Driveshaft Safety!

[Tow411]

Topic Originally Created on Tow411 in October of 2003:

 

Hawktow said:

Thought i would pass this safety tip along.when pulling shafts be sure all tension is off and shaft has
movement. when i was pulling shaft it was in a bind,i was just going to take straps off of u-joint and move truck back-n-forth with lift to "pop"outshaft. when taking last bolt out of last strap the yoke on the rear-end busted!i was lucky all i had was a broke bone in my hand.. looking back on that job i should have done it differantly,but it was to late.my employer was more worried about who had to pay for bad yoke than his driver.so just be careful when pulling shafts they can bite...

 

Gale25yrs said:

This is a good subject to be reminded of. The motorhomes with the automatic park brake on the driveshaft seem to be the worst to be in a bind and the only way to release em is to roll back and forth or jack up a wheel on one side to free it up.

Just last night I picked up a Volvo conventional that was stuck in gear on I 5. at the last second after pulling the bolts I got that feeling that I had forgot something, I checked and couldnt rock the shaft so I rolled away and had the O.O. step on the clutch and the shaft jerked a little and almost came out of the yoke by itself. Good thing I didnt pry it out while I was sitting with my head between the shaft and frame.

 

letsplay2 said:

Safety is everyone' concern and it should be on all of our minds each and every day that we go to work.

I am glad that you didn't get too seriously hurt. A broken bone is painful but it also could have been a lot worse.
Devin

 

Hartland Service said:

Another option I have used on RV's with the electric trans lock is to jack up one set of rear duals.
Jeff

 

wreckmster said:

Which parking brake setup is this?? I dont recall having a problem with the GMC rental straights??

 

WM010544 said:

I learned that one on a 2001 IHC 3400 mini bus. I don't know why I didn't remember to take off the tension before removing the shaft but it came out fast, I'm just lucky that I had moved from where it came out before it did!!!Ant
 

hansonMA said:

I personally know someone who had 25+ yrs in the towing biz and thought he had the tension off the shaft until it came out and broke his cheek bone,along with a couple of teeth and a sick black eye.You can never be too carefull.I think of how he looked everytime I crawl under a truck to pull a shaft.
BE SAFE BE CAREFUL

 

hawktow said:

WRECKMSTR,it was 1999 (new at time) i.h ryder truck 3000 miles on it

 

Curt Sharp said:

Some of the GM units with the electric assist parking brakes have a manual release under the drivers side step area. These are similar to Ford style "cans" with the pin built in.

Some do...some don't If it needs to be towed, it won't
Murphy's Law!
Curt

 

Unknown Member said:

I don't think you realize how Lucky you are to only have a broken bone in your hand few years ago when tow operators wer still the extrication experts in our area (before the fire DP took it over thank goodness) I got a call for a man pinned under a car a Cod three call with a police escort upon arrival I was informed that the victim was still under the car I positioned my truck and quickly stabilized the car and lifted the car about 8 inches as the medics requested and then stood by while they did their work about 5 minutes passed and I was told to stand by for the coroner as it turned out the owner of the car was going to change the u joint and the car moved wrapping the owner around the drive line this loss of life could have Ben easily prevented by the simplest safety steps BLOCK THE WHEELS RELEASE THE TENSION ON DRIVE LINE AND ANNY OTHER SAFETY STEPS YOU CAN THINK OF SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY

 

[silverhawk]

I dropped a heavy shaft on my chest once using oily gloves and it slipped from my grip.  Since then, I always run a basket chain,, frame rail to frame rail to catch the weight when unbolted.  Since then I only got hit once with a bearing cup in the ear.  Made a mess but didn't hurt.