Just when you feel you've had a bad day,Read this!!

[Hammer]

While I was at work today for a meeting with my companies Bridgestone rep I had a chance to chat with one of the daylight mechanics I usually do not see due to my schedule out leave time,,He told me his brother-in-law had finally got himself into the Dodge Cummins Dually he's always wanted,Patriot Blue Sport 6spd H/O leather loaded all the bells and whistles,,The he hung his head and told me the rest of the story,,He had parked it in his garage on a cool evening where he lives south of here and in the morning out he went to light the wick to warm his new baby off to go to work,,Up went the garage door and he slid halfway in(right foot only on clutch),twisted the key and off she went on its morning rumble,,As he stepped out,removing the foot of the clutch,he forgot to slip his new baby into nuetral,,With a mighty crash as he fell to the floor,bang out thru the rear of the garage it went,knocking the wall out and air compressor too,,As the truck cleared the garage wall(what was left of it) the last roof eve fell on it about the time it stalled,,382 miles old and over $14,000 damage,talk about a bad day,,When I asked how in the world he did it,all he could say was it was his first ever stick and he forgot it was in gear,,Just goes to show that accidents happen in even the strangest places,,Make me wonder how many times I've ever started mine the same way and almost forgot to check if she was in gear or not

 

[The Sequel]

OUCH

 

[QRTRHRS]

Should have read his owners manual.

See what happens when you don't follow the recommendation not to let the Cummins idle to warm it up? Seconds on the OUCH!

 

[me4osu]

Bad Deal

I've driven standards since I could see over the dash, and every time I try to start half-way in I screw up. Not as bad as Hammer's friend, but usually rolling until I can put it in neutral, get my right foot off the clutch and hit the brake. That is why I always get in and use my left foot on the clutch like I always do. That way, if I do something stupid, my right foot is on the brake immediately.

 

[Sled Puller]

That pesky Cummins tq at work again!!

 

[illflem]

One of the safety features on newer JD tractors is a seat mounted starter disable switch, if you're not in the seat no start...



I wouldn't doubt that it won't be long before it's added to manual cars and trucks.

 

[Straight6Jeff]

Reminds me of my first vehicle, a 71 Toyota Land cruiser with a 454 chevy. Well a buddy an I got out of the late show at the local shopping mall movie theater, I had to take a squeege, so I figured I'd fire it up before taking one. So I opended the door and hit the key. Now the thing roars to life and takes off. Yup, in gear start, not clutch safety switch. my arm was hooked on the roll cage dragging me towards the huge boulders lining the edge of the parking lot. I was able to jump in and get control but not before hitting two shopping carts. I turned around and went back to where my buddy was standing. He was laughing so hard he had proceeded to water his own shoes.



Brings a smile to my face everytime I go to the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston, NY

 

[DaveN]

That's why I bought an AUTO!!

I'm not so much worried about me as I am my wife. I figured the one time she had to drive it something like that would happen, either she would forget to put it in neutral at start, or forget to push in the clutch at an intersection and rear end somebody, or turn all the manual transmission gears into perfectly machined cylinders..... I paid a little more of the auto, lost a little towing capacity and longevity... . but at least I have a little peace of mind...

 

[KennyM]

How about not engageing the brake when you live on a hill. I did that, and to add to the horror, my daughter 5 at the time was helping to load the truck, so we could go on our first camping trip with the new trailer. I happened to walk out with a load of stuff and noticed the truck starting to creep backwards, and she was in the cab. I dropped everything grabbed the rear bumper and held, started to screem for my wife to come out and turn on the brake. I still today three years later wonder what would have happened if I did not come out when I did. The edge of my driveway is a slight grade, Right where I put my back tires is a large hill, That is right where I cought the truck. I did not think I could get into the cab before it started rolling fast. Just my . 02 cents. Ken

 

[emarsh]

I used to have an old Bronco with an automatic trans, the neutral safety switch went out and I had to be somewhere so I jumpered it. Did'nt get around to ordering a new one for awhile. One day while in a single car garage, I was replacing the points (yep an old one) and was bumping the engine over with a remote starter switch, somehow the key was in the on position and in gear and it fired and started forward and I very quickly pulled out the center coil wire, this as the vehicle just pinned me between the wall and my roller chest of tools and the front bumper.

This is true, although I don't remember exact details, like why it was in gear; I never bypass safety devices anymore!

 

[The Sequel]

I've lost track of the number of times guys on the PD have bailed out of their patrol car to go chasing after someone on foot and have looked back to see they forgot to get it into park and the car is following them. Of course this has never happened to me.

 

[zimman20]

Emergency brake?

Doesn't anybody use an emergency brake (ESPECIALLY on Manual Trannies) anymore?

 

[Mark_Kendrick]

That's PAINFUL!!!



I have a 6sp and I ALWAYS engage the brake when I get out. If you do this cannot happen. These trucks w/rear discs have a better parking brake than any other vehicle I've driven. If You for get to release the brake it kills the engine. . even our engines. It's one of the better functioning parts of our trucks.



Too bad for your buddy

 

[zimman20]

I have the Auto transmission and I STILL always use the parking brake. Supposed to adjust the rear drums by using the e-brake as well, that function doesn't seem to work though; however, I've actually had times where I've left the truck running and needed to get out for something and realized afterwards that I got out with the truck still in Drive! However, because of the habit I'm in of always putting the e-brake on every time before I open the door I've never had any resulting horror story.



The e-brake habit is like the seat belt habit, once you get into it it becomes automatic.



Rich

 

[Hammer]

I asked the same question on the parking brake and why it was not used,,All I got for an answer from him was his arms up in the air saying,you just have to know him and you'd realize how this happened,,Oh well,go figure.....

 

[Motorhead]

My first car (1969) was a '58 chevy 1/2 ton with a 6cyl and a hydro-matic 4 spd. (what a trans!!) The park feature didn't engage until the engine was stopped and it was selected by putting the selector in reverse and shutting down the engine. This was as designed by GM. Anyhow, I had only owned the truck a couple of weeks. I heard a rattle under the hood at about 1000 rpm in gear. The truck had a hand throttle also so I put it in gear set the hand brake pulled the hand throttle out until I heard the noise. I was also faced upward on a hill. I got out of the truck, lifted the hood and found that the auto trans dip stick was the culprit. I pushed it in, closed the hood and reached thru the open drivers window and put it down into park. The only problem was that the engine was still running and it went into reverse instead! The damn thing started to go down the hill in reverse,it was Haloween night with kids out in the streets and to top it off, I had locked the outside drivers door button with the key earlier that evening. Luckily, I was able to get the door open from the inside handle before it ran over any kids or hit anything. I was only 16yrs old at the time Chris