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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:44:55 PM EDT
Yeah, like the title said, I smashed my knee with a hammer. I don't know why I feel compelled to share this... I guess I've been here too long.
I was changing out the rear brake pads on my car. They got down to metal on metal a couple of days ago and the pads had dug themselves nicely into the rear rotor. I was hitting the caliper witha hammer to get it off the rotor, and since it was on there pretty good I was REALLY hitting it. I probably should have switched from the claw hammer to the hand held sledge, but it's too late to think about that now.  Well, I missed the caliper. I caught myself just to the right of my left kneecap swinging a 16oz claw hammer as hard as I could.  One I finished rolling around the yard yelling and the nausea  had passed I finished up what I was doing and called it a night.It doesn't look very interesting, but it's kinda swollen and DAMN painful now. I'm just left wondering how much worse it's going to be in the morning. And that was how I spent my Sunday.  My lesson for the day: Don't ever do that. 
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:48:03 PM EDT
[#1]
Fucking up your knees sucks.. I got one word.. ICE. lots of ICE. tomorrow you'll be limping like a hooker after a gangbang..
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:48:34 PM EDT
[#2]
Sorry about your knee. Next time buy, borrow or rent the proper tool to retract the caliper piston so you don't need to wail on the caliper with a hammer.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:49:52 PM EDT
[#3]
Harbor Freight Tools, deadblow mallet.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:50:43 PM EDT
[#4]
Good going
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:51:54 PM EDT
[#5]
-10 points for using a claw hammer in the first place.  
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:52:09 PM EDT
[#6]
There's not getting at the piston untill you get the pads and rotor out of the way. That's not usually an issue if you aren't a dumbass and let the backing plate of the pad bury itself in the rotor. I am that dumbass. And yeah, me and a bag of ice are making good friends tonight. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:52:49 PM EDT
[#7]
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:55:02 PM EDT
[#8]
also next time you can use the hammer to beat the lip off the rotor then beat off the caliber..
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:55:04 PM EDT
[#9]
Oh yeah. I have an assortment of them. Real nice ones in assorted sizes and weights with non-marring faces. There was a whole handful of ways I could have avoided doing what I did.  This makes for SUCH a better story though... 
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Posted: 10/29/2006 3:59:54 PM EDT
[#10]
Okay........ who taught you how to do brakes? I've never had to resort to a hammer. Just loosen the bleed screw, press the caliper by hand to retrack the cylinder some.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:03:53 PM EDT
[#11]
Dude, I am feeling for you. I never knew what pain was until I tore the cartilage in my right knee.
Knee pain SUCKS! |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:04:32 PM EDT
[#12]
uhmmmm...get an xray? Might have done real damage.
If it is bad now, wait until tomorrow morning when everything tightens up. I would be getting that checked out if it were me. Good luck - hope it turns out to just be pain and not a major injury. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:06:21 PM EDT
[#13]
... or if things get really, really stuck... I've successfully used a big C clamp to compress the caliper several times. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:09:13 PM EDT
[#14]
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:10:14 PM EDT
[#15]
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:13:23 PM EDT
[#16]
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:15:50 PM EDT
[#17]
I have knee problems, so I have to ice my knees quite often. A bag of frozen peas and corn (or anything like that) helps a lot because it molds to your knee well. Just refreeze when you're done. Make sure you mark the bag though so no one eats them! haha |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:19:51 PM EDT
[#18]
Been there sort of
Years ago I had to take out a Brick and Cement planter in the backyard I had to stand on top of it to get at the right angle All was going well then I missed nad hit myself in the shin with the 8lb sledgehammer I was using Right away I prayed Then I iced it profusely I felt stupid alright, I was just glad I didn't break it |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:19:52 PM EDT
[#19]
Ouch.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:25:31 PM EDT
[#20]
some people use hammers on cars, simply cause it's illigal to use it on themselves intentionally |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:27:55 PM EDT
[#21]
HaHaHa! man Goddamned brake jobs are a pain, I was replacing the rear drums on my brothers old car once,
I'd lost my spring pliers, so I was using a pair of needlenose, well there I am pulling the tensioning spring and the pliers slip off and the momentum carries through and I stab myself in the side of the nose, they had enough force behind them that the point went all the way through the cartlidge in the middle, hurt like hell, probably woulda hurt more if my brothers wasn't standing there laughing, instead we started fighting and it took my mind away from the pain in my nose, by time we finished and I got to the doc for a tetnus shot, I looked like this , one of my bro looked like and the other like  ,the ER doc laughed his ass off when I told him what had happened, my brothers had to tackle me, got another doc after that. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:31:16 PM EDT
[#22]
Oh good god! I wonder if it's a NY thing... I also caught my hand with a 5 pound handheld sledge once... Right in the palm directly under my pinky. Somehow I missed all the joints, but hit it hard enough to basically pop my hand like a big blister. That one was BLOODY. I'm pretty sure I got lucky hitting the knee. I got it where it's soft tissue on the side of the kneecap. If I had been off a half inch in any direction I probably would have cracked something. But if I wake up and something feels more wrong in there than I'm expecting I'll get it checked out. My rear calipers are of an annoying design that need to be pressed and twisted to get the damn piston back in. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 4:34:14 PM EDT
[#23]
When I was a mechanic, I was taught. There is a proper tool for ever job.
Sometimes a 16oz. hammer is the correct tool. Your mistake was not using a 16oz. ball peen hammer. Claw hammers are for wood work. Ball peen hammers are for mechanical work.  For the spelling Nazis, Peen, Pean and Pein is listed. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 5:30:40 PM EDT
[#24]
My friend was installing a Fence His Uncle comes over to help Well one of the FencePosts needs to be Hammered down some So the the Uncle goes to hit the FencePost ( it's metal by the way ) And just like a Cartoon the SledgeHammer bounces off the top of the Post and hits him right in the Head Now he's embarrassed, he refuses to give up the Hammer insisting he can do it He takes aim, swings and Damn if he doesn't do the same thing all over again Now he's Dazed and Bleeding, so he relinquished the Hammer 
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Posted: 10/29/2006 5:36:10 PM EDT
[#25]
Pics please, preferrably in the morning after it's fully swollen
 . Oh and sorry for the mishap, but don't forget the pics.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 5:38:01 PM EDT
[#26]
Claw hammers are for carpenters.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 6:13:27 PM EDT
[#27]
rubber mallet also works.....never tried a dead blow for brakes, might have to
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Posted: 10/29/2006 6:19:00 PM EDT
[#28]
HA that sucks. Sorry I could not resist. Please post pics in the morning.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 6:28:44 PM EDT
[#29]
Yes, there are tools and techniques to retract the piston with the pads and the caliper still in place without beating on them with a hammer. I spent many years as a dealership mechanic and while I don't expect you to have that level of expertise, it never hurts to ask before you start pounding on something. Not only will you save your car parts from being damaged, you might just save some body parts as well. |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 6:41:11 PM EDT
[#30]
Had a buddy at work years ago that was trying to open a large crate with a hammer. He was swinging it upward and missed, hitting himself right between the eyes. It almost knocked him out. He had a nasty cut too. We called him hammerhead for awhile.
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Posted: 10/29/2006 6:48:34 PM EDT
[#31]
Hit your hand with the same hammer and your knee wont hurt anymore
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Posted: 10/29/2006 7:20:40 PM EDT
[#32]
Knees heal slowly, I hope you are under 30
 On the bright side the sports medicine guys do GREAT knee surgery |
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Posted: 10/29/2006 9:07:44 PM EDT
[#33]
I wasn't quite as bad, but I felt pretty much in similar "I told myself to change" and "Knucklehead you f'g know better." modes right after I knocked a wrench down off the bench on to my big toe knuckle while I was wearing sandals. Probably said many of the same words.
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Posted: 10/30/2006 4:36:07 AM EDT
[#34]
Mornin'. I am apparantly one LUCKY sonofabitch. I woke up this morning and it's not doing too bad at all. It's not stiff and the swelling has mostly gone away. No bruising. It just kind of feels like I smashed it with a hammer...
If there was anything worth seeing I would have taken pics right away. I've been here long enough to know that! I seem to have a gift for doing stuff like this to myself. Sometimes I think I can't work on something without mutilating myself in some way. Maybe I'll make this a running series...
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Posted: 10/30/2006 4:37:26 AM EDT
[#35]
worthless without pictures
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Posted: 10/30/2006 4:40:08 AM EDT
[#36]
.
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Posted: 10/30/2006 4:51:14 AM EDT
[#37]
My sentiments exactly. Sorry you're hurt and all that crap, but, c'mon man we need pics. It's an arfcom tradition. |
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Posted: 10/30/2006 4:55:43 AM EDT
[#38]
I am still waiting for pics.
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Posted: 10/30/2006 5:03:13 AM EDT
[#39]
Pics would be worthless. It doesn't look cool at all.
It would just be a picture of my knobby hairy knees with a little bit of swelling. Nothing anyone wants to see. Next time I do something gruesome I'll take pictures right away. It probably won't be more than a week or two...
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Posted: 10/30/2006 5:55:59 AM EDT
[#40]
As Micheal Jackson would say; 'Just beat it....He heeee'....
Yes please, we want to see all the pretty colors!!...... ETA:Drat... I didn't see your last post, go out and hit it again and don't come back till you have something pic worthy!!!.... 
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Posted: 10/30/2006 6:35:33 AM EDT
[#41]
I'm picking the new pads and rotor up today when I go out for lunch, and I'll be putting it back together when I get home tonight. Knowing me, there might be something worth taking pics of when I'm done.
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Posted: 10/31/2006 7:38:09 AM EDT
[#42]
OK, whatever this tool is I need it. What is it? How does it work? Just a good description might be enough to start my search. |
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Posted: 10/31/2006 7:40:55 AM EDT
[#43]
"Oh yeah, I hate that! I hate that!"
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Posted: 10/31/2006 7:52:14 AM EDT
[#44]
I just rebuilt 2 calipers yesterday with seized pistons.... There was no way those pistons were going back in |
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Posted: 10/31/2006 9:25:24 AM EDT
[#45]
When I was 13 or 14 I was splitting wood in my yard. I thought I was pretty cool because I could swing a sledge with one hand and deliver some decent force with it (started at my feet and made a nearly complete circle before hitting the splitting wedge in the far side of the arc.) Until I found out exactly why only idiots do what I was doing...you can't really control the hammer when you do that. I hit the wedge with a blow that glanced off and hit me right in the shin. I wish I had pics to post of that, because it turned purple ad swelled up to the size of a grapefruit.
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Posted: 10/31/2006 10:48:43 AM EDT
[#46]
So you used a claw hammer? I always used the"C" clamp trick. I'm suprised it took so long for the "C" clamp method to be mentioned in this thread. I thought everyone used the "C" clamp trick.
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Posted: 10/31/2006 11:04:00 AM EDT
[#47]
No, I removed the opposite pads and took the calipers off of the rotors. Then I rebuilt both of the calipers....it took soaking with PB blaster and blowtorch to get the stuck pistons out. I actually have a prybar with rubber coating that I usually use instead of the c-clamp anyway. |
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