710 Burner
12-16-2008, 12:01 PM
One Jeep would become......A Hero.
We had a smattering of freezing dribble this morning. In fact I had to return to the house so the truck could warm up enough to defrost itself because I could not see. After some extended time in the pick-up, and nearly at the end of my 43 mile trek to work, the cell phone rings. Its Mrs. Jones. I'm thinking "good, she wants to know if I made it to work OK before I actually got there". Instead she says "your'e never gonna guess what happened." The school bus never arrived so she packed up the kids in the car to drive them to school. You can only go west from my street 3/4 mile before it dead-ends into a T junction. Across the intersection is somones dirt driveway. Approaching the T is downhill. Done the math yet? She slid down the hill with the anti-locs frantically trying to figure out the proper algorithm to stop the car. Luckily no cross traffic was approaching. She could not stop, so she tried to make the turn. The V-Dub slid off the road sideways and somewhat forward into a drainage ditch. I turned around the truck.
I had driven the GW yesterday expecting foul weather but was denied. I did not drive it today because it looked by the radar that I would be denied again. On the way to the house I stopped by the car that the wife said was in a ditch and did not need a tow truck. As I stepped out of the truck, I nearly fell on my but from the semi-slick asphalt. The VW hung precariously by the front left bumper on a 3 foot tinhorn that disappeared under the roadway. The passenger side front tire hung free and the body rested on the soft dirt edge. 2 more feet forward and they would have traveled another 3 feet down and eaten air bag for breakfast. Hmmmph, I grunted, thinking there is no way I will be able to unsnag the 2500 lb diesel car. Non-the-less, I returned home to fire up the GW and retrieve my straps and chains from the garage.
After a proper warming period and my relief of coffee after having been in the truck for 2 plus hours we set out to reclaim out pet. I backed up to the V-Dub and attached my strap to the shipping ring below the rear bumper, hooking the loops over my two inch ball. 4hi?? I'd try it, but did not think the beasty had enough grunt to do it. In drive, I pulled tension on the strap and eased up to half throttle. As the rpm increased, the torque converter did its job and the rpm died off as my trusted friend sputtered and stalled. Hmmmmm.....time for some razzle dazzle. A shift to N, foot off the brake, foot on the brake, Park, clunk, clunk, 4Lo, drive. I started to apply power. I heard a tire spinning on the semi-slick asphalt apron. I took the throttle to the floor. The carburetor roared, tires spun, the rpms climed into the high 20's and my little diesel pet was free. Inspection of the ground around the GW showed I was spinning all 4 tires. I should have had the wife catch it on cell video. It looks like 1-2K worth of damage to the plastic on the front of my VW. But everyone is home and safe...except me, but I have the Waggy. :thumbsup:
We had a smattering of freezing dribble this morning. In fact I had to return to the house so the truck could warm up enough to defrost itself because I could not see. After some extended time in the pick-up, and nearly at the end of my 43 mile trek to work, the cell phone rings. Its Mrs. Jones. I'm thinking "good, she wants to know if I made it to work OK before I actually got there". Instead she says "your'e never gonna guess what happened." The school bus never arrived so she packed up the kids in the car to drive them to school. You can only go west from my street 3/4 mile before it dead-ends into a T junction. Across the intersection is somones dirt driveway. Approaching the T is downhill. Done the math yet? She slid down the hill with the anti-locs frantically trying to figure out the proper algorithm to stop the car. Luckily no cross traffic was approaching. She could not stop, so she tried to make the turn. The V-Dub slid off the road sideways and somewhat forward into a drainage ditch. I turned around the truck.
I had driven the GW yesterday expecting foul weather but was denied. I did not drive it today because it looked by the radar that I would be denied again. On the way to the house I stopped by the car that the wife said was in a ditch and did not need a tow truck. As I stepped out of the truck, I nearly fell on my but from the semi-slick asphalt. The VW hung precariously by the front left bumper on a 3 foot tinhorn that disappeared under the roadway. The passenger side front tire hung free and the body rested on the soft dirt edge. 2 more feet forward and they would have traveled another 3 feet down and eaten air bag for breakfast. Hmmmph, I grunted, thinking there is no way I will be able to unsnag the 2500 lb diesel car. Non-the-less, I returned home to fire up the GW and retrieve my straps and chains from the garage.
After a proper warming period and my relief of coffee after having been in the truck for 2 plus hours we set out to reclaim out pet. I backed up to the V-Dub and attached my strap to the shipping ring below the rear bumper, hooking the loops over my two inch ball. 4hi?? I'd try it, but did not think the beasty had enough grunt to do it. In drive, I pulled tension on the strap and eased up to half throttle. As the rpm increased, the torque converter did its job and the rpm died off as my trusted friend sputtered and stalled. Hmmmmm.....time for some razzle dazzle. A shift to N, foot off the brake, foot on the brake, Park, clunk, clunk, 4Lo, drive. I started to apply power. I heard a tire spinning on the semi-slick asphalt apron. I took the throttle to the floor. The carburetor roared, tires spun, the rpms climed into the high 20's and my little diesel pet was free. Inspection of the ground around the GW showed I was spinning all 4 tires. I should have had the wife catch it on cell video. It looks like 1-2K worth of damage to the plastic on the front of my VW. But everyone is home and safe...except me, but I have the Waggy. :thumbsup: