201 replies to this topic

[pvstoy]

At times we can be our worst enemy of destruction......

[Moose Dog]

Here's my new lesson - don't put bananas in the fridge. Like, ever. 

 

It wasn't turned on (driveway camp while sorting out a house )  but since I was in an anty area I put all food in the refrigerator. 

 

Is banana smell easy to get rid of - no! It lingers and lingers. Durned fridge still smells like a monkey bar. Not the worst problem in the world, but I gotta say:   Bananas vs. Ants  =  Bananas 1 / Ants ø. 

[ski3pin]

...........................forgot to put the camera in the truck before leaving on the last trip.

[pvstoy]

Bummer... now you have to be creative with words to paint the scene,, A mind stimulating adventure

[craig333]

Nice thing about cell phones having cameras. I've done it, more than once!

[Wandering Sagebrush]

...........................forgot to put the camera in the truck before leaving on the last trip.

Oh no! Say it ain’t so!

[WyoIDI]

This seems like a good thread for me to contribute to.

 

We were traveling through Yellowstone on our way to our annual Oregon Coast trip a couple of years ago and had little mishap.  We got a late start since I worked the nightshift the night before and had to nap a little.  Needless to say spirits were high since we were on our way to our all time favorite campsite even if 16 hours of driving were ahead of us.  

 

I was already a little anxious having to travel thru the park at a busy time in the evening (living next to Yellowstone will do that to you) so I may not have been paying attention to things as closely as normal.  Anyways we were nearing West Yellowstone and could actually see the gate over the endless line of cars when the back of the truck suddenly dropped hard and it was hard to keep the vehicle in control going about 30 miles an hour. I was able to work over to the narrow shoulder and stop the truck.  To my horror I saw the rear tire sticking out about 8" further than normal in my rear view mirror.  Seeing a flat tire or blown tire is one thing, but seeing the whole wheel displaced like that was a special kind of sinking feeling.

 

I had to exit the passenger side because of the rat race of traffic zooming by to get back to the hotels, and of course light was fading quickly.  one glance under the truck confirmed my fears, the wheel had come off and all the wheel studs had been shorn off demolishing the alloy rim in the process.  The only good news was that the hub had actually landed inside the rim and kept itself off the pavement thus saving the brake and who knows what else.  Only about an inch of the hub was still perched on rim though so I had to get a jack under it fast while the endless stream of cars were zipping by my head.

 

So I got the axle held up on the jack and and AAA was called I could re assess our predicament.  I'm going to probably need a wrecker to haul my f350 and Grandby to a shop for new wheel studs and I'm going to need a new rim.  Then the phone rings again and It's the park service telling me that since we're technically still in Yellowstone we need to wait at least an hour for a park service wrecker to come from the other side of the park.  I could of thrown a rock and hit the entrance booth from where my truck was parked.  At that point I really did want to pick up that rock because the wrecker from west Yellowstone was sitting on the other side of the park boundary just idling and the driver shrugging his shoulders in a sympathetic way.  After half an hour and another heated conversation with the Park dispatch after being told the wrecker got diverted to a more "serious" situation, they relented and let the West Yellowstone wrecker thru.  He was able to hook up and have us to his shop within 10 minutes.

 

We ended up camping at the shop that night and were in luck since they had a bucket full of Ford wheel studs that they used on their tour van fleet.  We were back on the road to tire shop in St. Anthony by 10 AM.  After the excitement had settled down that night I realized that I never re-checked the lug nut torque after I got new tires installed a few days earlier.  I'll take partial responsibility for the stupidity since all the lug nuts were hand tight around the truck.  The tire shop obviously didn't torque them to spec to begin with and I failed to as well.  Moral of my long winded story; check for lug nuts often and always carry a full size spare and jack.  Oh yeah and don't break down in Yellowstone haha!

[craig333]

Just had my tires rotated. I think I'll go get my torque wrench and double check. Well, at least if I broke down in Yellowstone I'd be in Yellowstone! Gotta get out there soon.

[ski3pin]

Great story, thanks for adding it!

 

 

This seems like a good thread for me to contribute to.

 

We were traveling through Yellowstone on our way to our annual Oregon Coast trip a couple of years ago and had little mishap.  We got a late start since I worked the nightshift the night before and had to nap a little.  Needless to say spirits were high since we were on our way to our all time favorite campsite even if 16 hours of driving were ahead of us.  

 

I was already a little anxious having to travel thru the park at a busy time in the evening (living next to Yellowstone will do that to you) so I may not have been paying attention to things as closely as normal.  Anyways we were nearing West Yellowstone and could actually see the gate over the endless line of cars when the back of the truck suddenly dropped hard and it was hard to keep the vehicle in control going about 30 miles an hour. I was able to work over to the narrow shoulder and stop the truck.  To my horror I saw the rear tire sticking out about 8" further than normal in my rear view mirror.  Seeing a flat tire or blown tire is one thing, but seeing the whole wheel displaced like that was a special kind of sinking feeling.

 

I had to exit the passenger side because of the rat race of traffic zooming by to get back to the hotels, and of course light was fading quickly.  one glance under the truck confirmed my fears, the wheel had come off and all the wheel studs had been shorn off demolishing the alloy rim in the process.  The only good news was that the hub had actually landed inside the rim and kept itself off the pavement thus saving the brake and who knows what else.  Only about an inch of the hub was still perched on rim though so I had to get a jack under it fast while the endless stream of cars were zipping by my head.

 

So I got the axle held up on the jack and and AAA was called I could re assess our predicament.  I'm going to probably need a wrecker to haul my f350 and Grandby to a shop for new wheel studs and I'm going to need a new rim.  Then the phone rings again and It's the park service telling me that since we're technically still in Yellowstone we need to wait at least an hour for a park service wrecker to come from the other side of the park.  I could of thrown a rock and hit the entrance booth from where my truck was parked.  At that point I really did want to pick up that rock because the wrecker from west Yellowstone was sitting on the other side of the park boundary just idling and the driver shrugging his shoulders in a sympathetic way.  After half an hour and another heated conversation with the Park dispatch after being told the wrecker got diverted to a more "serious" situation, they relented and let the West Yellowstone wrecker thru.  He was able to hook up and have us to his shop within 10 minutes.

 

We ended up camping at the shop that night and were in luck since they had a bucket full of Ford wheel studs that they used on their tour van fleet.  We were back on the road to tire shop in St. Anthony by 10 AM.  After the excitement had settled down that night I realized that I never re-checked the lug nut torque after I got new tires installed a few days earlier.  I'll take partial responsibility for the stupidity since all the lug nuts were hand tight around the truck.  The tire shop obviously didn't torque them to spec to begin with and I failed to as well.  Moral of my long winded story; check for lug nuts often and always carry a full size spare and jack.  Oh yeah and don't break down in Yellowstone haha!

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

I actually carry a "torque" wrench with the truck/camper.

I use it as a breaker bar.

Ever try to get the lugs loose after they have been tightened?

Also a deep socket helps.I don't rely on the truck jack or lug wrench.

Thanks for the story.

Frank