What's the nastiest auto-related practical joke you've seen?

[Spoonchucker]

Worked with a guy (named Cletus) that would screw with peoples cars - mess with the mirrors, wipers etc..

Pissed another guy off that worked there so that guy jacked up Clete's car and duct taped a huge truck wheel weight to the drive shaft.

This was back in the late '80's and Cletus pride and joy was his convertible IROC - kept that baby in immaculate condition. That wheel weight apparently started causing a shimmy at about 40 mph and by the time you were up to 60+ it was shakin so bad it'd rattle the fillings out of your mouth.

Clete spent a lot of money on alignment and wheel balancing - had that thing in the shop a half dozen times trying to chase the problem - spent hundreds - got to where no one wanted him to find out, we couldn't believe none of the shops saw the weight until we got under there to take it off - the duck tape covered with road grim completely camoflaged the whole thing - even when we knew it was there, was not obvious - we took it off and far as I know, no one ever told him about it.

[Rockridge]

Heard of putting a jumbo wire tie on the driveshaft and watching the owner tear the front wheel bearings apart looking for the ticking sound .

Usually the HVAC guys have some nice big zippie ties and are more than happy to donate to the cause

[astrometalvan]

3 or 4 3-foot long zip ties (used for a/c flex ductwork) zipped onto the driveshaft of an F150 duct installers truck with the tails hanging make an amazing fwipp-fwip-ting-ting sound when the guys in the truck drive off. (old A/C installer prank done by other a/c installers (me) at supply house parking lot)

a dozen shrimp left under the bench seat of an a**hole customer that dropped off his truck at a Dodge dealer after screaming at service manager and telling him his truck "better be ready when I get back next week". The service manager left the shrimp in there for 6 days in Pensacola Fl in August. I was a 19 year old lot porter, the service manager sent me to bait shop for the shrimp. Guy had some fishing poles in back seat of truck, we were never blamed.

[Astrofarian]

I've mentioned this one on here before somewhere, but couldn't remember where.....
Up until the late 70's some shops used to get their antifreeze/coolant supplied to them in thick, 2 gallon plastic bags that you would just slam down into a funnel that had a piercing thingy in it. Those bags were unholy strong and got washed out and re-used for all kinds of stuff.
Things were a bit slow in the service department and a few of us had taken to pranking each other. Someone got the brainwave to fill one of these bags with oxygen from the cutting torch and then adding a quick shot of acetylene to the bag. Pulled a plug wire off the bosses car, stuck it inside the pierced hole then shoved it under the hood. Boss goes out, starts his car and BOOOOOM!!
I don't believe anyone ever told him which one of us had done it....he was NOT happy watching us laughing our azzes off while his ears rang for an hour or so afterwards.
-M!ke-

[sixsix]

Not so sure I would have been very Happy either.





Mike

[Zebediah III]

On the old cars, in the 70's or 80s it was easy to hook the brake light switch to the horn. Good times. Especially if we saw a friend's car sitting at the Officers club or bar unlocked. Nothing like driving home plastered and hearing someone honking every time you hit the brake pedal. There was one guy with a red maverick who never locked it and he drank til they closed and threw him out. You could hear him driving home drunk from miles away.

[markmitch]

My brother once was pissed at a neighbor and got fish juice from an Asian market and poured it all over the interior of the neighbors lincoln continental to get back at him. The neighbor took the car to a few places to get it cleaned and never could get the small out of it and ended up junking the car. It was a really nice car too. I do not believe in revenge but that's a funny way to deal with a jerk neighbor.

[Astro Pop]

Had a friend that used to race bug eyed sprite on racing circuit. He taped an extra touch switch to shift handle and wired it to brake lights. He would hit it early in the turns and everyone behind him would back off, then he'd nail and leave them in the dust. Not funny to them but they had their little tricks too!

[Big_kid]

Astro Pop- I LOVE it!

I saw on TV once (Rickles on Carson?) where his neighbor got a new (original) Beetle back in the day, and kept bragging about his fuel mileage. What the neighbor DIDN'T know was every night Rickles was adding gas to the tank. After about 2 weeks of listening to his neighbor brag about getting 90 MPG, he started siphoning gas back out. Then his neighbor started telling him how he was going to take it back to the dealer because his mileage went from 90 MPG down to 12.

[AstroWill]

That is freaking classic BK!

[Astrofarian]

Astro Pop- I LOVE it!

I saw on TV once (Rickles on Carson?) where his neighbor got a new (original) Beetle back in the day, and kept bragging about his fuel mileage. What the neighbor DIDN'T know was every night Rickles was adding gas to the tank. After about 2 weeks of listening to his neighbor brag about getting 90 MPG, he started siphoning gas back out. Then his neighbor started telling him how he was going to take it back to the dealer because his mileage went from 90 MPG down to 12.

LoL, maybe a BIT off-Topic here but DAMN, I miss Rickles (and Carson). I never would have even imagined Don Rickles would have known how to siphon gas but this is a seriously funny story AND a classic, epic prank!
=M!ke-

[Big_kid]

It might not have been Rickles, but I'm 99% sure it was on Carson. It WAS a year or two ago, wasn't it?

[konybravo]

This "joke" cost me two consecutive engines:

[Astrofarian]

I don't get it Kony…...and I hope to Hell I never do!
That's just cruel. Someone actually did that to you?
And people wonder how things escalate.....
-M!ke-

[Big_kid]

That's sabotage, not a joke. A joke leaves no damage, and is easily wiped away/forgotten/forgiven. There's nothing funny about destroying someone's engine.

[Astrofarian]

Yeah,^^^^^^^^^^^^that!
-M!ke-

[konybravo]

Yeah, I'm just joking, about that being a joke! Actually it's been a "hit below the waist", from competing "mechs", in a shop, i had the misfortune, to wind up, for an exhaust leak job...

[81SAFARIMATT]

i froze a can of shaving cream solid...drilled a few small holes and put it in my buddys glove box right before he took off on his honeymoon ... worked perfect ..they were about three hours down the road and foam started coming out the glove box...there was also a couple finger mullet in his hubcap...he swore tennesse stunk like the dickens everywhere he stopped before figuring it out....Matt