I just keep saying "No Such Thing as Luck" good or bad.
09-30-2011, 11:09 AM
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I just keep saying "No Such Thing as Luck" good or bad.
But Its looking like we not only crossed a black cats path but ran it over in the road.
Friday; Travel Day
On our way to MD our tow vehicle died on the side of the road, no problem.. we have a truck load of mechanics.
So after 20 min of looking the find what seems to be the problem, a fuel filter.. simple enough. The filter is drilled out and we are off to the next exit were we find a NAPA and pick up a new filter.
Back on the Turnpike.. maybe 35/40min later the Truck dies again.. and it seems the hi-pressure fuel pump is not working (could it be the pump worked it self to death because of a plugged filter??)
I get on my GPS and find a close auto parts store to see if they have a pump in stock, and they do!! We ask if they could deliver to us on the side of the road; but seeing as we are on the toll road they cant (exits are an hour apart) .. so I see we have I-31 passing near by and ask if he can deliver to that bridge and he can. So I run to the bridge and wait for a NAPA truck. 10min goes by and he comes rolling around the turn with our fuel pump. I sign for it and run back with the pump for the guys to put on. Once the pumps installed the truck fires up and we are back on our way.
Fast forward to 40/50 min later.. It died again with fuel issues. We track this down to the fuel pump inside the TANK, and of course we just filled it with 40 gallons of gas. After checking the wires DoubleD notices that the pump starts working after it "cools down" after 15/20min so we fire the van and start toward the next exit. Maybe 30/40 min later it died, but we sat for a few and she fired up.. so we kept going.
Some place just outside of Maryland we find a Pep Boys and stop. The counter guy said it could be 1 of these 2 pumps so we bought the both and kept going.
Our goal was to run the fuel level down while trying to make it to the pits. Once at the pit area we would drop the tank and replace the pump. Just as we got off the beltway the van died again.. no problem, we made some dinner had a drink (soda) and waited for it to cool. Once 20 min passed she fired up and we were only 30 miles for the race site.
The night ended around 12:30 am as we dropped the boat in the pits and found our hotel after a quick dinner at Applebees (sp?) a 11 hr trip took us 17hrs!!!
Saturday : Testing
Saturday morning we knew the tank was LOW (Really low) so we figured we could drop the tank and change out the pump pretty easy. Well on the way to the pits the pump died, and died for a final time.. We called Josh (lightning Jack) to see if we could barrow his saw (plan #2) and cut the back of the floor out and change the pump from the top down on the side of the road. Well Josh called John and John was kind enough to bring out the tools. The floor was cut and pump replaced in record time.
Boat ran good in testing, nothing major to report.
Sunday Race Day :
Really bad start as we were pushed FAR outside, but a sharp turn at turn two moved us into 2nd behind Wazzup II. After 3 laps we were unable to make up (or loose) any ground on them but notice the engine felt "wrong".. after a couple scary guage reading Gary figured it was best to shut her down instead of risking windowing a block.
*Broken valve spring was found later
Sunday drive home:
after a weekend from hell we figured it was best to get out of dodge and we did.. but (you knew there was a but).. Maybe 40min outside of town the van died again.. WTF??? well Darryl found that the tank pump was getting intermittent power. Well not in the position to find the issue or the right state of mind Gary took an extension cord and chop a 10ft chunk out of it running a direct power and ground to our interior lighting battery in the truck and everything started and worked fine.. we even got better mileage than ever before with 2 working fuel pumps and flowing filter.
Just as we exited the turnpike to Toledo we seen Gas at 3.09 gallon and figured lets fill up now. While filling the tank Craig gave the truck and trailer a quick once over and found our rear trailer tire/wheel was cooked. We asked the local truck stop service are if they had a wheel bearing but they had nothing that small. So we “punted” .. The tire was pulled and the axle was strapped to the trailer and we went on our way with 3 tires. Sure its not an ideal situation but its all we had..
Just pulling across the Detroit city limits the single tire blew.. a quick pit stop and we were on our way again. Well only 10min later the 2nd tire blew leaving us with only 1 “spare” and 30 miles left to go. We bolted up the last tire and drove down I-94 at 30/35mph know we would be fu*&ked if this one pops but we made it home and in only 15hrs..
Thursday
Last night I was working on the truck and Gary was replacing all the bearing in the trailer and noticed the rear axle was damaged beyond use. So Gary was pulling the axle while I was out back working on the tow truck. I than heard what I thought was a radio but soon noticed it was Gary yelling for HELP.. I went running into the shop to see Garys hand pinned between the axle and trailer frame and him yelling “get a pry bar” get a bar” before I could even find a bar Gary was able to push down on the axle spindle while pushing up on the boat with his shoulder releasing his hand. I soon noticed it was not his hand that was stuck, it was his fingers
nws pic
dont look if you have a weak stomach
I warned you
you dont listen do you.........
Friday; Travel Day
On our way to MD our tow vehicle died on the side of the road, no problem.. we have a truck load of mechanics.
So after 20 min of looking the find what seems to be the problem, a fuel filter.. simple enough. The filter is drilled out and we are off to the next exit were we find a NAPA and pick up a new filter.
Back on the Turnpike.. maybe 35/40min later the Truck dies again.. and it seems the hi-pressure fuel pump is not working (could it be the pump worked it self to death because of a plugged filter??)
I get on my GPS and find a close auto parts store to see if they have a pump in stock, and they do!! We ask if they could deliver to us on the side of the road; but seeing as we are on the toll road they cant (exits are an hour apart) .. so I see we have I-31 passing near by and ask if he can deliver to that bridge and he can. So I run to the bridge and wait for a NAPA truck. 10min goes by and he comes rolling around the turn with our fuel pump. I sign for it and run back with the pump for the guys to put on. Once the pumps installed the truck fires up and we are back on our way.
Fast forward to 40/50 min later.. It died again with fuel issues. We track this down to the fuel pump inside the TANK, and of course we just filled it with 40 gallons of gas. After checking the wires DoubleD notices that the pump starts working after it "cools down" after 15/20min so we fire the van and start toward the next exit. Maybe 30/40 min later it died, but we sat for a few and she fired up.. so we kept going.
Some place just outside of Maryland we find a Pep Boys and stop. The counter guy said it could be 1 of these 2 pumps so we bought the both and kept going.
Our goal was to run the fuel level down while trying to make it to the pits. Once at the pit area we would drop the tank and replace the pump. Just as we got off the beltway the van died again.. no problem, we made some dinner had a drink (soda) and waited for it to cool. Once 20 min passed she fired up and we were only 30 miles for the race site.
The night ended around 12:30 am as we dropped the boat in the pits and found our hotel after a quick dinner at Applebees (sp?) a 11 hr trip took us 17hrs!!!
Saturday : Testing
Saturday morning we knew the tank was LOW (Really low) so we figured we could drop the tank and change out the pump pretty easy. Well on the way to the pits the pump died, and died for a final time.. We called Josh (lightning Jack) to see if we could barrow his saw (plan #2) and cut the back of the floor out and change the pump from the top down on the side of the road. Well Josh called John and John was kind enough to bring out the tools. The floor was cut and pump replaced in record time.
Boat ran good in testing, nothing major to report.
Sunday Race Day :
Really bad start as we were pushed FAR outside, but a sharp turn at turn two moved us into 2nd behind Wazzup II. After 3 laps we were unable to make up (or loose) any ground on them but notice the engine felt "wrong".. after a couple scary guage reading Gary figured it was best to shut her down instead of risking windowing a block.
*Broken valve spring was found later
Sunday drive home:
after a weekend from hell we figured it was best to get out of dodge and we did.. but (you knew there was a but).. Maybe 40min outside of town the van died again.. WTF??? well Darryl found that the tank pump was getting intermittent power. Well not in the position to find the issue or the right state of mind Gary took an extension cord and chop a 10ft chunk out of it running a direct power and ground to our interior lighting battery in the truck and everything started and worked fine.. we even got better mileage than ever before with 2 working fuel pumps and flowing filter.
Just as we exited the turnpike to Toledo we seen Gas at 3.09 gallon and figured lets fill up now. While filling the tank Craig gave the truck and trailer a quick once over and found our rear trailer tire/wheel was cooked. We asked the local truck stop service are if they had a wheel bearing but they had nothing that small. So we “punted” .. The tire was pulled and the axle was strapped to the trailer and we went on our way with 3 tires. Sure its not an ideal situation but its all we had..
Just pulling across the Detroit city limits the single tire blew.. a quick pit stop and we were on our way again. Well only 10min later the 2nd tire blew leaving us with only 1 “spare” and 30 miles left to go. We bolted up the last tire and drove down I-94 at 30/35mph know we would be fu*&ked if this one pops but we made it home and in only 15hrs..
Thursday
Last night I was working on the truck and Gary was replacing all the bearing in the trailer and noticed the rear axle was damaged beyond use. So Gary was pulling the axle while I was out back working on the tow truck. I than heard what I thought was a radio but soon noticed it was Gary yelling for HELP.. I went running into the shop to see Garys hand pinned between the axle and trailer frame and him yelling “get a pry bar” get a bar” before I could even find a bar Gary was able to push down on the axle spindle while pushing up on the boat with his shoulder releasing his hand. I soon noticed it was not his hand that was stuck, it was his fingers
nws pic
dont look if you have a weak stomach
I warned you
you dont listen do you.........
Gold Member
09-30-2011, 04:09 PM
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Rick, as long as it took you to type that you could have fixed the truck, replaced the axle for gary and put the back up engine in the boat! 
.... talk about a ****ty past couple weeks!!!
.... talk about a ****ty past couple weeks!!!
09-30-2011, 10:41 PM
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Sounds like you allowed the events of the weekend to just compound and devour you . Next time fight back a little harder .
Your,e an offshore racer , don,t let the relentless pressure get you down .
You,ll be fine .
PS ( methiolade
)
