The week from hell

[chupathingie]

Aww man… I HATE hearing of a pet’s passing. My condolences as welll. 🙁

[Barracuda]

As someone who also just recently had to say goodbye to a four legged family member, my deepest condolences. Jodee is with our Penny now, forever happy and playful.

[fluffybunny]

I’ve been out for the last couple weeks and just now catching up with everything.

These little family members offer unconditional love and ask for so little in return. We tried to have cats but living in the country puts them at risk from a variety of predators. We lost all of them over a short period of time, and will not be getting more. The joy of having them around is offset by the agony of losing them. I’m sorry for your loss.

[chupathingie]

Update on the Jeep: I picked it up on the 12rd, drove it around for maybe 150 miles in DFW (got to wander around Fry’s for an hour! 🙂 ) and set off back home on the 14nd. Made it 80 miles before finding out first hand what happens when someone forgets to put oil in a differential housing. Lots of noise, but luckily I had slowed down from 75 on a rain-soaked highway and got off onto the shoulder before the front wheels locked up. So yes, still waiting on the jeep. Again. I have 10 more days before my annual Rocky Mountain Roadtrip starts.

[Yugoboy]

That sucks, too… Here’s hopin’ the Jeep gets fixxored for reals soon.

[bender16v]

That stinks! I hope they cover it all, no questions asked. The clowns at the local stealership overtightened the plug in the center diff of my truck and cracked the housing earlier this year. I drove about 1,400 miles on a road trip before parking it at home for a while. After it sitting there for a week I noticed gear lube all over the driveway. Luckily they covered the ~$450 aluminum cover and it didn’t lock up on me.

[chupathingie]

I got incredibly lucky and was able to push my vacation out a week (practically unheard of in my line of work) so hopefully the extra time will allow me to pick it up and drive it a bit before I head out.

[Barracuda]

What shop in DFW so I know to stay way way way far away from it?

[chupathingie]

I honestly don’t know beyond it being in Lewisville. After the fly-apart I insisted they drop it off at TCM Automotive in Arlington. I’ve known Tom (the owner) for over 15 years and he’s not once disappointed me with the quality of his work or his treatment of customers. The fact that he’s a retired NASCAR mechanic doesn’t hurt, either.

[chupathingie]

Week frikkin SIX.

Tom test drove my Jeep for 2 days after he had his guys bolt the new front end together. No problems. Until *I* got in it. I put it into 4WH and turned the wheel to the lock and drove it in circles in the parking lot to make the front end hop and check for funny shit. Those of you unfamiliar with a Jeep may not know this, but due to it’s drivetrain being built with U-joints as opposed to CV-joints the front tires do not turn at an even speed when turning in 4WD. This causes the front wheels to “skip”, “hop”, “chirp”, or “gallop” while turning on pavement; which is why Jeeps eat tires if you’re stupid enough to be in 4WD on actual roads. It’s also an easy test to see if the transfer case is putting power to the front wheels. What it *doesn’t* normally do is break shit in the transfer case and transmission. We put it on the lift, and jacked it off the wheels and ran it. There are some seriously ugly noises coming from both the xfer case and the tranny. The new front end works great tho! LOL

Pretty sure all of this is due to the front-end fly-apart 2 weeks ago. Even in 2 wheel drive, the drive train spins from the front end into the transfer case and all that mass came to an abrupt halt when my front drive shaft snapped the pinion after the front differential seized up and did the fail and flail dance. The claims manager at my insurance company seems to agree.

Will they total it? Dunno. And I really don’t care as long as I’m back in a Wrangler eventually. This world has too may places that few ever see excepting those that can get a vehicle to the trailhead. They’ve upgraded me to “small SUV” and extended my rental coverage from 30 days to “whenever”. There are no 4WDs available in the state of Texas with Enterprise, but they have them in northern states. I’ll be upgrading at some point as I pass through Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho in the next few days. The VW Beetle I’m in now is nice enough, but is incapable of reaching my friends’ homes; this whole trip is based on seeing places and visiting friends that are far off the paved roads.

[chupathingie]

Oh, total cost so far on this claim has been over $10K. This doesn’t include the xfer case and tranny. If they total it, I buy a new Jeep. If they fix it, I get my old Jeep back with a new drivetrain. It’s a pain in the ass, but still a win/win.

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