Thread: How Stupid You Feel When....

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Decided to rotate the tires on the Jeep, including the spare. With 33x12.5R15's they weigh 90# each so I was glad to get the spare back on and be done! But then as I drove down the road later there was a "whump, whump, whump" that seemed to be in synch with the tire rotation . Back to the barn, no evidence of a rub, after too much looking I put it up on jack stands, started it and let it idle in low. The front was quiet, but the right rear had a very faint "click, click, click" so I pulled that wheel and started it again, no noise at all. Wheel back on, and the click returned, even a bit less intense. After a bit I got a flashlight and laid down to look at the back side of the wheel & tire as it idled around (knowing that if it fell I was toast! And Chase isn't like Lassie - "Go get a neighbor, buddy!") and watched as a thick stick-on wheel weight barely caught the E-brake cable as it came around A heavy zip tie to pull the cable back a bit was all it needed, and it only took two or three hours to find it!!

I really need to get a lift!!

At least it was an easy fix!

Doncha hate it when things like that happen?

(But I never tell anyone about it...)

I love easy fixes

Another anecdote for your upcoming home repair guide under the chapter "Should I use a zip tie or duct tape for a repair?"

"......Doncha hate it when things like that happen?

(But I never tell anyone about it...)......"


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Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Another anecdote for your upcoming home repair guide under the chapter "Should I use a zip tie or duct tape for a repair?"

Yeah, more & more the meme about duct tape and WD-40 fits! The frustrating thing was how long I chased that noise, trying to figure out what in the world could be making that sound, like 'Did the spare still have a sticker on the tread?? Nah, wouldn't hear it on a gravel road....' and 'Could the brake rotor be cracked and getting distorted by the lugs?' I was about convinced I'd be pulling that axle when I saw that bigger wheel weight clipping that brake cable, causing the big 'Are you kidding me!' moment.

Great story! Back many moons ago in the Sprint Car days we were getting the car ready for a 2 day show so it was a good time to check the engine over a bit. Well, as race car maintenance usually goes it got quite late, the engine was on the stand, bearings checked and the bottom end torqued, heads checked, valve springs checked for proper rate, heads and pan back on, ready to take the engine off the stand and put it back in the car. Unknown to me, one of my "friends" had dug around on the bench and found a rod bolt nut and put it on my engine tray! By now it was a bit after 2 AM as my "friends" pointed out the rod nut on the tray! My thoughts were of course that there was no way I could have left a nut off one of the rods but I was also sure that I damn well better roll the engine over on the stand and pop the pan back off to make sure. Just as I was about to roll the engine over, everyone was laughing and told me what they'd done! My new rule was to never check bearings when "friends" were there to help!

Dave, that reminds me of one of the tales in Carroll Shelby's Authorized Biography. At LeMan's the Ford/Cobra team was pitted next to Ferrari (as I recall), and in the middle of the night one of the Ferrari cars was coming in for new tires all around. Shelby was wandering around the pit, noticed the frantic anticipation of the mechanics waiting for the car, and noticed that they had put the can for used lug nuts on the bench, just over the wall from the Ford pit. Looking around to be sure no one was paying attention, he reached over and grabbed one lug nut, and as the car was roaring back out into the night and the crew was rolling the old wheels & tires to the back for new rubber Shelby quietly rolled the lug nut out where the car had been parked. His story was that in just a minute or two one of the mechanics wandered back, saw the lug nut and there was a torrent of Italian shouts, with lots of finger pointing. Unlike your friends, Shelby held his laugh until he was in the back of the Ford pit area.
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https://movies.stackexchange.com/que...he-ferrari-pit

Lol, I’ll give you credit Roger. It takes guts to tell that story in public. I’ve done plenty of worse things, but I can’t think of them at the moment.

Roger, it had to have been a real experience to even be around Shelby when he was in his prime! Some of the stories in books and recollections of other racers from that same era are great! If any young gearheads are looking for heroes from the past, Shelby and Smokey Yunick would be my suggestions, for the proper attitude, throw in a heavy dose of AJ Foyt!

I remember as a kid reading Smokey Yunick's column in Mechanix Illustrated magazine. He was a unique guy, and came up with some really innovative ideas that people thought were off the wall, but he won! The last I recall he was running his "hot vapor" 4 cylinder engine, superheating the incoming fuel/air mixture to around 450F and getting 50% higher MPG and twice the horsepower and torque from stock! And the tales of how he interpreted the NASCAR rules? Legend!!

"....... If any young gearheads are looking for heroes from the past, Shelby and Smokey Yunick would be my suggestions, for the proper attitude, throw in a heavy dose of AJ Foyt! ......."

I'd just add one more to that list Dave, Mickey Thompson. I read his autobiography Challenger back in the 60s (just ordered a copy of it) he was a fascinating individual.




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Foyt? As in Cannonball Run?

Farrah Fawcett?