So this weekend is the Vintiques Northwest Nationals here in Yakima. They have a cruise night every year, and this thursday (even with the triple digit heat) classic cars filled the streets. My buddy, who owns a 1965 Impala four door hardtop, and I convinced our wives that this would be a great family outing. With a little bribery (a promised stop at the local Dairy Queen for some ice-cream) we loaded up the wives and babies and went cruising. We had a great time and were headed home when the real fun began. The Fury has had the same tires on it since I was driving it in High School (1996!) and though they still had good tread were a bit whether checked. I made sure before we left that the pressure was up in all the tires along with checking all of the fluids and what-not. Well, we had just gotten onto the bridge crossing the Yakima River when the Passenger rear tire decided to give up the ghost. Needless to say, I had to drive it all the way over the bridge before I could pull off the road. The boy got a real kick out of the "wump-wump-wump" the wife, however was not as impressed. I also managed to lose the hubcap in the process and feared it went into the river. My brother and I got the family home in his Merc and then we went back and switched out the spare. Of course we had an amazing electrical storm that dumped about six inches of rain in about ten minutes which made things interesting. Today I surveyed the damage. I think the rim is OK, but unlike something's, this didn't look better in the light of day.
Glad to hear everyone is safe. It could have been a lot worse. Driving on old tires isn't worth the gamble of putting your families life at risk for a few hundred bucks.
That was close enough. What a guy won't do. When my dad's brother was young and dumb and full of ..., he'd call up my granny, or older neighbours to see if they needed a ride. Gas was $0.36 per CDN$ gallon. Bread was $0.05 per loaf. He'd line up the trips, starting with the shortest, leaving the longest to the end. Since he was only 16, he'd use their cars. Somewhere along these trips, he'd lash on an old rope around the tire through the wheel, after they'd fill it with gas, and drop them off, while he'd go to the "gas station" to 'fix the tire'. After hours of chasing girls, racing, and general joy-riding, he'd bring the car back, and get a tip, for being so helpful. So will you get new tires?
Yes, it could have been much worse. The good Lord just wanted to let me know that I needed new tires I spose. So, I put er back in the garage last night and decided that it wasn't going back on the road until She had some new shoes. My dilemma is that the past two weeks have had a number of unexpected household expenses pop up (Washing machine went out, the old TV popped and the wife's car was rear ended by an uninsured motorist with a suspended license ) so the prospect of buying four new whitewalls is not exactly a priority right now. But when the time comes I'll get some nice radials for it.
ahh but if you get the bug...in the mean time go to the local junkyard an grab some used ones. i re-shod my 76 omega for about $40 and the tire were in good shape and about 1/2 tread.
Wow Rob, that stinks. At least I was only about 2 miles from my house. I have thought about scoping out the local wrecking yards for some tires. We'll see what happens.
My blown tire happened just a few miles from St George, UT where I immediately replaced the tire. A day later I had severe ignition problems: on forehand I knew there was a part of the I-70 where there was no service or town for 110mls. So at the start of that part of the route I double checked on all fluids tires etc etc. Guess where the problems with the ignition occured..... exact at 55mls :banghead3: Had spare points and distributor cap with me; changed it, but still the car wouldn't start. At that time I was out of alternatives (and tired of being above a hot engine and a outside temperature of 105F) A truckdriver took me 55 mls to the next town where I was able to get a tow truck; hauled the Electra for 55 mls (110 mls at $375 towing costs :banghead3: ) and finally found out that the wire from the coil to distributor was broken inside the insulation $0.02 repair and on we went
Man, that sucks! This won't make you feel better, but might help to avoid it. I found article this last evening, discussing ignition and timing problems and quality of components. Ignition wires, wobbly distributors, and... and..., and... http://www.musclemustangfastfords.com/tech/0207mmff_tech/index.html