I did a stupid!!!

[trqmnstr]

I was filling her up yesterday and popped the hood to check the oil and drain the water. I got distracted and forgot to close the water drain. Somebody pulled up next to me about 2 miles down the road yelling to me that I was leaking fuel. I pulled over immediately and knew why I was leaking before I got out of the truck.



I figure I lost at least couple gallons in 2 miles. It cost me about $5 to drive 2 miles. Anyway, I figured there are some more "stupid" stories out there. What's yours? Or is it just me?

 

[DHayden]

It's just you... ... just kidding :-laf



The only one I can remember atm was spraying starter fluid in the intake when I ran out of fuel to get her humming again... . not a smooth move at all as I had a runaway condition that almost grenaded my truck. (approved for diesels. . yeah right :-laf )

 

[Bloomy]

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!



1. Installing 60lb valve springs. No sleep in 24 hours. Hurry to get job done. Lost keeper past push rod into oil pan. Lift engine drop oil pan one day and many hours later voila



2. Retorque head - break stud.



There are more but that is where I will leave it.



Thomas

 

[Dave M]

Did I Do That?

A few weeks ago I was checking for oil leaks at night after cleaning the engine. Took the truck for a drive to check for leaks and when I got back I couldn't find my sons rechargable Royobi 18 V flashlight I had been using . I looked all over the garage and house and thought I left it on the road somewhere when I started checking again in the engine compartment.



I found it on top of the turbo elbow melted to the turbo elbow and exhaust. :--)

... . And It was still on and working.



The engine was still hot so I took a big screwdriver and pried it off with some effort. It finally came loose. The battery is melted pretty good in a few places and the switch was melted a little and it still worked. Took some time to get the removable battery to seperate from the flashlight body but I still could recharge it.



Can see what the inside of the battery looks like though. Always wondered what they looked like inside :-laf . Left a plastic burn mark on the turbo elbow and exhaust manifold. I tie-wrapped the battery to the case and am still using it. Figure I owe a new one to my son. I still haven't told my son . Felt pretty stupid .

 

[pgleavitt]

Job in Boston finished and ready to drive back to Seattle. Hooked up the 5th wheel and got out to check hookup. Door closed and locked with engine running. Broke rear slider window trying to get in. Walked around to trailer door to close up for trip and see my extra set of keys sitting on the floor near the door. At least the trip went well

 

[JoshPeters]

OK... I'll bite... .



First date with this girl that I wanted to impress. So I get to her place... give her a call so she can come down and we can leave. She's still in the shower! OK so I'll wait in the truck and listen to the radio cause she can't let me in. No biggie... . phone rings... I shut off the radio and talk on the phone. She calls and I can come in... so I switch back to the other conversation... get out... lock the doors... and go inside. I get inside we get ready to leave... . uh oh..... Do you have a Metal Coat Hanger? In the ignition, key on. 25 min later... We are on our way.



Another one... . I'm in Champaign Illinois... . we had to unload my 87 Caprice off the Dolly to unload a few things from the moving truck. I lock the keys in the car. I break in... . Get the car home... . and do the EXACT same thing in my driveway!



Josh

I always have a Hide a Key since... .

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

Just returned to Sierra Vista, AZ from a vacation in Northern MN. Was very late and had to be to work in Phoenix the next morning. Hooked up the 5th wheel and away we went. Got to Phoenix about 2 hours later and found a park. Backed the trailer in to our spot, set the jacks, and drove off. While pulling away, I could hear the g-friend yelling something, couldn't really make out what she was saying-then it hit me. The truck came to a complete stop-on it's own. I forgot to lower the tailgate. She has never let me forget about it either. One good thing about it, I've always wanted a louvered tailgate.

 

[HeavyHauler]

Well I've got two and you guys will probably lose all respect for me on this one:



I was putting some running lights just below the doors on my truck on the metal lip and all of a sudden, I couldn't drill through the metal. I thought ok, I've worn out these cheap drill bits so I go and buy 3 of the special "cobalt' drill bits or whatever. Well I put a new bit in and still no luck! You would have thought I was drilling into a solid block of titanium or something. I was getting pretty irritated by this point and start breaking bits I was pressing so hard! I just couldn't get anything started, and then it comes to me - I had been drilling in REVERSE the whole time! :-laf



So how's that for stupid? I can't believe I actually admitted it.



As for locking keys in trucks - I was taking my Dad out for a ride in my new Allison drag boat one morning. I had only had it out once before then so I was still kind of antsy about getting in it. I had the boat backed half way down the ramp and got out to unlatch the bow hook and to put the rest of my gear in the boat. I go back to get in the truck and I've locked my doors! LOL, the truck was still running and everything! There were already 3 people waiting to put in at the ramp and we have to end up waiting 30 minutes for a deputy to come and unlock the doors. I must have hit the switch on accident when I got out of the cab. Man I felt like an idiot!



Come on guys - fess up! What's your story?

 

[DHayden]

I had been drilling in REVERSE the whole time! :-laf



So how's that for stupid? I can't believe I actually admitted it.

:-laf :-laf :-laf :-laf That was great...

 

[rolltideram]

I hope I did all my "stupids" last week. Borrowed my neighbors lawn mower trailer. When I took it home it was pouring rain. Unplugged the pigtail and put my 7 to 4 wire adapter on the bumper. I remembered it the next day, but it was gone. $15 down the drain. Two days later I hook up to my bigger trailer, while talking to my brother. I forgot to raise the jack. If I can't bend it back, another $25 gone. JC

 

[Gene Arnold]

I’ve had a lot of less than smart moments in my long life!



Bought a ’94 Chevy ½ ton that was much softer suspension than the ’83 heavy-half that it replaced so when I made my first pull with my old 31’ Airstream it was pretty squirmy. About twenty-five miles from home had my first fishtailing experience. Really scary but I remembered what I’d read about how to hit the trailer brakes hard and everything straightened out and we continued on the short November trip to Hell’s Canyon.

Next spring I bought my 34’ triple axle Airstream and hooked it to the Chevy and started for Winnemucca, Nevada to spend Memorial Day week-end. Now the new trailer had a different load leveler hitch than my old Reese twin cam set up so I didn’t know what I was doing with the new one. Well, I forgot to put the safety clips in the anti-sway bar (didn’t know it until later of course). Got about twenty miles out, sandwiched in the center lane with eighteen-wheelers on either side, when the turbulence got me and I almost lost it, fishtailing like mad. Scared my wife and me spitless. Got it back under control and slowly continued – stopped about seventy miles out, did a walk around and discovered the Anti-sway bar was missing. Continued slowly to Winnemucca, white knuckling much of the way.

Before returning to Boise, wife got to reading a Trailer Life towing tips book I’d bought and forgotten about. Asked if I’d ever done what the book said about setting the load-leveler tension chains (level ground, measure height front and back of truck and unhooked trailer, then hook up and do the same, etc. ). Of course I hadn’t, so I did before getting on the road (big-time change from what I’d had them set at). Return trip went much better, even without the missing bar.

Back home, while I unhooked the trailer, my wife walked down the street to the first corner we’d turned on, and there was the missing Anti-sway bar, so all was well. Tough to admit the wife knew more than I did!!



Gene

 

[Horsepuller]

I had a tool box that I wanted to bolt to the floor of the rear cab area in my 73' Dodge club cab truck. So I got to drilling the holes in the floor board. Afterwards, I got the bright idea to check and make sure my layout cleared the important stuff below. Too late, drilled two holes right through the fuel line of my auxillary tank.

 

[mcdaniel1]

I had been drilling in REVERSE the whole time! :-laf

Thats funny right there... .

 

[HeavyHauler]

I thought you guys would get a kick out of that. I mean, I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on! So finally after several "choice" words, a trip to the hardware store, $15 worth of bits and two broken, I finally figured it out!



I felt like a moron to say the least.

 

[Timbeaux38]

Me and buddy of mine completed one of our BOMBing projects on my truck and went out to see what kind of soot cloud I was making- Let er rip turning out of his neighborhood- caught it about a foot before I put it in the ditch... ...

 

[MACHINEST]

Had a buddy of mine we were Chainsaw racing cutting off soft wood 3 cuts,1 cut down and then 1 cut back up and another cut back down,the cutting was timed,well he started his saw and hit the wood,it done nothing,so he hit it again,and nothing again,there was about 100 people watching,i knew what he had done,his saw chain was on backwards,he could of crawed into the ground.

 

[KWheaton]

I've been in the new house 2 years now. The telephone pole between me and the neighbors driveway has always been in a terrible spot (looked to be about 40 years old too), I even put reflectors on it so no one would hit it. I'd been out plowing snow for about 25-26 hrs or so, get home, need to plow my driveway and the neighbors, then it was gonna be lights out for me. You probably know where I'm going with this already, well it was lights out alright, for the neighbor! I smashed that darn thing with my back bumper so hard it pushed right up into the tailgate. The neighbors whole electric service peeled right off the house down to the meter and disconnected. My power stayed on, and I had to get a generator out and help power his house back up, 3hours later! No sleep for the stupid! $500 deductible too, yikes.



Locking the keys in the truck is an easy day. Those magnetic boxes stashed up on the frame will really help you out.



My brother made me drive from Bay City MI, to Detroit and back 4 times in one day, picked him up, took him to Motown, get to his car, forgot his keys. And round and round we go!



Kevin

 

[Cigar John]

Changed the oil in the Dakota , forgot to check the old filter or pad.

Old gasket stuck to the block,screwed the new one on,fired it up and dumped 2 quarts in the driveway before I got it shut off. :{



At work I talked the boss into buying silicone hose for the truck I was working on,didn't check the routing well enough. It made it 5mi before

rubbing through on the dampener. I'd gone home and he had to go change it.

 

[surfbeetle]

Here's my stupid!

My father and I used to volunteer as a rescue divers, one year at the Hydroplane races in San Diego, we were setting up the course buoys prior to the race. I was driving one of the rescue boats to the next bouy location to be set up and hit a wave that was made by a Sea World tour boat getting too close to us. I held on to the steering wheel for dear life and my father and another passenger got tossed out of the boat over the bow at about 40 knots. I looked back to see them skipping on the top of the water. I was lucky to be still in the boat as I was not wearing the safety kill strap at the time, if I had been tossed out too, the boat would have been a runaway at 3/4 throttle. The steering column was bent from me holding on. My dad had bumps and bruises for weeks thereafter. I always wore the safety kill strap from that point on.

 

[trqmnstr]

Come on guys. I know there's a lot more. Let's here 'em.