[mitchntx]

The local Goodyear tire center mounts and balances my tires for me for nothing, usually. The owner is a very nice person and a gear head deluxe.

I stop in Tuesday afternoon to get all my 11" rims and tires seperated. I drop them off and come back in a few days to pick the stuff up. It's why I get it for free, usually, because they work them in as they have the time.

I go back yesterday morning and the tires are all still mounted. NBD, but I sak the shop foremen if they had been busy.

He explains that on Wednesday, one of the guys in the shop was under a motorhome, trying to beat one of the inner wheels off of a rusted hub when home rolled forward, fell on him and killed him.

The wheel chocks were right there, but he chose not to use them.

As we all are thrashing, trying to get a long list of things done, don't cut any corners.
Do things right the first time.

Be safe out there.

[timyerby]

I can relate as well, and thanks for the reminder.

A few years ago I went out one morning to change the ds u-joint in my p/u (rear one) as it was making a lot of noise and I knew it wasn't going to be long for this world.

As my truck is a 4x4, I did not need to jack it up to get under it, so I just got my tools, slid under, and got to work. I took the bolts out of the u-joint caps and took them off no problem, but the ds did not want to come out of the yoke. I got up and went back in the shop and got my long crowbar. The truck was high enough that I did not even need to get under it again to reach the joint, so I just put the crowbar in there and popped the joint loose.

What I forgot is my driveway is sloped at about a 5-10 degree angle, and I had not set the parking brake and put the trans in neutral before starting work. So the ds/trans was loaded and what was holding the truck on the hill. Once I popped it out, she started rolling down the drive.

Luckily no cars were coming as the truck crossed the street (it didn't even stop to check for traffic (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ). I live across from a T intersection, so it rolled down the street across from my house, eventually jumped the curb, and came to rest about 2 feet from my neighbors house without hitting anything.

My adrenaline was pumping ! I jumped in the truck, threw it in 4wd, and quickly pulled it back into my drive with the ds banging the ground the whole way. After setting the parking brake I got out and calmed down.

The only damage was my tool tray which my grandfather had made by hand was crushed by my trucks tires. To this day that tool tray is stays on the creeper in my shop to remind me of the day I almost killed myself in the driveway for my wife and kids to come out to.

Safety first !!