Senior moment almost cost me my life
08-14-2016, 02:21 AM
#11
Originally Posted by The Raptor' timestamp='1471124494' post='24038753
Glad you are OK, Ray. That's scary stuff! When I was a teenager I had a 1962 Corvair Monza. (Ralph Nader was right.) On the San Diego Freeway one day, the luggage compartment lid (like a hood, but the engine was in the rear) flew up and off my car and sailed at a 45° angle through the passenger side of the windshield of a moving van behind me. Over a few feet and it woiuld have decapitated the driver. We both pulled over and I almost had to peel the driver's fingers off his steering wheel. He was frozen in shock.
08-14-2016, 02:54 AM
#12
Thread Starter
Ray, thankfully you are still here to tell the tale. Damn near miss! But I guess the man upstairs said it wasn't your time. Actually what you did was a fear many of us who work on our own cars have. Right in the middle of doing something.... Honey, it's lunch time, etc. or you have a phone call, etc.... or what ever and you forget to finish up completely the project you were working on.
Since a number of others shared their stories, I'll toss in mine. Believe me, I'm not trying to top yours. I had a Nissan Maxima that I owned for 18 years and loved but it was at the end of it's life as rust had eaten away the jackup points. In any case, I was swapping out the winter tires for the summer tires. For some unknown reason the torque setting on my air gun did not work.... but I didn't know it. After the swap I drove into town about 3 miles away to get gas. To get there I jump onto a 70 mph road for most of it. I hit the first red light after the 55 mph with a green. When I entered the second light and stepped on the brakes ALL four wheels came off! Thank God it was Sunday and very little traffic at the intersection. One wheel went into the Shell station. One wheel went into a Target store parking lot. One wheel just hit a curb and was in the middle of the oncoming lane. And I've no idea where wheel four went. All I could think of was - Thank God It Didn't Happen a Couple Minutes Earlier when I was doing 70 mph. Believe it or not I sold the car on the spot. A couple people came out from their houses to help round up the wheels, and nuts that were all over the place, and a young guy said he had a jack. We jacked it up after its ride on the brake rotors and I drove it to his house. He commented he loved working on cars and I asked him if was interested in a project. I sold it to him the car for a couple hundred and made him sign a statement that he knew what he was buying.
Ever since I have looked to see it back on the road around our town but I've never seen it. But, to this day I will still say it was the best car I ever owned.
Since a number of others shared their stories, I'll toss in mine. Believe me, I'm not trying to top yours. I had a Nissan Maxima that I owned for 18 years and loved but it was at the end of it's life as rust had eaten away the jackup points. In any case, I was swapping out the winter tires for the summer tires. For some unknown reason the torque setting on my air gun did not work.... but I didn't know it. After the swap I drove into town about 3 miles away to get gas. To get there I jump onto a 70 mph road for most of it. I hit the first red light after the 55 mph with a green. When I entered the second light and stepped on the brakes ALL four wheels came off! Thank God it was Sunday and very little traffic at the intersection. One wheel went into the Shell station. One wheel went into a Target store parking lot. One wheel just hit a curb and was in the middle of the oncoming lane. And I've no idea where wheel four went. All I could think of was - Thank God It Didn't Happen a Couple Minutes Earlier when I was doing 70 mph. Believe it or not I sold the car on the spot. A couple people came out from their houses to help round up the wheels, and nuts that were all over the place, and a young guy said he had a jack. We jacked it up after its ride on the brake rotors and I drove it to his house. He commented he loved working on cars and I asked him if was interested in a project. I sold it to him the car for a couple hundred and made him sign a statement that he knew what he was buying.
Ever since I have looked to see it back on the road around our town but I've never seen it. But, to this day I will still say it was the best car I ever owned. 
08-14-2016, 02:56 AM
#13
Thread Starter
08-14-2016, 04:16 AM
#15
around 10 years ago my father in law had his SUV brakes serviced before going up to Vermont for the summer.
The would load up the utility trailer with his motorcycle and a bunch of other stuff.
As they swept down through and downhill to uphill right hand sweeper on Rt 89 he looked to his left and watched his rear tire go rolling by.
Somehow he got it off to the side of the road and stopped.
The would load up the utility trailer with his motorcycle and a bunch of other stuff.
As they swept down through and downhill to uphill right hand sweeper on Rt 89 he looked to his left and watched his rear tire go rolling by.
Somehow he got it off to the side of the road and stopped.
08-14-2016, 06:32 AM
#17
Thread Starter
08-14-2016, 07:03 AM
#18
Glad you are OK.The error is not uncommon. My +1 switched out winter/summer tires on one of my cars back in the day. I heard a noise as I was driving, headed home, thankfully a short drive and not on the highway. I gave him a call at work to describe the noise...he asked me to check the lug nuts. Oops...they were pretty loose. I might have thought he was trying to collect on my life insurance, but I'm worth more for my weekly paycheck. 
08-18-2016, 05:00 PM
#20
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