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So I'm sitting at the local convenience store on Saturday and left my Waggy idleing with my 11 year old son in the passenger seat. I'm in the checkout line when someone says, "hey, is that you're Jeep out there?" Always getting questions about the rig, I say, "yeah" and look out the window but notice that the Jeep isn't there anymore.
There is was cruising slowly backwards, across the highway on its own. It was like watching a movie, my son decides to bail out and is swinging on the passenger door and the vehicle wacks a street light, pushing the light post backward as the globe unseats and comes crashing down into the roadway.
Thank god the boy was ok. His only comment when asked why he jumped out was...,"I tried to steer it, then tried to get the key out, and then didn't want to get hit in the face with the air bag!" I say, "oh young Alex, there is no airbag in this truck."
At any rate, when I checked whether the truck was in gear, the PRNDL was in the park position but obviously wasn't locked in place. What could cause this? It's never happened before and I certainly don't want it to happen again. Moral of the story is 1) shut the thing off when not in use, 2) use the emergency brake.
Secondly, the rear bumper is bent in about 30 degrees and I have a good sized crease in the rear quarter. The quarter also buckled in down by the exhaust. I think it'll be easy enough to repair the dents and I'll have to get a new bumper. The only problem that I see at the moment though is what happened to the passenger side B-pillar. The impact flexed the upper part of the Jeep where the tailgate and rear window meet the quarter. It split the body weld and pushed out the entire back quarter about 1/4". Now, the tail gate rattles around in the frame and I'm not sure how this can be repaired. I can post pics if it'll help.
Can't help but think, if this was a modern vehicle, I'd be talking about replacing the whole rear end
There is was cruising slowly backwards, across the highway on its own. It was like watching a movie, my son decides to bail out and is swinging on the passenger door and the vehicle wacks a street light, pushing the light post backward as the globe unseats and comes crashing down into the roadway.
Thank god the boy was ok. His only comment when asked why he jumped out was...,"I tried to steer it, then tried to get the key out, and then didn't want to get hit in the face with the air bag!" I say, "oh young Alex, there is no airbag in this truck."
At any rate, when I checked whether the truck was in gear, the PRNDL was in the park position but obviously wasn't locked in place. What could cause this? It's never happened before and I certainly don't want it to happen again. Moral of the story is 1) shut the thing off when not in use, 2) use the emergency brake.
Secondly, the rear bumper is bent in about 30 degrees and I have a good sized crease in the rear quarter. The quarter also buckled in down by the exhaust. I think it'll be easy enough to repair the dents and I'll have to get a new bumper. The only problem that I see at the moment though is what happened to the passenger side B-pillar. The impact flexed the upper part of the Jeep where the tailgate and rear window meet the quarter. It split the body weld and pushed out the entire back quarter about 1/4". Now, the tail gate rattles around in the frame and I'm not sure how this can be repaired. I can post pics if it'll help.
Can't help but think, if this was a modern vehicle, I'd be talking about replacing the whole rear end
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