The hauled home thread

[monaco75]

Garys pics in his other thread got me thinking about making a broke down thread. Any good stories? Pics of the car being hauled away? No doubt all of us have gone through it atleast once or twice..

Heres one

My old newport.. Car was a little hopped up. I took it to work one day, and on lunch hour a buddy went with me to go grab some grub. Being young and dumb, had to show off a little.. :eusa_shifty: Anywhase pulled outa work, hit it hard through first then let off. The RPMs were a little high, coming down, when I shifted into 2nd. As soon as 2nd hit BAM!!! WTH?? Followed by smack, smack, smack against the floor board. Rolled to the side of the road. My buddy jumped out, and we pushed her into a parking lot accross the street. The u-joint strap bolts on the rear let go. Luckily the drive shaft stayed in place. The H pipe in the exhaust acted as a driveshaft loop lol.

Luckily another freinds kid worked for a towing company, and got the car home for me later that day. Was still a good excuse to get outa work for the rest of the day lol.



The bluesmobile has left me stranded a couple times. A couple times ran outa gas, and 2 times because of electrical problems. One time the water pump went on me, and threw the belt. Was stranded on 96 in downtown Detroit in rush hour, in the center divider. That was NOT fun!! Got the belt back on, and limped her home. How she made it back still astounds me..

One more.. The worst one was my ram a little over a year ago. I was towing the newport down here to FL when the motor overheated, and warped the heads in the mountains of TN. The rest of TN I would drive the truck up the mountain, shut her down, and coast down the other side. Once we got into GA, that was the end of it though. Had the truck picked up, and we pilled into the newport for the rest of the trip. That was a terrible time. But the newport got us home!

 

[monaco75]

Please excuse the bottom pic. Not sure how that got there...

 

[MrMoparCHP]

No pictures but I have a few stories.

Most recent was about 2008 my 67 Valiant had some electrical issues and I had no lights, tried everything, unplugged the connector on the switch, plugged back in checked the bulkhead connector, I even let it cool down and tried to reset it by turning it on and off several times. Needless to say I was 100 miles from home and I was not going to make it before dark so I chose to have it towed...

The driver loads it up and starts to secure it and stick my nose in while he is putting the big meat hooks over the differential and I warn him about the brake lines, he said he is clear.

On the 90 minute drive back we talk about my Barracuda restoration that I was just finishing but couldn't get to start. After we unloaded the Valiant he looked at the Barracuda and in about 10 minutes it was running, I don't recall what the issue was but I was grateful, on he went.

The next day I was on my way home from work when I came up to an intersection where the light was red, I went to stop and the pedal just went to the floor. I manage to hook the car to the right around the corner and get it to stop. When looked I found that the hook had pinched the rear brake hose up against the center section and cut it. Fortunate for me there was no traffic, I was a 1/2 mile from home so I nursed it in.

Initially I was going to make a big deal of it but I didn't, had something happened it would have been a different story.


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Some time earlier 1989 or so when I had my 1973 Barracuda, heck it might have even been while my dad still owned it. Anyway I don't recall what the problem was but it needed to be towed and they were still using the sling tow trucks, he backs in and starts to hook it up and I ask about the 4x4 post that was required to keep from crushing the rear valance.

Needless to say it was crushed. The car was later taken to have it fixed and when I went to pick it up it had a panel with exhaust cutouts in it? I said do you see exhaust? Then why would I want to have cutouts, dang it only has a single exhaust, call me when it's fixed!


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Some time earlier 1985 or so I was driving a 1955 Chevy and I had a problem, the rear end gears broke causing the car to jackrabbit, I pull over and contact AAA.

The truck arrives again a sling type, I was on a freeway and he backs up to the front and starts to hook up, I remind him of the issue and he says that its ok it will be in neutral its a manual. I tried to re-explain the issue and he proceeds to hook it up, I'm just some dumb 18 year old.

Needless to say he didn't get more than two miles before the car is all over both lanes and he dives to the shoulder bitching at me. He drops it and flips a ***** on he freeway and hooks up to the rear, on we go.


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Last one, about the same time 1985 or so, same car. I had recently removed the shackle extensions in the rear and put the original factory parts back in, to do so I needed to loosen the u-bolts on the differential so I could get the shackles in. Some time later I had a panic stop and ended up in the middle of an off ramp intersection, when I went to go the car just lurched but didn't go. I get out and look at it, apparently I didn't tighten the u-bolts enough and the differential rotated to the point the u-joints bound up. AAA was called and told the car was blocking an intersection and couldn't be pushed, after some explaining they sent a truck out in record time. Same deal he tries to hook up to the front and again I explain the situation and get the same response, it'll be in neutral. I guess the only way to get your point across is to let them fail and get the satisfaction of telling the I told you so. Needless to say he didn't get 10 feet before he started bitching at me like I was the one holding he brakes.


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What the heck one more, not really tow truck related but the truckers here will like this one.

About 1988 I was driving my Barracuda and I my girlfriend was with me, we were heading out of town for the weekend. We're about 3 hours out of town up I-5 and were heading into Paso Robles, we got off the highway and headed into the hills towards the coast. For the last 20 minutes or so I felt like I was straining to see and wrote it off to being tired it was after 10:00 pm, the fog was getting thicker and I was finding it ever so hard to see and then the car dies and I coast to the shoulder.

My initial check led me to think I was out of gas as I had the gas gauge was on E. I grabbed my Mag-Lite and tried to wave someone down, this was 1988 no cell phone and no call boxes not to mention we were about 30 miles in either direction from a service station. After about 10 cars or so my girlfriend started freaking out, so I walked out to the center of the road and told myself the next car WILL stop. The next set of headlights appeared and I stated waving my flashlight right at it, needless to say that rig stopped pretty good as I was running for the shoulder.

He gave us a ride back the way we came to a truck stop where I get a gas can and before I could finish filling it I had a trucker come up to me asking if I was to one that needed a ride back up the road. I left the hazard lights on but they were not going when we got back, almost didn't see the car. The trucker said he'd give me a jump start but would need to U-turn so he could get to the batteries. In the fog on a narrow road he turns around and we hook it up to the generator on the refer, he stayed about 10 minutes to try and get a charge on it.

The car starts up and he turns around and heads on. I put it in gear and roll out, not even a mile out the lights dim so I kill them and try to continue with just my flashlight (hey, I was young and my girlfriend was still freaking out.), didn't matter within a mile it was dead again, that time I knew it, alternator!

Just as I got out of the car with my flash light to force the next car going our way a car pulled over, turned out he passed me turned around when he realize there was an issue. We got the ride and met up with my girlfriends aunt and uncle. The next day we went back the 30 miles to the car and sat with it charging for about 15 minutes, we rolled out and 15 miles down the road we stopped at a garage that he knew the owner of where we put the car on a charger for another 15 minutes. In town I found a parts store with a service bay where they let me use their tools to swap out the alternator and put the battery on a charger while I did the work.

That girlfriend didn't work out but I still have to Barracuda. The truckers went out of their way to help, all at the midnight hour literally.


Alan

 

[Mr C]

One of the reasons I love Chryslers is that they always get me home. I remember many times struggling with Lean Burn back in the day when the computers could still be had. In my experience when LB started to go the engine would start to cut out at certain speeds...but would still be okay at lower speeds, almost like a limp mode. I remember on trip having to limp home on back roads doing less than 50 mph because the LB would act up any faster. It was a long drive, but turned out very scenic.

I remember being thrilled when the Mopar Performance electronic ignition kits came out making the retro fit a piece of cake.

 

[1978 NYB]

My most recent breakdown (no pictures) was with my 78 NYB. It was at the worst little choke point in my little town (Aberdeen) in the left turn lane going in to Walmart. LOL! The damn chrome high performance Mallory coil quit on me. I got the Aberdeen Police (good guys) help me push Frank Sinatra off the road and they gave me a ride home to get the 35 year old original coil I kept at the house. She started right up! That coil is still on the car today. I put together a small collection of parts and keep it in a tote in the trunk. Ballast resistor, coil, ignition module, fuel pump. I drive my NYB all over the country and if you break down in Bum F no where....you might not find those parts sitting a shelf in parts store.

 

[commando1]

Please excuse the bottom pic. Not sure how that got there...

Can I buy the turquoise floor mat???

 

[monaco75]

Can I buy the turquoise floor mat???

Crap... If I can find em you can have it Stan, along with the fronts. Honestly though I think I threw em out! I offered em on here a LONG time ago for free. Had one guy interested, and didn't go from there. So I think I tossed em. But for some reason, I wanna say I kept the back one... I'll look for it tonight. Can't promise anything..

 

[patrick66]

On a trip to Denver, I was talking to a guy that used to specialize in Mopar stuff, and he mentioned a '65 Dodge D100 pickup he had that he was willing to sell, for the princely sum of $300. This was in 2000. It was a non-runner, but complete and rolling, so I jumped on it. This was a truck that was bought at a State Patrol auction of abandoned and seized cars, so it had only a BOS from the State Patrol to the guy I was buying it from. Now, to get it back to central Oklahoma...buy a tow bar, of course! So, the seller hauled the truck to my sister's house and I prepped it for the 650-mile trip by removing the front bumper so I could attach the tow bar (the seller trailered it to my sisters' house - nice of him!). I checked everything out the night prior to leaving, such as the suspension, steering, tire quality and pressure and such. I repacked the front wheel bearings and backed the brakes off all four wheels to minimize rolling resistance. I even removed the tailgate, radiator, and a couple of other bits and tossed them in the back of my '93 Dodge Cummins truck. All set to go.

I headed out of Denver on I-70 eastbound across the exceptionally boring Colorado plains. Lots of coffee and good driving music helps. My sons were with me as we enjoyed the time together, and the looks we got pulling this Swepty behind the pickup. A few miles East of DIA is where I stopped to check things out, and all seemed well. Just West of Limon is when things went to hell on me! We were a hundred miles into the trip, when I happened to look in the rearview mirror when I felt a "thump" and watched the rear end of the towed truck hit the pavement! Sumbitch! I pulled over immediately, of course, to find the right rear wheel had decided that it wanted to stay in Colorado. Upon closer inspection, found that the entire axle had shot out the side of the truck, axle, drum assembly, wheel, tire - all flew about 200 feet out into the prairie! ****! Thankfully, I was in the outside lane when this happened with absolutely zero traffic around me, so no one was in danger when it hit the fan. I saw the melted axle bearing remnants, and the smell of burnt axle lube filled the air. OK. Now what? Easy - start stripping the truck of the bits I really, really wanted and go! So, off comes the grille assembly, horn cap, and a few underhood bits...remember, I already had the radiator, tailgate, seat, and other parts in the back of the Cummins, so things went quickly. Removed the tow bar from the Swepty, threw it in the '93 and hit the road again!

I surely wasn't going to drive to Limon and get a trailer, to risk having the truck gone before I returned; and not having any way to winch a three-wheeled truck onto the trailer, it was not worth my time or effort to retrieve.

I've always wondered what the reaction of the State Patrolman was when he came up on the truck and saw what was there.

*****

Another time, in 2001, I was on my way to Rugby, North Dakota to get a '56 Hudson Super Wasp I was trading a 1988 Cherokee for. This was Winter, of course, so it was quite cold in the Northern Plains. I had the Jeep on my hauler, which was being hauled by my '96 Dodge Cummins 3500 Club Cab pickup (I had two Cummins trucks then). A day and a half of boring Interstate and boring ND state highway later, I end up in Rugby. It is the geographic center of North America, in case you are interested in that trivia bit! It's 3*F outside, with a pretty stiff northerly wind at 30 knots or so. Holy Crap, it's cold! I quickly unstrap the Jeep, load up the Hudson, then go inside and take care of the paperwork. Thankfully, both vehicles run, and there is no need to winch things. I check the straps on the car, and hit the road again.

A few miles North of Sioux Falls on I-29, I was in the middle of a hell of a snowstorm. The Cummins was running beautifully, and the truck and trailer are tracking better than I had expected, considering the winds and road conditions. But, something is wrong here - really wrong! I see the Hudson in my mirrors, and it is sitting sideways on the damn trailer! Holy ****!!! WTF is going on? It's snowy, icy, and the next safe area to turn off the freeway is still a mile away. I slow down from 50 to about 25 and pray the car is going to stay on the trailer until I get things stopped safely.

Of the four straps holding the car down, one broke and one was very loose...both were the fronts! The car was literally just sitting on the trailer, with the only things keeping it on were Providence, the parking brake and the rear straps. They were along for the ride at this point.

I got my come-along out and straightened the car on the trailer. Then, I used the electric winch to pull the car up about a foot. Then, out came the chain for cinch the rear of the car down and used the three good straps to cinch the front down. Had I gone any farther at all before this, I'd have likely seen the Hudson simply slide off the trailer onto the highway! An "oh, ****!!!' moment, to be sure.

 

[monaco75]

One of the reasons I love Chryslers is that they always get me home.

Very true Mr C!

I put together a small collection of parts and keep it in a tote in the trunk. Ballast resistor, coil, ignition module, fuel pump. I drive my NYB all over the country and if you break down in Bum F no where....you might not find those parts sitting a shelf in parts store.

Same here Bob. Keep a nice box of spare parts, and small tool kit in the trunk ready to go if needed.

I've always wondered what the reaction of the State Patrolman was when he came up on the truck and saw what was there.

Thats insane Patrick! I too would have loved too see the patrolmans face! lol Must have been fun for them getting it outa there!

Great stories guys! Thanks for sharing! Anyone else??

 

[tallhair]

My most recent breakdown (no pictures) was with my 78 NYB. It was at the worst little choke point in my little town (Aberdeen) in the left turn lane going in to Walmart. LOL! The damn chrome high performance Mallory coil quit on me. I got the Aberdeen Police (good guys) help me push Frank Sinatra off the road and they gave me a ride home to get the 35 year old original coil I kept at the house. She started right up! That coil is still on the car today. I put together a small collection of parts and keep it in a tote in the trunk. Ballast resistor, coil, ignition module, fuel pump. I drive my NYB all over the country and if you break down in Bum F no where....you might not find those parts sitting a shelf in parts store.

Especially not today and there ain't no junkyards to get some temporary stuff and guys with a parts cars down the road are getting pretty scarce too

 

[monaco75]

Can I buy the turquoise floor mat???

Its not looking to good my man. Not seeing it... It maaayy be in the attic/loft above the garage......



But yea.... lol Not too fun getting up there lately. Next time I'm up there I'll make sure to look for it though!! Sorry.

 

[commando1]

Believe me, I appreciate the attempt regardless. THANK YOU!

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[1978 NYB]

Especially not today and there ain't no junkyards to get some temporary stuff and guys with a parts cars down the road are getting pretty scarce too

I would hate to be dead on the road for a $5 ballast resistor! LOL!

 

[70NPORT]

I would hate to be dead on the road for a $5 ballast resistor! LOL!

I keep three of them babies in the trunk, along with some other parts just in case. Even got a spare alternator back there.

 

[tallhair]

I would hate to be dead on the road for a $5 ballast resistor! LOL!

I always keep the basic electricals myself too .. better smart than sitting

 

[tallhair]

I keep three of them babies in the trunk, along with some other parts just in case. Even got a spare alternator back there.

I'll add that to the kit when I get back road worthy before I go on any long journies

 

[Big_John]

My wife and I were out for a ride one nice afternoon in my Corvette. We stopped at a little shop and when we came out, the car just would not start. So.. I called AAA and specified a rollback to pick us up.

The truck showed up a short time and he has a hell of a time getting the car up and cinched down. I stepped in on the cinch down part finally before he broke something....

Got headed back towards home and his truck started skipping and bucking... He says "It's been doing this all day". It's getting worse as we go up a small hill. I ask "Is this going to make it?" "Oh yea.. It just does it on the hills". Another small hill... It's worse. I tell him "I live at the top of a hill and if this truck can hardly make it up this. it's not going to get us home" I got a grunt... I said "I'm serious... This POS truck isn't going to get us up the hill"

He grunts ... "yea... I guess" and gets out his cell phone. He waits and then says "I can't get anyone to answer... I wanted them to send another truck".... So I already have my phone out and had called AAA again while he was screwing around on his phone. "Drop the car and us at the gas station up here and the new truck will take us and the car home"

He drops us and the car... and the guy shows up with the other truck.. from another shop... and I know the guy. Corvette back up on the rollback and I didn't have to help this time....

Turned out to be a shorted fuel injector. No biggie.... First and only time I ever had to call for a tow from in another tow truck...

 

[commando1]

Corvettes are a ***** when the peasants put their mitts on them.
They don't know how to tow or haul one. They don't know how to set it on a lift without something cracking. The lot boys always lock themselves out. The valet can't find first....

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[70NPORT]

I'm not a big corvette fan, but never knew they had a "no start" reputation?

 

[Big_John]

I'm not a big corvette fan, but never knew they had a "no start" reputation?

This was a 91 and GM had kind of screwed up with the early injection system. Basically the injectors are in series and if one doesn't work, they all don't work.

The car was over 20 years old at the time, I'd had it for 10 and aside from a bad alternator, that was the only problem I ever had. It was one of the most reliable cars I ever owned.