wow, where do i start? I had a ’55 Buick that the fuel pump went out on, so i put an electric one with a filter under the driver’s door. I was looking under it to see how clogged the filter was because the tank was very rusty, had my hand on the bottom door sill and the door shut across the back of my hand, breaking it. Another time, I was changing the slave cylinder in my ’96 Sonoma, struggling with a stuck bolt. i had to unbolt and lift up the cab to get to the top tranny bolts. when i gave it one last tug i felt and heard something pop. I had torn the cartiledge that holds my ribs to my sternum! the bad part was, I had to put the truck back together before i could get to the hospital. I don’t recommend that at all! My list of injuries could go on for pages. you’d think i’d learn after 30 some years.

oh, i had to vote broken bones… cuz someone else dropped it on me… and a tooth is a bone, right?

was my third day on the job, installing trailer hitches… was working on a hyundai santafe… big heavy hitch for such a little SUV. had another dude holding the hitch up while i bolted it to pre-welded nuts inside of the frame, VERY basic. now as i was putting in the first bolt, i dropped it. bent over to pick it up… looked up to stand up and the hitch was commin down on my face. took it right in the mouth. spit out my front left tooth and did the same thing as the tire guy, chased the stupid tard with a torque wrench clean thru the shop, into the store and across the street. but i was TRYING to hit him. the idiot let it go and turned around, when it started to drop… the sides caught the mufflers (dual exhaust) and it stopped for a half second. enough time for HIM to walk away…
damn butterflies.

I forgot My thumb In a Tacoma’s Driveshaft Joint while I was removing it… I Lost my nail…

I was putting a drop kit on my truck and was using the tire iron to help loosen a bolt….it slipped and the wedge end caught me on the forehead and made me bleed pretty good. now i have a scar, and will use the right tools for the job ; )

Worst near miss I’ve ever had was when i was training another guy to change tires at Benny’s. This guy must’ve landed on his head as a kid, because he was dumb as hell. Well stupid puts a truck on the lift as i’m changing a tire in front of the lift on the machine. I hear the truck sliding as its goin up, I ask the guy to check the truck. Dumbass replies “Fuck off, I know what I’m doin”, right after he says that the godamn thing falls and nosedives right at me. I jump out of the way, pick up a tourqe wrench and chase the SOB out of the garage and into the store then out into the parking lot. Well benny’s ended up shellin out some serious cash to pay for a new truck.

I was replacing my windshield wiper motor and forgot to turn off the wiper switch. I connected the wires and that thing did a full turn and it pinched my finger against the the firewall. Took off a nice slice of skin and crushed a nuckle. Another close encounter was when I deciced to upgrade my suspension. I place the car on jacksands but forgot to place boots by the front tires and when the control arms came off the car rolled forward and came off the stands. I was lucky I wasn’t underneath otherwise I would be the new control arms.

I would have to say all but caught in moving parts and hospitalization. lol the best one is when me and a friend of mine was changing a tranny out of a ramcharger that was lifted so we didnt need a jack but with the transfer case in my hands lifting it to line it up his dog ran by and the chain it was on ripped the chock out from the two back wheels and the truck went rolling and the transfer case landed on my legs luckily just bumps and bruised but it also broke the steel brake line on the way down and sprayed it all over in my eyes…………it was my lucky day lol

LOL! OOOh and this one I just remembered. I was rebuilding a Seca 750 I had just bought, replacing the front forks. A friend and myself celebrated with a couple 6 packs while we did the install. It was a warm summer night and I’m not one to wear shoes unless I absolutely need to… or remember I need to.
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I slid the first fork tube assembly up through the lower triple clamp and into the upper triple clamp and lightly tightened the top to temporarily hold it in place while I then would slide in the other side.
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Well, I guess I didn’t tighten the fork in place quite enough. It slid out and the end dropped onto my big toe. Not being able to bottle up my reaction I screamed like a madman and drooled like a rabid wildebeast.
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My friend fell off his stool and it took a while for both of us to recompose ourselves. The fork assembly weighed about 20 lbs (one side).

CRAP! ONLY ONE ANSWER in the poll? I’ve taken off knuckle skin more times than I could remember, gotten burned on exhaust etc, gotten lacerations on arms replacing window regulators, had oily chunks and rust fall into my eyes while laying under the car, banged my fingers with a mallot doing rear brakework, narrowly avoided being crushed to death or have a jack do a tiddleywink when I let down a car after servicing it… only to see one of the trolley jack wheels rolling down the driveway (the cotter pin that held it on had fallen off and WAS MISSING the whole time).
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It’s not that I’m inept, just that I’ve owned twenty-something vehicles not counting 3 motorcycles over the years.