Trucks are heavier than they look and heads are harder. I found this out on April 8, 2013 while foolishly removing the driveshaft from my F250 Diesel.

It all started a couple of months prior. While driving the truck, there was a terrible squeaking noise coming from the drive shaft carrier bearing. I decided to make the replacement of this bearing a learning experience for my daughter, so in Sunday 4/7/13, I showed her how to set the brake, chock the wheels and SAFELY remove the driveshaft from the truck.

It only took about 20 minutes to replace the bearing, but when we test drove there was a vibration. Back home, we again safely removed the driveshaft, re-indexed, and replaced it only to continue to vibrate. Once again, took it off, insured everything was aligned and reinstalled.

You can imagine how frustrated I was to have the vibration continue, so we decided to quit for the day. That evening I researched, and thought about the driveshaft and I was looking forward to doing it once again. Monday morning, I anxiously waited for the kids to get on the bus to school so I could get started right away. My wife was at work already and I was home alone.

As soon as they got on the bus I marched outside, crawled under the truck and began to remove the driveshaft bolts at the transmission. The 3rd bolt came out snug, and the 4th was tight as well, and I wasn't sure why until the bolt came out and the truck began to roll. In my expedited effort to get the driveshaft out, I completely missed setting the brake and chocking the wheels. The truck began to roll!

As I tried to escape from under the truck, the wheel ran over my leg. At this point things happened so quickly, I'm not sure how my head ended in the path, but it did. In an instant I was hit, and a direct hit with the tire rolling over my head, back to front.

(details of the initial injury skipped)