Dodged a bullit

[patd]

Well Mr. know it all was pretty lucky today, after ignoring the advice of the mechanic who aligned my front end last week not to drive the truck until I replaced the steering draglink/cross rod that I tried removing the other day stripping the threads on the tie rod so that the nut would not go back on I decided to take the truck for a spin to my local Walmart to pick up some things. Driving down the road I heard a bang under the truck, I told my cousin WTF was that, did I run over a rock? I decided to turn around and see what it was I hit, I pulled over to the side of the road to where I heard the noise. I took a quick look under the truck and sure enough the nut that I banged on was missing I walked along the road and actually found it, I was wondering why it just then fell off, as I could not get the tie rod off last week even using a hammer it would not budge, I put my hand on the drag bar and it came out freely from the wheel attachment. Yikees!! So I put it back in and limped home slowly, If it would have come out when I was doing around sixty that would have been interesting to say the least. Moral of the story? Listen to the mechanic when he tells you something... :unsure:

 

[yello620]

WOW, and you are proud of this story? How did you manage to find the guts to even drive it like that? Big damn balls...Not even close to safe.

 

I am very amazed that any alignment shop even touched that with a missing nut. Bring that into my shop and it will leave on the hook. You might consider listening to some advise next time, you might also try taking it to a shop that gives a shit about safety(liability).

[greybeard]

Give me a call next time you go for a drive....... so I can stay home and not be on the road........

[patd]

WOW, and you are proud of this story? How did you manage to find the guts to even drive it like that? Big damn balls...Not even close to safe.

 

I am very amazed that any alignment shop even touched that with a missing nut. Bring that into my shop and it will leave on the hook. You might consider listening to some advise next time, you might also try taking it to a shop that gives a shit about safety(liability).

 

Yes it was a stupid thing to do, but I never implied that I was proud of this. The nut was on the tie rod but was stripped and would not fully tighten, I wrote that it was the bang that I heard under the truck that made me stop and take a look and find that the nut had came off and hit the bottom of the truck. What surprises me is that I banged on that tie rod for thirty minutes to get it off last week and it would not budge, and just driving it once made it come loose. It came loose just one block from my house. Well the truck is sitting in the garage and the new drag link should be here tomorrow and that should take care of that problem.

[hang_510]

Moral of the story?

those threads really did something useful <_<

[ggzilla]

The threads and nut are different right/left. So perhaps you picked up the wrong nut and tried to fasten it which might strip it out?

[garryk6]

Here on the island of Kodiak in Alaska the dirt is primarily Volcanic Ash from the volcano Katmai that dumped several feet of ash on the island around the turn of the century. This combined with heavy rain and wind and being right on the ocean, it is a recipe for rust and corrosion. One of the hardest things here to do is change a tire... THe wheels become one with the hub, especially if they are a hubcentric rim vice a lugcentric rim... Sometimes the only way to break a wheel free is to Loosen the lugnuts, and then on a side street, very close to home and very slowly drive the vehicle turning the steering wheel back and forth and tap the break till you can break it free from the hub. Not someting to do on a main road, but here on the island we do not have very many "main" roads.

That pothole seemed to have given you the right amount of leverage to break free your tie-rod, goes to show just how much force our suspensions take everyday driving through potholes and speed bumps etc.

It makes you think long and hard about welding or modifying your suspension if you are not really good at welding...

Garry in Alaska

[denveratsun]

Wow! Pretty glad that it happened the way it did! Glad you are still with us! :cool:

[datzenmike]

WOW, and you are proud of this story? How did you manage to find the guts to even drive it like that? Big damn balls...Not even close to safe.

 

I am very amazed that any alignment shop even touched that with a missing nut. Bring that into my shop and it will leave on the hook. You might consider listening to some advise next time, you might also try taking it to a shop that gives a shit about safety(liability).

 

 

Give me a call next time you go for a drive....... so I can stay home and not be on the road........

 

We all do things that turn out later to be well, sort of like "what was I thinking?" Perhaps someone can learn from this.

[patd]

Well my next project is to take off the steering wheel as it is off a little to the right and align it, I promise if I can not get the steering wheel nut back on I will not drive it. :rolleyes:

[dat521gatherer]

i'm sure when you say limping it home you mean not over say 15mph. thats not ballsy thats just saving a tow bill.

 

i just want to know if you had a cotter pin in that thing when it popped off?

[Guest kamakazi620]

At least put bailing wire on it!!!!