trail repair - run what ya got!!!

[crawler#976]

Sunday afternoon about 4:30 PM I got a call from my wheelin' buddy's wife. She was a bit concerned...

They were broke down on a local trail - the DeSoto Mine Trail near Crown King, AZ. The drag link had broken in half in the middle of the rocky section of the trail. The DeSoto is in a very remote part of AZ - a 13 mile long adventure!

We got the beater ready, and headed out for a three hour drive to meet them and do a little welding.

As we neared Mayer, AZ. Dave called and said they had made a trail repair, so we agreed to meet in Cleator - if they weren't there, I'd head on in to the DeSoto to find'm.

Dave used the bracket from the steering stabilizer, two hose clamps and a 7/8" end wrench to get off the trail, and drive the rig home. I followed them out to make sure they made it...

[MrS]

Tell your bud, "good thinkin" :ok-kewl:

Thanks for sharing that.


I seem to recall hearing Harry Lewellyn saying something like.
“It’s good to have the ability to find the problem, and be able to craft a cure”

[calamaridog]

Very good of your buddy to problem solve.

And very good of you to head out to help.

[David A. Wright]

Back in the early 1980s I was driving a 1970 Ford F-250 4x4 truck. Basic truck - 360ci V8, 4 speed tranny, no power steering/brakes. Only option was the Sport package, which amounted to simply padded dash, fancier vinyl on the seat and vinyl door panels with arm rests.

One winter day I was out with a buddy near Ione, Nevada. Snow was on the ground and we took a drive over the Shoshone Range and into the Reese River Valley. Dirt roads in the entire area, no pavement for miles. Coming down out of the canyon and into the Reese River Valley, I went to shift to a higher gear and pushed in the clutch.

The pedal went to the floor and stayed there. Instant panic. Out in the middle of Nevada without a clutch. But the truck could start easily in granny gear or reverse and I could shift without problem by blipping the throttle before shifting.

The problem was simple: Under the hood, near the bottom of the firewall, between the clutch linkage and the clutch throwout lever was what amounted to a rubber bullet. This rubber bullet fit into the clutch's throwout lever, while a threaded road tied into the clutch pedal linkage. It had fallen out.

I drove around for an hour or so before the thought suddenly hit as to the solution - vice grips!

I dug out my vice grips out of the tool box and clamped them to the clutch linkage. The knob that adjusts the grips fit into the throw out lever of the clutch. Using the knob to clamp down onto the linkage, it was a perfect match - the clutch worked perfectly. I wrapped the vice grips liberally with duct tape to ensure that they wouldn't spring open and fall off.

I went to the Ford dealer in Bishop a week or so later. The mechanic laughed and said my solution was very good and that I might as well keep the vice grips, as the rubber bullet was over $100. I was working for the county at the time and paid less than $750 per month, so the vice grips became the permanent solution until I gave the truck to my brother in law several years later with over 363,000 miles on the clock.