HE PULLED IT. One heartbeat, I see the bed start down and hear a rush of oil thru the line, two heartbeats, I begin to raise up, reach across and push his head, three heartbeats SLAM, the bed is down. Nothing....no sounds, no screams....And I ask "are you alive?"..... And he says "You better come'ere". You can all see this, see it as it happens, here the slam and feel the sick rising in your throat. I ran around the a$$ of that truck to see him standing, unhurt, whole, not bleeding. IN HIS SOCKS. His work boots were still between the tandems, one in front of the other. I SHOVED HIM OUT OF HIS BOOTS !!! My lesson? BLOCK IT UP!!! Block it, chain it, support it, do something to make it safe. If you don't know, take a minute, crack the books. Think about what can or could happen. If you take a minute and think, and remember, none of us should be alive....