Disaster can strike at any time!

Disaster can strike at any time!

Author
Discussion

aprisa

Original Poster:

1,829 posts

265 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
Just a warning to all you other builders on the site to not let your concentration drop:-

I was in rather a bad mood on Saturday morning as my registration details and tax disc had not arrived leaving me unable to use the car yet again!

I had left the car on the trailer after the DVLA inspection, It’s an Ifor Williams trailer which is dual purpose and hence higher than a normal car trailer, the advantage is that it is useful to work on the car at a higher level and I use the ramps as a low level pit. Anyway I had done some work on the back suspension with the front still strapped down, then worked on the front and undone the straps to enable access to the front wheel arches. I then decided to position the trailer in front of the Barn so that I could roll the car just on to the ramps and fit the grills to the rear bumper.

Hitched up the trailer to the car and looked in the mirrors to see that everything was clear as I pulled away, pulled away easy enough then…. Oh my God! The trailer was pulling away but not the car! I had no straps on the car and NO BRAKES! (I had knocked the handbrake off to paint the rear disc centres) I watched in horror as the car rolled backwards off the trailer with a solid brick wall just ten feet behind.

Thank the designers and the Kit car Angels, the car has two long square section chassis rails at the back, this meant that as the rear dropped off the trailer they dug in the trailer bed and stopped the car dead! Luckily they are the same level as the sills or these would have smashed to bits, the only damage appears to be two chucks taken out of the trailer bed.

Huge lesson learnt! Don’t take your eyes off the ball just because the game is nearly over. I could have wrecked two years work in ten seconds by not thinking.

Still, I always was a Jammy Bugger!

Nick

Spartan_andy

645 posts

254 months

Monday 17th May 2004
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That's a big phew! then nick

Ex-Biker

1,315 posts

254 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
EEEeeeek!!!!

supercat

88 posts

253 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
OOPS! Handbrake off... LEAVE IT IN GEAR!!!!!

aprisa

Original Poster:

1,829 posts

265 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
supercat said:
OOPS! Handbrake off... LEAVE IT IN GEAR!!!!!

I do usually but I was spinning the rear discs to paint the rusty centres! It was strapped then, just had a blank when I took the straps off.

By the way, post obviously explains why you did not see me at the weekend
Nick

jgmadkit

548 posts

256 months

Monday 17th May 2004
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Damn.....would have been nasty

John

vojx

271 posts

249 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
Reminds me of the time I took my kit into work. "What does it sound like?" I was asked . I leant in, pushed the starter button, and the car drove straight into a wall.

steve_D

13,796 posts

265 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
vojx said:
Reminds me of the time I took my kit into work. "What does it sound like?" I was asked . I leant in, pushed the starter button, and the car drove straight into a wall.


That's why I never leave a car in gear.
Steve

bluesatin

3,114 posts

279 months

Monday 17th May 2004
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Steve

If you have the old style handbrake you are brave not to leave it in gear!

Cabby

3,942 posts

271 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
bluesatin said:
Steve

If you have the old style handbrake you are brave not to leave it in gear!



Steve

If you have the old style handbrake, you have no handbrake!



Paul.

steve_D

13,796 posts

265 months

Monday 17th May 2004
quotequote all
bluesatin said:
Steve

If you have the old style handbrake you are brave not to leave it in gear!


Must have the new style or got lucky as mine works fine. Stalled the engine yesterday trying to reverse having forgotten to release it.
Steve