When it comes to TRUCKS…what has been the dumbest thing you have ever done??

[1bad chevy]

here's one me and some friends was building a mud truck for the wood's an old 77 chevy well we changed the motor and in the process of starting one of us added a little to much gas to the carb to prime her the timing was off mind you this was 20 years ago when we were teenager's and knew it all we thought then all of the sudden she back fired and we had flames there is about 5 of us there so a friend named fred run to the house to call the fire dept as it had some big flames coming from it then we hear him hollering to us and what was he asking WHAT'S THE NUMBER FOR 911 we laughed so hard we forgot about the truck for a minute and no we didn't save it but do we have fun with fred now

[bad6772]

these are great stories, i only have one, when i baught my 72 from the PO he had put a auto zone dress kit on the engine . and i think he baught everything out of there store for shinny stuff. or for that (high tech look) anyway . i had just left his house with title in hand and went to a buddies house with my ex girlfriend. to show the truck off and we was all going to dinner, i shut her off and ran in to get him and go take a ride. so me and him headed out a country road, just tearing the tires off the old truck, anyways we got back and he said let s look under the hood. as we opened the hood there was this orange glow , the PO had put a glass fule filter on it and it busted and was pouring gas on the now hot manifolds.....lol me and him bumped into each other at least 5 times trying to get a (NOT HOOKED UP) water hose, we was freaking out , not because of the truck fire but because at the time he delivered propane gas and his work truck was about 5 feet away with 100,000 gallons of propane in it....so finally i remembered that the 72 had a small fire extinguisher in it, so i grabbed it and finnaly got it out , had to replace the whole front harness and other minor things......the funny thing is .is that while we was looking for something to put it out with, that on my buddy propane truck, there was a fire extinguisher that was bigger than an average size man.. but in the mist of panic we both forgot about it ... for about 3 years after that . he got me metal fuel filters and a fire extinguisher for every christmas....

[69TowRig]

I bought my Blazer from a guy down in Corpus Christi, TX back when I lived in Houston. In December '04 a buddy of mine and I drove the 3 hours down to Corpus to drive the truck back; PO told me it would drive fine to get it back to Houston. He said all it needed was a battery.

So I bring a brand-new battery with me, try to crank it and it won't go. At that point I knew absolutely NOTHING about these trucks and saw that the gas gauge was pegged out full. So I do some checking and figure out that the fuel pump is not pumping. I go to the parts store and come back with a pump and new filter, changing them out and dumping a gallon or so of gas in the tank (and it starts spitting back at me). She starts up with a little fuel down the carb and I'm set. Take it for a drive around the block, it pulls sharply to the right when the brakes are applied. No biggie I think, it be all highway back to Houston anyway.

I get on the road and barely get outside of the downtown area and the thing sputters and dies on the side of the road. Mind you the gas gauge is still pegged out. I start checking for fuel issues (since the ignition was apparently working fine), end up dropping the tank and find that it is empty. Well I don't have a gas can with me, drive around for 30 minutes trying to find one in an unfamiliar place. Put 4 gallons in it and drove it back to the POs place with a promise to get it the following weekend. I came back with a truck and trailer that time.

I later figure out that the gas gauge is broken, only the left front brake worked, the water neck was corroded through, the heater core was just about to spring a BIG leak, the radiator was partially corroded inside, and the tank vent line was plugged. And I was going to drive it 3 hours back to Houston!

[Bowtie001]

I was replacing my fan clutch in the parking lot at school. When it was time to install the bolts, I realized that the bottom bolt was really hard to start, so I decided to bump the engine over - only I didn't disable the ignition. That turned out to be an expensive fan clutch.

[A.P.]

Let family members drive my truck and one of them got into an accident with it.

[mjensen]

Just yesterday, I was trying to pull in my driveway. Across the street was a durango and coming down the street was a cement truck. In a hurry to get out of the guys way and trying not to hit the durango, I tapped the throttle and felt a pop. Now I look in the mirror (finally) to see my brick mailbox toppling over! Needless to say I have been catching sh*& all day.

[retodd7711]

When I was 16 I parked my truck in my parents garage and went to my room. My dad came home and said move your truck so your mom can park in the garage, I hopped in, fired up and reversed out of the garage... Right into my dad's brand new State Police cruiser. Oh crap! He had just got a promotion and the car came with it. I can't believe he didn't arrest me for stupid without a license.

[71K20chevy]

This thread needs bumped!


I've only got one story...

I had been having starter problems with my 71, it wouldn't engage every time. One day I hopped in and tried to start it and got nothing. I figured the starter had finally taken a crap. Turns out, I left it in reverse the last time I was in it

[Codez67Chevy]

Well back in high school my trucks front shocks were shot and still are lol. With a 292 and a 4spd, you can get that truck hopping pretty good. So my battery wasn't tied down at all and so my fan karate chopped my battery to the point of it bleeding battery acid everywhere! It's pretty impressive the abuse those fans can take, didn't bend it at all.

[In The Ten Ring]

Parked my truck for 7 years with all its fluids still in her.



Not wearing safety glasses. I had a drum brake spring (there's like 20 of them in those drums!) hit me in the forehead. No damage but I should have had safety glasses on.

In 1998 I was up under a truck in a junkyard and a piece of rust landed in my good eye! No radio, no phone, no one around.....I used my hanky to get it out....thank God my dad made me carry one. SAFETY GLASSES.

[sKnNyPpY]

Speaking of safety glasses there was my first ever brake job on my 71 that I sprayed brake cleaner right in my eye. Luckily my dad was inside and heard me screaming and brought me to the sink to rinse it out. I was fine but boy did that hurt.
Then there was the time I was swapping out the alternator without disconnecting the battery dropped it grounding it out and caught the ignition wire on fire. I put it out with my hand instead of the fire extinguisher. Less messy that way. That's also how I learned about fusible links something the po hadn't apparently.
Then there was the time I replaced the detent cable and couldn't get the hat seal in so cut it out and screwed it down anyway. Well the first time I drove into town I parked on a slight grade and as I went to go home saw half my trans fluid going down the drain I parked next to.

[69GMCLonghorn]

Sold a '69 3/4 ton to a neighbor because I thought it was "worn out". He's a contractor and for the last 15 years has regularly loaded the thing to within an inch of its life. After running it for 3 YEARS without an air filter, he finally sucked something into the engine and grenaded it, spent $600 for someone to drop a new one in it, and it's running perfectly. Did I mention it now has something over 400,000 miles on it?!?! Son of a motherless goat... I want that truck back...

[Bears63]

One was when I was in high school. I had a '68 C10. One summer day I was leaving for work and discovered a flat left front tire. So I changed it out really quick so I wouldn't be late for work. One mile from my place of employment and I looked to the left while driving 55 mph and watch my wheel roll into a corn field. I was trying to puzzle it out when the front dropped. Yes, there really is a considerable delay when it happens. At least it feels considerable Turns out I didn't completely tighten the lug nuts when I changed the tire. Only damage was to the dust cap and I did have quite a hike into the corn field to retrieve my wheel.

Second one was 5 years ago when I picked up the '63 C20 that is my avatar. I was getting ready to roll it off the trailer. I hopped in and pushed in the clutch and the truck started rolling..... forward.... My eyes bulged, I started cussing and I started stomping on the brake pedal... that kept going clear to the floor because the brakes didn't work. All I had to do was pop the clutch and it would have stopped.... Well, it stopped alright. It rolled off the front of the trailer and hung up on the rear bumper of the truck I was using to tow the trailer. It was an interesting predicament that took a bit to figure out. The friend that helped me sort the whole mess out still gives me crap about it... And now you all can join in

[ClemsonChevy]

All this is with my 95 2500 Chevy Cheyenne:

Was going to drive home with a front Dana 44 4wd axle strapped to a pallet in the back of my truck. The pallet was too big for the tailgate to close, and I have a plastic bed liner. My friend suggested strapping the pallet into the back of the truck. I told him it shouldn't go anywhere. At the first stop sign from picking the axle up I take off quick to get out into traffic. Out of the bed and onto the ground goes the pallet/axle..... I was by myself at the time. Luckily a Lowes truck was pulling back in to the Lowes next door that had a fork lift mounted on the truck, so he drives down and comes back with the fork lift!

Next, I drove around for a week with a sticking front caliper. I would get home and hose the wheel down with the garden hose to cool it down. I loved hearing that hissing sound... I still don't have working ABS.

I was backing up in my yard doing something. As soon as I remembered that I needed to look back for the telephone pole was the same moment it creased the body behind the drivers door.

I was backing up at a storage facility with my drivers door open looking back to see where I needed to stop. I forgot that there was a concrete pole right behind me and the door hits it and almost folds backwards (towards the front) before I stopped JUST in time. Door closes fine but barely scrubs the front fender a tad now.....

I was pulling a car trailer with my Jeep cherokee on it going to an offroad park. Following my friend in his Jeep TJ. He was good about rolling through stop signs if no traffic was coming to save my brakes. We got to one stop and I see him slow up and then start rolling through. At the same time, I look to the left to check for traffic. I see a car coming from a way off, so I look back ahead to see my friends Jeep at a dead stop. His 35" spare tire mounted on the rear of his jeep pushed my hood and radiator support in a tad, causing the fan to break the fan shroud and make horrible noises. We pulled over and I "adjusted" the rad support/hood with a hand sledge to get the shroud away from the fan and get the hood to open/close. We still went to the 4x4 park.

Needless to say, my 95 has a lot of "character" now......

[Lou Boffa]

yup

[NoNeck]

Not really a Chevy... and not really a truck... but here goes.

When I was about 12 years old my grandfather decided that he needed a truck. Now, my grandfather approached problems in some of the most unusual ways sometimes. Well, most times.

He asked me to help him make a truck from his 1946 Ford coupe. Believe it or not, this was a fairly common practice in our small town. You use what you have.

One Saturday morning, he took an axe to the old coupe. He hacked and chopped and ripped away about half the roof and removed the trunk lid. He sat down next to me in the shade of an old Pecan tree and beamed with pride at his handy work.

It was a total hack job on a pristine old car, but I still remember the two of us running chores and picking up lumber and old furniture for him to refinish and sell.

POP

[dakattack7]

I'm 16 and I've learned mistakes is how you learn.. I have a lot

Tried polishing the original paint on my 69. It's an arizona truck so no rust, but super thin paint. Went right through. Looks horrible, and I did it on the hood, rear bedside and front fender, not just one spot. I get bummed every time I look at it.

Did an engine swap on my 70 a few weeks ago in my backyard that was not level at all, and its dirt so I had plywood down to move the hoist around. It got unbalanced holding my 350 at full lift and fell over, I tried to stop it for a second until I realized.. Something hit my face and cut it, but I'm alive so.. It hit where my driveway starts and cracked the concrete and a little piece off of the oil filter housing. But threw it in anyways and it runs the same as before.

I say same as before because it is the same tired, 60 compression, smoking, leaking, 6 mpg 350 i took out. The other stupid thing I did was buy a 283.(I got one with no clutch pivot ball boss/hole, and no way to mount alternator cheaply, so took it back out for the 350.)

Umm, I couldnt get the 350 to run after I put it back in, I was chasing what I thought was a timing issue but I knew it was right.. Probably checked/redid it 20 times before I figured I'd try to swap the dizzy 180* out, I couldn't think of anything else. Poor'd some gas down carb and she fired right up. Well, by that I mean it backfired and caught on fire. Tried to put out with shirt but had to go get extinguisher. Nothing was damaged except new paint on engine.

^Put the old carb I had on it and its been running "fine" for 2 1/2 weeks...

My battery fell over one time when I was playing around in the dirt, never fixed it. First up in line to leave school parking lot at the light.. Dies and wont start. Thought I ran out of gas (guage didn't work until new sending unit) so i got out, getting looks and honks and put some gas in. Nothing.. Sat there for like 10 minutes being hated until I remembered it was manual.. Drove it with the starter out of the way, popped the hood, put battery back up and drove off. I went to fast over a speed bump is what happened lol.

Spent $1000 on fancy ac components for 69 instead of making it fast. (it already has a hyd roller 350 rebuilt... just needs wakening up )

Started 70 with no oil filter when I put the 350 back in. Driveway looks great.

This doesn't show it that great, but you can see the difference.. Was also taken right after a blow out that dented the fender and bent the trim :/



I think I just have bad luck but I definitely won't do any of this stuff again.

[Palf70Step]

Tore my 70 (that I recently sold) apart too soon, so I didn't get to enjoy it much.

[C10_ustacould]

I bought one off of this board without asking specific questions because the individual selling was a board member and I figured he'd describe it accurately, HUGE mistake. While this board is full of awesome people, there are still those who are willing to mislead to make a sale. If I buy another one that isn't local I'll be flying out to have a look at it myself.

[Tropical Snowstorm]

I drove my green 72 from senior year of high school thru my mid 20s, never did any steering or suspension work (still had original shocks!) and drove it like I stole it with a 400+ hp 383 stroker engine... I am amazed I am still alive. I remember pacing my friend's fox-body Mustang on the highway at 100+ with a half turn of steering play.

[slowcpe]

I don't have a whole lot of c10 truck stories as I haven't had one for too long. Mustang stories I could keep you guys entertained for days!!! Like forgetting to put in the rear main seal and finding out after the initial test drive around the block. Got mad, kicked the creeper that flew across the garage hitting the open drain pan full of fluid square causing said fluid to splash all up the wall and into boxes of full of car parts.

I've also literally kicked a jack stand out from under a mustang while being under it. Did you know they can balance on 3 jack stands or a tall white guy can hit Mach 3 while crawling out from under one?

My truck story I'll leave you with happened to me and my old ranger. I was in a buddy's parents neighborhood one day and saw his car in their driveway. I parked my 4cyl 5-spd on the street and walked up to the door. While standing there waiting for someone to answer I heard a car coming down the road. I look to find only my ranger and it's slowly rolling down the street. I run over to the truck to find I locked the door. So while trying to stop the truck at the same time I'm having trouble getting my keys out of my pocket and felt like I was in a horror movie trying to unlock it. I finally get in the truck and stopped about 100 yards from its point of origin. I turn around and my buddy is literally laying in parents' yard dying laughing. He apparently saw the whole thing.

[wreckedchevy]

first dumb thing I did to my truck was right after I got it in 93 it had a tiny tiny rust hole in each cab corner so being a brilliant 18 year old who knew everything I filled them both in with bondo. it is truly amazing how fast rust can spread when you feed it bondo.

second dumb thing I did was around 99 I wasn't really using it much and people kept stealing parts off of it so I took it to my folks ranch and parked it thinking it was safer, mostly out of depression never went and checked on it I really just didn't want to even think about it until I had a garage to put it in. well unfortunately somewhere in the ten years I left it there the driver's side window settled down a bit and let all the rain/snow into the cab and now I have this to deal with.

I thought it was just the floor pan but last fall when I was putting the front clip back on I grabbed the front cab support to pull myself under the truck and my hand went threw it..

[boynton]

I had a frustrating day while in college (girls, school, family) I had had enough! I was driving off of campus and just couldn't take it anymore...so I punched my windshield. Great idea I know. Fotunately I just broke the windshield and not my hand. I have many other great stories this one just seemed the worst. I felt super smart after this decision. Live and learn.

[splehigh]

A couple years ago my Dad was working on his truck on a slight incline. I guess he wasnt thinking about what he was doing and decided to take the drive shaft off. Well the parking brake wasnt set or wasnt working and the truck started to roll. He managed to grab onto the truck to avoid getting run over but he had scratches all over his back from sliding on the stone driveway. Could have been worse.

[Hawghauler]

I ran my truck around the block last weekend with my trailer attached. I figured I was only going around the block so no need of chains, lights, etc. Anyway, my neighbor got too much top soil and I was going to go get it. His driveway is real steep, and I had to make three runs to get the trailer to the top where the top soil was. We had to block the tires because it was so steep, the truck would slide down the dry pavement with it in park and the parking brake on. So I loaded the dirt on and jumped into the truck to take it home. I couldn't back up because of traction, so I just decided to drive over the blocks.
As soon and I landed the front tires on the pavement again, the trailer jumped off the ball and slammed right into the middle of my tailgate. Then it took a trip to the left, and left a huge crease in the tailgate, took out the new led tail light, then shot past my truck creasing the corner of the rear quarter. It proceeded past me, and I watched it take out his mailbox and a phone box. Luckily his mailbox worked as a wheel chock and stopped the trailer. If it hadn't, it would have continued down hill off the bank and into another neighbors house. Whew! close one. I bought the neighbor a new mailbox, straightened the phone box.
I got some top soil, but it was real expensive. Always...Always hook up your f#*&$^g chains!!!
Anyone got a spare tailgate? LOL