worst injuries while working on your jeep...

[DirtBound]

... thought it would give everyone a kick to start this thread. what was your worst injury? how did it happen? did it cost you?

ill start. just yesterday while i was working on my brakes i lost grip of one of the shoes springs and the needle nose pliers slip and came back and hit one of my front teeth, knocking about half of it out and shattering the rest.

went to the dentist today and got a temporary crown. cost of permanent crown was $340!!! :gee:

 

[kastein]

Hmmm...

1300 dollars, ER visit for a tetanus shot and 5 stitches when I slashed my left index finger open with a utility knife working on some electrical stuff. Insurance ended up covering it after 11 months of wrangling.

0 dollars, put a 1" long gash into my scalp straight to bone by standing up into the end of a garage door opener track after welding patches/stiffeners onto the frame rails of my friend's MJ. After the previous 11 months of wrangling and stupidity, I said "ER? hellllll no!" and dumped peroxide in it till it stopped fizzing, shaved a little patch of hair off around it, and patched myself up with some med tape and gauze.

I don't even know how much - the bills haven't stopped coming yet, probably in the 1500-2500 range. 0.1mm fleck of steel embedded 30% of the way into the cornea of my right eye from using an angle grinder while wearing only prescription eyeglasses. Didn't realize it was actually still in there till two days later, figured it was just irritated because I scratched it or something... ER visit 11pm the Saturday after new years to get the metal out, sent to specialists at another ER 1 hour away 1am Sunday for rust removal, back for more rust removal scared Monday, yet more rust removal and checkup Tuesday, further checkup Thursday and Saturday.

Wear those safety glasses, I don't care if you're wearing eyeglasses or not (they are NOT substitutes for real safety glasses!), I don't care if they are uncomfortable, I don't care why you don't want to wear them, WEAR THEM!

 

[jeeperjohn]

I've been lucky, no ER visits yet but I always sacrifice some flesh to the jeep gods when I do any major work. I have a buttload of scars from welding and getting burned by spatter.

 

[WebDog]

I dont know my worst but i usually cut myself pretty much every time i work on it.

I have spray painted my eye and got parts cleaner in my eye, but both times i just hosed it out and used a lot of eye drops.

I prefer to weld in sandals and shorts because half the time i wear shoes slag will somehow burn its way in and i cant kick it off when it is inside my shoe.

Thats a cheap crown, i think the one i have was closer to $1000 and i don't have insurance!

 

[xjpettit99]

Nothing major for me just the basic flesh wounds screw drivers through a finger or 2 and lost of burns from welding under the jeep

 

[kastein]

Yeah, I don't even count the knucklebusters and slag burns anymore... half the time I show up at work greasy and bleeding in the morning (junkyard trip before work) and make a beeline for the restroom to clean myself up. No one even blinks anymore, and I'm a cube farm dweller :roflmao:

For some reason I'm really, REALLY wimpy about eye/tooth damage, but don't really give a damn about anything else. Skin heals pretty well, eyes/teeth not so much. Only reason I went to the ER for the finger cut was because I wasn't sure if I had severed a tendon, turns out the test for a severed tendon is what I thought it probably was (try and use it), I was just too worried about it to try it. Lesson learned...

 

[AL BUNDY]

I wasn't injured, but when I went to replace the leaking T/C output seal on one of my first jeeps, it was parked on a slight incline. I pulled off the rear driveshaft and yep, it ran over me.

 

[Laurent Wagoneer]

:shocked: reading all these posts makes me wanna take my Jeep to mechanic instead! :wow:

i was close to getting runned over by front driver side tire.... i was changing rear main seal on gears and dissconected the Driveshaft.... my house is on a hill... go figuere, jeep started to roll back because stupid me forgot to put rocks or something to hold it back.... luckily my moms Acura was right behind my jeep so poor Acura bumper took the hit... total damage= $75 to replace her bumper... :anon:

 

[hollywood32]

Hmmm...

I don't even know how much - the bills haven't stopped coming yet, probably in the 1500-2500 range. 0.1mm fleck of steel embedded 30% of the way into the cornea of my right eye from using an angle grinder while wearing only prescription eyeglasses. Didn't realize it was actually still in there till two days later, figured it was just irritated because I scratched it or something... ER visit 11pm the Saturday after new years to get the metal out, sent to specialists at another ER 1 hour away 1am Sunday for rust removal, back for more rust removal scared Monday, yet more rust removal and checkup Tuesday, further checkup Thursday and Saturday.

Wear those safety glasses, I don't care if you're wearing eyeglasses or not (they are NOT substitutes for real safety glasses!), I don't care if they are uncomfortable, I don't care why you don't want to wear them, WEAR THEM!

Yeah, I'm in the metal in the eye boat right now. Although I haven't figured out how I got it in my eye, because I was wearing a full face shield so I could keep my perscription glasses on.

 

[shortbussrydah]

I prefer to weld in sandals and shorts

brutal.

 

[WebDog]

brutal.

:gee:

 

[kastein]

:shocked: reading all these posts makes me wanna take my Jeep to mechanic instead! :wow:

i was close to getting runned over by front driver side tire.... i was changing rear main seal on gears and dissconected the Driveshaft.... my house is on a hill... go figuere, jeep started to roll back because stupid me forgot to put rocks or something to hold it back.... luckily my moms Acura was right behind my jeep so poor Acura bumper took the hit... total damage= $75 to replace her bumper... :anon:

I've saved more on my XJ by doing all the work myself than the hospital visits for the eye will likely cost! And health insurance will probably cover most of it, at least. I'll still do my own work, I'll just wear safety glasses. I'm going to be getting a new prescription in a week or two, so my plan is to silicone some lexan skirts onto my current pair since they are all pockmarked by sparks already anyways.

Yeah, I'm in the metal in the eye boat right now. Although I haven't figured out how I got it in my eye, because I was wearing a full face shield so I could keep my perscription glasses on.

Sucks, how far in did it go? They had to use a two needles and a burr (think tiny dremel... ahhhhhh!) to get the stuff out of my cornea, it was not a fun time. Nothing like being fully conscious while someone is putting needles and tiny milling bits IN YOUR EYE, the phrase "now... you really can't move your eye AT ALL while I'm doing this, OK?" really sticks in my head. I believe my reply was "uhhh oh god, xxxx! hold on a second. did I do ok for the last one?"

 

[Jump This]

When you get old like me you;
Buy the six pack of safety glasses at the hardware store. (I hate scratches lenses, so they only last a week or two in my garage.)
Buy the big box of foam ear plugs AND two sets of ear phones.
(I turn the radio up loud enough to hear with the phones on.)
Own two auto tinting welding helmets. One for me and another for the guy
who wants to watch me weld!
Buy Mechanix gloves (or similar) and wear them!
Although I don't own a welding jacked (yeah, I need a leather jacket in Borrego Springs) I do leave a couple of hoodies in the garage for welding.
You also become a regular at the fire extinguisher refill day at the fire station. Every doorway has one, as does each sink cabinet in the house.

But...come to think of it, my BIG first aid kit is in the motor home and I need to put another in the garage.

I have managed to break too many bones, tear too much flesh and dislocate too many joints to take safety lightly (okay, so I'm a slow learner!)

And during my motocross days, the ER staff knew me by my first name (not a good sign!)

 

[GrimmJeeper]

Yeah, I'm in the metal in the eye boat right now. Although I haven't figured out how I got it in my eye, because I was wearing a full face shield so I could keep my perscription glasses on.

try dropping a strong magnet into the finger of a surgical glove, rinse it off with saline, and roll it around on the surface of your eye. its a little uncomfortable feeling, but it usually does the trick. unfortunately this wont work if its been in there more than 24 hours or so, your eye starts growing tissue over it pretty quickly.


i have a turndown on my exhaust before the rear axle, and the day after I got it done i rolled my XJ into shop class and racked it to change the rear shocks. while i was in the tool room checking out my tools i heard a bang and a yell, my buddy had decided to help me and break the upper bolts loose. well one snapped, i knew they would, and i was laughing thinking he banged his hand pretty good... laughing till i saw the blood on the floor and the fingertip of his right hand laying on the ground. i yelled to the teacher to call 911, and i found him in the bathroom going into shock, washing his hands over and over saying "the blood wont wash off" and turning white. i grabbed the stump and pinched it off as best i could with my hand, and sat him down till the ambulance got there. it turns out when the shock bolt snapped his hand holding the ratchet ran into the end of the freshly cut exhaust pipe and lopped the end of his finger right off. every single time anyone (including me) has worked on my jeep, they bleed. even when i change the oil for some damn reason i always end up slicing my hand on something without noticing it. she has a thirst for blood

 

[xcm]

socal chapter should have a contest for who's got the more tore back hands, im sure i'd do well! been abusing my body sinse high school. Ive definately had more stiches in my left hand, than the rest of my body!

 

[Paul Airhart]

Worst injury for me has been to my clothes and skin from welding.

 

[cal]

I had my hand and wrist sucked into an 8" wire wheel a few years back, digging down to the bone. To add insult to injury, I a chunk of my own thumb in my eye. :/

 

[markw]

I filleted my finger this weekend cutting ARB line while Cal laughed.

 

[NW-ZJ-SCOTT]

I am lucky. Been doing everything from Motor swaps to axle swaps and suspension swaps etc for almost 10 years.. Never so much as "busted a Knuckle"

My day will come.. But I am also known around my family/friends as the pansy.. Leather gloves/ Safety glasses etc in some of the Lightest of applications.. i wont even plug the Angle grinder in without my gloves on.

 

[bigalpha]

Wear those safety glasses, I don't care if you're wearing eyeglasses or not (they are NOT substitutes for real safety glasses!), I don't care if they are uncomfortable, I don't care why you don't want to wear them, WEAR THEM!

Though, you CAN get prescription safety glasses. I got some through my job.