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

[70cst]

OK...I'll go first. 30 years ago my Dad gave me his truck. It was a 54 Chevy 1/2 ton. Then about 6 months later I sold it for $125.00 .

[crzngmychvy]

Sold my 85 silverado that was my DD to a guy down the street. Wouldn't have been as bad if he lived farther away, but I have to see and regret every morning on my way to work. Bummer man.

[Luvlegs]

Home alone, got ready to look at rear brakes - put jack under pumpkin, collected blocks to block the wheels. I was under the carport hooked along the side the house (smooth concrete sloped downhill to my shop). Was just getting staged, only wearing a pair of shorts... went in house, came out, put jack under rear end and started raising jack - both wheels in the air, realized I left out the blocks! The whole rig started rolling backwards towards shop - I was able to jump in and hit the brakes. Ebrake couldn't do anything, it was in gear but rear was in the air so that didn't do anything for me either. I sat there for 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do - there was no way to get out, get to the blocks and get back, lower the jack or anything. My cell phone was 10 feet away. I sat there swithing legs on the brake until they started to ache.... I realized the jack was rolling on the little 1 1/2 inch wheels and staying balanced. I also realised that 20 feet farther back, the driveway had a seam across it. I slowly creaped it the 20 feet until the rear set of jack wheels came to rest in the seam.... I slowly slipped out, ran to the blocks and got 'em behind the front wheels. Then I threw myself around for being careless. The truck was my brand new 2500 Ram TD and there was no way the truck or carport would have faired too well.

[killer71]

you and I must be brothers cuz that sounds exactly like a situation i would get myself into.

[57sailplane]

man now thats funny to funny. least no one got hurt..

[FELON'S]

Traded in my Dad's '68 Camino in as a down payment on a 91 Nissan Sentra....You know....I still hate my ex wife for that one....

[GREASEMONKEY72]

cant really think of anything at the moment but im looking forward to the stories thats for sure

[edmonton72]

Too many to think of. I had one situation similar to luvlegs but my truck fell off the jack. Since im working on my truck in my backyard i dont have level ground to work on. Well one day I had my wheels off to get the new tires for put on the rims I had the front supported by two jack stands and the rear supported by one jack in the middle of the rear axle. Well while I was in the cab do some wiring work the truck just fell off its jack stands. I guess since in working on top of soft dirt and getting in and out of the cab while I was doing my wiring made the jack fall over. Im just glad I wasnt under the truck when it happened. I guess another dumb thing Ive done with my truck is let my cousin get involved because it was his idea to do a whole frame-off resto when I didnt want to at the time. Came home one day from school too find my truck half torn a part. Well two and half years later and over ten grand spent and shes almost done except for the less then perfect body work. Didnt think it would take this long and cost this much.

[DoobieBrother]

Well, I shouldn't even admit this, but now looking back, I find my stupidity kind of funny. And it was REALLY stupid.

A few years ago I had decided to run some Seafoam through my `03 Sierra. No biggie. I had done it before on my Expedition without issue. So, I pulled the brake booster line and w/ truck running started running some SeaFoam down it. My technique was, of course, the origin of my problems. I did a little at a time letting it recover. Did about half the can, then killed it and dumped in the rest. That was the problem. I didn't shut it off with the key. I let the seafoam kill it and then kept pooring and finished the can. Well, we all know liquid doesn't compress like air. So, guess what...Hyrdro lock.

Problem was, I didn't know what it was at the time. I got in to crank the truck up after letting it sit for a while, and of course, it felt like the engine was locked up. Well, it was. With liquid. But wait, it gets better.

After figuring that I was hyrdolocked, I pulled all the plugs. It was obvious which one was the issue because when I pulled the plug, the Seafoam poured out. So, here's where in my continued state, of "Oh, my gawd I've screwed up my truck" and not thinking well enough, I "thought" I disabled the ignition. Pulled the plug right up against the side of the throttle body. Must not have been it, because when I cranked the truck...now don't laugh, I sparked and ignited the still wet Seafoam. Fortunately, I had a fire extinguisher about 6 feet away. One squeeze (dry extinguisher) and it was out. No damage. Was just the Seafoam burning. Stop laughing. Anyway, I put all the plugs back. Plugged everything in, then hosed down the engine to remove any remaining Seafoam and all extinguisher soot. When I was sure everything was ok, I fired it up. It ran fine. Rough at first from the Seafoam, but the rest blew out after a while as expected.

The look of horror on my face and how quickly I ran for the fire extinguisher was probably much more entertaining than the little flame up. Nothing on the truck was damaged. Just my ego was seriously fractured. Fire extinguisher made more mess than anything. What also sucked was my engine compartment was spotless before.

I try not to be that stupid anymore when working on my vehicles. LMAO

[tavenner13]

let my dad trade my first truck -> '66 350 4-spd 3/4 ton for some CRAPPY carpentry work in the kitchen

[killer71]

Man we could sell these stories!

[MisterE72]

I regret selling my 1985 Chevy Silverado. It had a candy midnight blue paint, Zapco system, lowered 5/7, and rolling on 17" Boyds. I sold it so I could get my wife a wedding ring back in 98. An architect bought it for his 17 year old son. I seen the truck at a Home Depot about a year later all banged up. I almost cried. As bad as that sounds, back in 84, my uncle traded his 1970 AAR cuda for a 1978 cutlass supreme. He regrets that all the way to the bank.

[Wreckless_71]

To be old and wise you must first be young and stupid... I'm young so what is this Seafoam? Octane booster; Engine cleaning stuff?

[CrashEd]

Had a guy buying a tc grade trap Remington shotgun from me and didn't have anuff money but wanted it real bad. Well he traded a 72 ford 1/2 ton truck for the rest of the money if it would of been a chevy i would of been thrilled to death. well it took all of 3 day to destroy that ford. Wait you said dumbest i was thinking funnest. LOL!!

[Pl4yboy]

Filled up my 05 chevy duramax with gas... :-/

[Bishops Trucks]

I gave my oldest son, (when he was 15, now 25) my '58 Apache stepside right before I moved to England. I found out a year later that he traded it for a POS four wheeler that stayed broke. The truck had a '78 Corvette 350 w/saginaw 4-speed and 3:73 posi rear. All he had to do was finish running the brake lines. I haven't given him anything since.

[jb4short]

Spent a bunch of money on a DODGE!

[72freak]

Buying a Vortec and then buying another one!!!

[williamt]

parked at the top of my drive without setting the brake about 3 weeks ago totalled front clip and warped frame luckly found donor truck litteraly five houses up the street and bought for 100.00 now have better frame and front clip just need pass. side fender so bad luck and good luck on same day

[bryanw1968]

I was "attempting" to wire an electric fuel pump into my ignition. Somehow or another I wired it to were the truck started itself in gear and drove up the driveway with me chasing it and ran into the corner of the garage. Doh!
I decided to stay with a mechanical pump shortly after that.

[DoobieBrother]

Originally Posted by Wreckless_71

To be old and wise you must first be young and stupid... I'm young so what is this Seafoam? Octane booster; Engine cleaning stuff?

Seafoam is some good stuff. You can use it as top end cleaner like I was doing when I decided to play stupid. You can also dump in the gas tank for similar usage. And you can do like I just did on my 68 last week. That is, dump it in the crank case with the oil and drive it around some more letting it work on the crank case. Then change the oil.

[1967C20]

Let's see.....a few years ago I decided to replace the intake, carb, and cam on my 327 with one of those packages from Edelbrock. At the same time, I converted my distributor from points to electronic with one of those breakerless kits from Pertronix. Installation was uneventful, buttoned everything up, crossed my fingers, and started her up. Well, I was stupified that the thing even started, so I was like "Hot dog! Look at me, Master Mechanic!". It ran a little rough but I thought, "Hey, I'll break in the cam and dial the timing in later." So I revd her up to the break in RPM, put a pair of Vice Grips on the linkage to hold it there for the required 20 minutes, and ran into the house to grab a drink and brag to the wife about my mechanical prowess. I returned to the garage about 10 minutes later and the truck is still running (although the exhaust note was strangely different). Then I noticed the smoke coming out from under the truck and the plastic trash can next to the tailpipe melted, blackened, and smoking. When I look under the truck the exhaust pipe and manifolds are glowing bright cherry red. Grab the timing light, check the timing, and no timing mark anywhere near the pointer. DOH! Master Mechanic had put the distributor back in one tooth off and most of the fuel was igniting in the exhaust system. The exhaust got so hot it melted a few plug wires, the exhaust hangers, blew the guts out of the muffler, and melted the side of the trash can 3 feet from the tailpipe. Fortunately, nothing caught fire and the exhaust was already scheduled for replacement with headers and duals. My wife still gives me crap about "the day I melted the trash can and tried to set the garage on fire." Master Mechanic, indeed!

[sleepyboy]

I was at the drive in movie with a girlfriend in high school driving her dad's truck. When I leaned over to kiss her, I inadverdently pushed the clutch in and the truck rolled into the speaker pole. It dented the door and ripped the side mirror off; expensive kiss.

[Frizzle Fry]

Back in Highschool I cut speaker holes in the doors of my Dad's '64 (which was later passed on to me). That's not so bad, but I cut both holes on the same side of the doors as you face them from the inside/open. So I had a speaker at the front of one door and the rear of the other The truck is still in the family and I intend to correct that mistake one day

[sleepyboy]

I had a cousin cut a speaker hole in a car door one time and he cut both the inner and outer door skin.