bling821
Full Access Member
So the ride to Texas was pretty good. Nothing much to speak of there. Did some fishing there, caught up with a few friends and saw my sister get married. And before long it was time to put the stock wheels back on and head back to Charleston. I was getting 16.5 mpg hauling the boat so I guess I can't complain. I would hate to find out how bad it would have been with the 35's on there.
I started at around 6:00 am and headed out with a couple honey butter chicken biscuits.(those of you with a Whataburger near by know how awesome those are) Man, I was cruising. Six hours non-stop and it was time for some more diesel. I walked the dog and then back on the road. I forget what town I was in. It was just east of Mobile. Back on the road for almost six hours when I noticed a vibration. I wrote it off as some kind of drive train vibration due to the different pavement because it would come and go. I hit a construction zone about 30 miles from Jacksonville, Fl and needed to slow down. When I did that the vibration got worse. I sped up a little to see if it would go away but it didn't. So I started moving the mirrors around to look at the tires on the boat trailer but they were fine. I did, however, catch a glimpse of the top of my driver's side rear tire and it was wobbling something fierce.
Ok, I'll just pull on over after these cones and tighten er up. I pulled over and popped off the hub cover when something hit the road. After a careful examination, I discovered that three lug nuts with sheared off wheel studs were laying there. A fourth was still caught in the wheel. The other four lug nuts were loose enough to fit a finger between the nut and the wheel. I figure I wasn't more that 20 miles from just loosing the wheel all together.
A moment of realization came over me, I was in the middle of BFE, the exit I just passed didn't have anything there and there wasn't another one as far as I could see. It was getting close to 8:00 pm and I needed to figure something out with a quickness. I saw some construction trucks back at the exit so I got the dog out and went over there. They gave me a number for a tow truck which was going to be my last option. It would have been bad enough of a tow bill for the truck but include a boat in that and who knows what it would have been. The guys came over and took a look. One said, "Just try and tighten it up with the four that are left. There is an Autozone about a mile up the road."
Well I did that and limped on over there just in time for it to close. Great! Maybe there is a truckstop near with a 24 hour mechanic. There was about eight miles away. So I drove the shoulder to it only to find that they only have big rig sized wheel studs. They did have the time to do the work but not the right parts. So I did what anyone else would do in my situation; I went to the Waffle House and spent the night in my truck in the Wal-mart parking lot.
In the morning I found out that none of the five auto parts stores had what I needed so I decided to drive into Jacksonville to find a Ford dealer. I tested the truck out on an empty road and got it up to 50 mph with no problems so off I went with my flashers on.
The Ford dealer didn't have them and that drove me to profanity and I let some other customers in there know how I felt about anyone purchasing another Ford product. I had no choice, 250 miles to Charleston on four lug nuts.
I had to order them when I got here too. Got the parts and went to work only to find out that I had to take the axle out to get the wheel studs out. I took me three trips, on a bike, to the auto parts store to finally get what I needed. The last time I was there, I purchased every bearing nut socket they had because I couldn't ride back over there again. Got it all done and drove it around today.
I learned a few things over the past few days including alot about axles. Good thing I had some blue lock tight laying around too. So for those of you who read this, they give you eight wheel studs but you can make it on four if you have too. I guess it puts a little truth to the saying, "Built Ford Tough".
I started at around 6:00 am and headed out with a couple honey butter chicken biscuits.(those of you with a Whataburger near by know how awesome those are) Man, I was cruising. Six hours non-stop and it was time for some more diesel. I walked the dog and then back on the road. I forget what town I was in. It was just east of Mobile. Back on the road for almost six hours when I noticed a vibration. I wrote it off as some kind of drive train vibration due to the different pavement because it would come and go. I hit a construction zone about 30 miles from Jacksonville, Fl and needed to slow down. When I did that the vibration got worse. I sped up a little to see if it would go away but it didn't. So I started moving the mirrors around to look at the tires on the boat trailer but they were fine. I did, however, catch a glimpse of the top of my driver's side rear tire and it was wobbling something fierce.
Ok, I'll just pull on over after these cones and tighten er up. I pulled over and popped off the hub cover when something hit the road. After a careful examination, I discovered that three lug nuts with sheared off wheel studs were laying there. A fourth was still caught in the wheel. The other four lug nuts were loose enough to fit a finger between the nut and the wheel. I figure I wasn't more that 20 miles from just loosing the wheel all together.
A moment of realization came over me, I was in the middle of BFE, the exit I just passed didn't have anything there and there wasn't another one as far as I could see. It was getting close to 8:00 pm and I needed to figure something out with a quickness. I saw some construction trucks back at the exit so I got the dog out and went over there. They gave me a number for a tow truck which was going to be my last option. It would have been bad enough of a tow bill for the truck but include a boat in that and who knows what it would have been. The guys came over and took a look. One said, "Just try and tighten it up with the four that are left. There is an Autozone about a mile up the road."
Well I did that and limped on over there just in time for it to close. Great! Maybe there is a truckstop near with a 24 hour mechanic. There was about eight miles away. So I drove the shoulder to it only to find that they only have big rig sized wheel studs. They did have the time to do the work but not the right parts. So I did what anyone else would do in my situation; I went to the Waffle House and spent the night in my truck in the Wal-mart parking lot.
In the morning I found out that none of the five auto parts stores had what I needed so I decided to drive into Jacksonville to find a Ford dealer. I tested the truck out on an empty road and got it up to 50 mph with no problems so off I went with my flashers on.
The Ford dealer didn't have them and that drove me to profanity and I let some other customers in there know how I felt about anyone purchasing another Ford product. I had no choice, 250 miles to Charleston on four lug nuts.
I had to order them when I got here too. Got the parts and went to work only to find out that I had to take the axle out to get the wheel studs out. I took me three trips, on a bike, to the auto parts store to finally get what I needed. The last time I was there, I purchased every bearing nut socket they had because I couldn't ride back over there again. Got it all done and drove it around today.
I learned a few things over the past few days including alot about axles. Good thing I had some blue lock tight laying around too. So for those of you who read this, they give you eight wheel studs but you can make it on four if you have too. I guess it puts a little truth to the saying, "Built Ford Tough".
