I don’t know how you can remove something as bulky and heavy as a transmission with that small amount of space. You’re likely to unbolt everything and end up with the tranny on your chest with no way to get it off and nowhere to go. Think this one out before that happens.
No, he’s welding. If you look close you’ll see he’s got his mask flipped down.
Safety first.
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You can also see the welder in front of the truck.
Yup, this is definitely a certifiable genius.
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Like me he probably just has a problem welding overhead.
If that truck falls he’s going to have a back problem too.
But the tank is safe… he drained it… except for the last inch or so… 
Kaboom!!!
I’d guess that a full tank would be less likely to explode than a near empty one. I had a co-worker friend years ago who was working on his truck’s gas tank, and he had filled it with water to prevent it exploding during a welding job. But it still caught fire a little during the welding job … lol … I guess the water went to the bottom of the tank but gas fumes were still hovering at the top of the tank.
That is absolutely correct. Only the hydrocarbon molecules directly in contact with oxygen atoms will undergo the chemistry of combustion (separation of the hydrogen and carbon atoms to bond with the oxygen atoms), and in a near empty tank that’s a whole lot of them. A completely full tank would theoretically blow out the fill pipe like a blowtorch. Neither is safe, but a blowtorch is safer than a bomb!!
Please, please, please, nobody try to test this!!! Leave it to scientists in a controlled environment.
In the old days I heard of people running a hose from the exhaust into the tank before welding but I don’t suppose that works anymore.
I’ve never heard of this and am surprised anybody would try it, but I can understand what they were trying to do. Displace the volatile gas fumes with inert exhaust gas. I wouldn’t try it, but it probably is less dangerous than what the guy under the green truck is doing!
I wonder where they thought the volatile fumes were going as they pumped exhaust fumes into the tank. If the fumes have no place to go, they’ll just remain there and resist the entry of the exhaust fumes.
Those jack stands look nice and sturdy, so I’d feel safe working under there on a quick repair, but I wouldn’t leave it that way very long for a long term project. When I work under a vehicle, I prefer to just have one end jacked up. If I was going to elevate both ends of the car, I’d put one end on sturdy metal ramps and the other end on jack stands (and on gravel, you’d probably want some plywood under those ramps too).
Make sure nobody/nothing is underneath it as you pull components that change the weight distribution, such as the transmission or rear differential, and be ready to move fast if it shifts.
Bottle jacks have such a narrow base that I wouldn’t use them as a backup. They tip over far too easily. In fact, I don’t like them at all. That’s the only type of jack I’ve ever had fall over while in use.
Considering how easily some patio pavers crack and break, I wouldn’t use them for this purpose. Bearing that much weight in concentrated points is not what they’re designed for. I might be willing to slide some of them under the tires for insurance purposes, but I wouldn’t want to put them under the jack stands.
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