New Dog, Damaged Wagon, and Cutlass Work - What a Weekend

Hi all. Been meaning to post about all this fun stuff but between work and looking for parts I've just not had the time.

Some of this is off the wagon topic, but it's related, so here we go. Long-winded as usual.

I'd posted previously that we had to put our 11-year-old cocker spaniel Emily down over the holidays. The lump in her leg turned out to be cancer. She was a good old girl and it was hard on my family...but it didn't take long for the kids to start asking for a new dog.

My wife wanted a bigger dog. I grew up with smaller mutts and Emily was out 3rd cocker since moving to Texas. Growing up, my wife had Rottweilers....well I kinda shut that idea down. I know they are good dogs, but I've seen some crazy ones, and my youngest son is only 3. It just worried me too much.

My Dad, who is a country boy and grew up in the delta of eastern Arkansas, had raised Labs as a kid. My grandfather bred them and they shipped them all over the country. Dad suggested that's what we look for. He said other than shedding and being hyper, they are great family dogs.

So last Thursday Misty sends me a Craigslist ad from San Antonio. The ad was from a family that was moving from a home to an apartment, and had to give up their 4-year-old lab. I called the guy, and he's a realtor. He bought a building in downtown San Antonio with four apartments in it, and he and his family are going to live in one while he fixes the other three up in his spare time after his normal work. He'll have no time for the dog. He has two daughters, 3 and 6, and he was terribly concerned that the dog would go to a good home with kids and a big yard. That's us!

The dog's name is Cache (Cash), named because he loves to go Geo-caching. He's technically a yellow lab, but is actually a rare color called "Fox Red". He'd bought the dog as a puppy from a breeder that specialized in fox red labs, had taken it to obedience school, he said it was perfectly house trained, followed commands well, not a barker or a chewer, and was gentle and loving to his kids.

It all sounded wonderful...so what's the catch? Well he said Cache is a BIG dog, around 100lbs. Bigger than most labs. He said that once they moved the dog would be locked up most of the day, and it just was not fair.

I relayed all this to my wife and kids. My oldest son was almost crying he got so excited. He promised to to brush the dog, wash it, walk it, basically anything in order to get it. We met the guy in San Marcos, about half way between Austin and San Antonio, and got the dog Friday night. The guy teared up when he said goodbye, and he told me he'd "Googled" me and even looked at ariel shots of my house before letting us have Cache. He'd had five other callers but I was first and he wanted Cache to be with my boys. Really nice.

But he was right, the dog is HUGE. It's head is enormous, it's paws are huge, he comes up to my 10-year-olds chest. It's crap piles in the yard are staggering....thankfully it IS housetrained.

I layed a blanket down in the back of the Roady and the dog jumped right in. He could not sit up fully though, his head hit the headliner. Man he's BIG. Thankfully he layed down as soon as we got on the highway and did fine on the hour ride home. He's a great dog and just as the previous owner said, loves my kids, is easy to walk...but he does shed.



Now here's where the wagon topic ties in. Driving home Friday night Cache was on that blanket. When he got home I pulled the blanket out and shook it. There was hardly any hair in the car....good deal.

My wife Misty asked if she could use the Roady to take the kids and the dog to the 3-1/2 mile hiking trail they love over near Lake Austin on Saturday morning. I said SURE (would give me a chance to sleep in), as long as she would use a blanket and pick up the car afterwords. Well she called her best friend Janna, who also has a big white mutt, and my brother as well, and invited them all hiking too.

So Saturday morning I woke up to an empty house.....heaven. I lazed around, watched Netflix, it was in the 70's and gorgeous outside so I had coffee on the front porch. Just a NICE morning. Misty comes home around 2:30. She and the kids are filthy. She found out the new dog LOVES water and they had to go into a creek and pull Cache out. She heads for the shower. The dog is dry but dirty so I send Eddie, my oldest, out to the back yard with a can of shampoo and tell him not to come back until the dog is clean. He's a good boy and does what I tell him.

So I'm in the house...and after seeing my family am scared to go look at my Roadmaster. I head out the garage, and it's....well.....horrible. They car is filthy, muddy on the wheels and on the lower sides. I open the door to the smell of wet dog. There are Wendy's bags and cups in the front seat cupholders and floors, along with mud on the mats, in the middle row floor are all their "Camelback" backpack water holders...and more mud. Yucko!

I walk around to the tailgate...and this is when I go off....for the first time of the day, but not the last.... The blanket they were supposed to use is crumpled in the corner up by the 2nd row seatback, and my pretty red carpet is COVERED with yellow, red, and white dog hair, and mud too. I mean it's COVERED with hair, as is the carpert on the side panels and tailgate, and even the headliner has hair on it.

I storm inside, and my wife has gotten out of the shower and gotten in BED! Thanks for the help! I ask about the hair, and she said they had both Cache and Janna's white mutt back there, and that they were "playing". I contain the urge to scream, and instead blame myself. I tell Misty I'm going to the car wash and I'll be back later.

Here's where it gets better. I start the Roady and put the windows down to air it out, back out of the driveway and think I feel a thud....hmmm. I drive down my street and the car feels ok, but coming to the light I press the brake and I feel and hear a loud POP from the front. Say what?? I inch forward and press the brake again and feel the same thing. Is my wheel falling off?? I get out....in the intersection mind you, and shake both front wheels. They seem tight.

I'm fuming now, get back into the car and pull onto the main road. I get going about 50....everything seems ok, but then I apply the brakes and in addition to the POP-THUD from the front, the car pulls hard to the right! What the heck!

At this point I was at the car wash. I cleaned the outside and then opened all the doors, pull the mats, and spend an hour with the vaccum. Thank goodness when you buy a wash the vaccums are free there. I know now that Lab dog hair sticks to GM cargo carpet like crazy glue, and this was the first time I've ever wished my car was tan inside instead of red. HUGE MESS.

After cleaning the Roady I drive home slowly and ask my wife what the hell she hit. She's still in bed. She stares at me blankly, and says she hit nothing, and then GETS MAD AT ME FOR THE WAY I'M SPEAKING TO HER.

I have Eddie come outside and ask him to watch the front wheel as I roll forward and press on the brake. He does, and as I press on the brake his eyes get huge, he starts pointing and jumping up and down. Says it looks like the wheel is going to come off....

So now it's 5pm. The wagon is too wide to fit on my tow dolley, and I'm not about to pay for a tow. I call my buddy Troung and tell him I want to use his lift, and I carefully and slowly drive to his shop. The car rolls straight, steering wheel is straight, and it's only when I touch the brakes that all hell breaks loose.

On getting the car on the lift....it's bad. First off, it's muddy under there...she went off road, had to. The passenger side tie-rod is the main issue. It's trashed, and I can move the wheel back and forth freely. It's amazing I didn't have an issue getting it to the shop. Troung shows up, and we start wiggling stuff, and decide between this issue and 105K miles, it's time to rebuild the front end. So on order are:

-Inner and outer tie rods
-center link
-idler arm
-steering damper

I'm also pulling off the 1yr old front Monroe Severe Service Shocks and replacing them with some softer units. I'm tired of hearing the change rattle in the ash tray over bumps, want some Buick ride back. If anyone wants these I'll sell them for $50, plus shipping. I have the reciept and they still have a lifetime warranty, and being Texas are just dusty (I'll wipe them off before shipping of course)
.
Troung told me not ot order the tire rod adjusters, said most of those are Chinese crap (Troung is Vietnamese...cracks me up how he hates Chinese stuff) now and since mine have no rust on them and are "solid GM parts" we'll re-use them. We checked my upper and lower ball joints and they seem fine, so they are staying, but we are going to re-pack the wheel bearings while it's in the air.

Now it gets better. There is more mud in the rear, and it's apparent the car bottomed out on something. Since I had that tire wear issue a while back I'd been meaning to look at the trailing arm bushings. Turns out they are fine, but one of my Gabriel coil-over load shocks (still also under warranty) is leaking. Since I'm going to be back there now too, I finally ordered my variable-rate Moog heavy-load coil strings, to replace the weak stock springs that I'd left when I removed the air shocks. Hopefully she'll be happier loaded and when pulling the boat now. Long overdue update.

So that's it for the Roady. I ordered the parts from Rock Auto, and until they come in, the wagon is parked and I'm driving the '79 Electra Limited. It's sucking me dry for gas...man that 403 is a guzzler.

Misty has STILL not admitted to what they heck they did with my car, but she said "I'll NEVER drive it again!". Ok then! Fine with me!

On a happier note, I got to work on the Oldsmobile parts on Sunday. Pulled out the pressure washer, and Eddie helped me blast all the loose parts in the driveway. Man it's great having sons!





All the stuff you see in the pics above is now painted high-heat semi-gloss black....well except the valve covers. I'm putting chrome covers on, just cleaning up those blue ones to bolt on the engine for when I paint it.....which will happen this weekend!

As soon as the Roady is done I'm going to drive my knocking 307 Cutlass down to Troung's shop and we're yanking that boat achor 307 there, and then will be dropping in the new 350. With some luck the '88 Cutlass will be back on the road next month. Woo-Hoo!

-Mike

 

It's great that you brought that big dog into your life and home, sounds like he'll be a wonderful addition to your family. Sorry about what happened to your wagon....hope everything is all right now.

David

 

It is, sorry if some of that came off like a rant. I'm glad nothing bad happened while the family was using my car, and this issue is causing me to do some updates to the Roady I'd been meaning to do for some time, like swap the front shocks and installed the new rear springs.

Everything happens for a reason.

And yep, he's a great dog. I'm still not used to his size yet. It's like having a bear walking around the house.

It's all good. Take care!

-Mike

 

I have Great Pyrenees, so I understand what big dogs are all about. My current male is in the neighborhood of 110 pounds. The largest one that has been in my home was a fellow that weighed in at 155 pounds, the two dogs lived together for a little over a year.... Like your Lab, my current guy was a previously owned dog, more of a rescue than yours though.

What's great about these forum's is that if something happens to your car, you can vent.....and hundreds if not thousands of people will read your post and feel your pain..... Glad everything is all good.

David

 

Great story. Glad you shared. Sounds like you have another really nice dog in the family. Perhaps someday, many moons from now, you will laugh about what happened. I already did. Yes, and nearly cried too!
Another reason I am happy my wife never learned to drive!

 

Sorry about the front end work,

Congrats on the pup.....100lb, can't sit up in the back of a wagon.....sounds like a normal size dog to me.

Now as for dog hair and wet dog smell........ Arm and hammer (origonal) and a shop vac, whats the big deal.... you did say you have sons, rite?

Seriously though, you have a dog, you have a wagon, it's gona happen.

If I had a penny for every time I cleaned out the way back...........

 

jenn has an "oh well" attitude about stuff too i know how you feel.

 

Its crap piles are staggering...

Beautifully written, I'm still laughing...

 

I've had a couple of our cars in places that my hubby still doesn't know about.

Sweet dog, as for the piles...just keep in mind how much goes in seems to double on the way out. Your right good thing he's house trained...but who's cleaning the yard?

 

I bought my son a nice little shovel.

 

Sorry to hear about the issues. At least you had a quiet morning until they got back.

I have the opposite problem you had there. My wife I have trained only well enough that she will ride in the minivan in the passenger seat. She won't drive it. She won't even get in it if I'm not already in it, even if the thing she wants can be picked up without leaning into the van. Go figure. She has insisted if I got a wagon she would not even ride in it, she would merely follow me in her truck. I never got her to ride in the Electra Estate back in '08 but once and that was only across town to get her truck from the shop. I'm thinking I may never get to have that cross-country two-week-long road trip in a station wagon that I want to do with her and all the kids. It wouldn't make any sense to take 2 vehicles if all of us and our stuff fits in one car.

*rolls eyes*

I try to be practical and decent and a good husband, and then it's, "you're not getting me out of town in anything but a truck" and I feel like I missed some crucial detail somewhere to allow her to accept the fact that I Do Not Want a truck.

 

Great posting 81 and I'm loving your new Lab. They are absolutely the best with kids and his face looks so loyal and loving. Best of luck with him; you won't be able to keep him out of the water though, no doubt about that.
Cracks me up that your wife said "Ok, I'll never drive it again"; like that was a threat instead of a favor! Sounds like a great deal to me, so long as she sticks to it.

 

Is the wagon your problem orrrrrr your driving skills...





just asking???

 

LMAO.....

I lauph because I remember those days as a kid..... it didn't stink till I touched it...with the shovel!

 

I know this started out as a serious post. But it got funny. In the long run, your wagon needed some attention and with your loving wife's help it got it. You are lucky to have a good mechanic friend, great family, and now a new dog friend.
Life is good!