A few days ago, I dropped off the other VeeDub at the dealership for some electrical work. I've been using the Sloppy Jalopy for basic transportation, despite the cold and rain we've been having.
This morning, I needed to use the little guy again to commute. Not the perfect day for it; 22 degrees and windy. I made it about half-way to Arlington ... and found myself coasting along with no engagement from the gearbox.
Clutch, you say? Broken cable? Why, no! The cable was a bit roached, with a couple cuts of the adjustment threads missing, but that was a seemingly unrelated matter, not the cruciate problem.
I called for a truck, one came, and I asked the guys at Peek to have a look-see. I also called my darling bride, who was asleep at 0600, in order to continue my travels. She showed up -- with coffee -- and all was merrily well.
Turns out, the drums I had asked Peek to install last year were not ideally mounted; it's unclear right now if that's the car being so bastardized (entirely possible) or if that's the parts having a defect. The real problem was the splines on the inside surface of the drums, where the axles pass through, were worn smooth. I could speculate that the castle nuts weren't torqued correctly, but I won't -- I didn't do the work. I will say that the shop did the upstanding thing by me and the car, and owned the bad brakes as their responsibility.
They're re-doing the brake drum on the driver's side (at least; they weren't done looking at the passenger's side when I spoke to Sean this afternoon) at their expense. They volunteered that before I asked, which was very nice. And, bonus, they're readjusting the clutch cable for me, potentially using my replacement cable if need be. That's fine by me.
The tow driver was provided by a company called Charlie's Crane Service. His name was Andre, and it turns out that I knew this guy from a roadside meeting last year, wherein I helped him and a friend of his in ... wait for it ... his friend's old Bug. They had a simple-to-fix problem, I helped, and then they drove off after exchanging numbers.
That dude today took stellar care of my car, and I promised to give him a call when the weather warms up. I also had USAA towing on the policy, which turned out to mean that all I gave Andre was a tip and a signature. That was VERY nice, especially after the morning's events.
All in all, this has been a great day. Except for being 22 degrees out, it was a pretty unexciting experience, almost by the numbers.
Two things I'd add to benefit other SOCers; the red vehicle-under-tow lights Teresa bought and put in the car for emergencies like this have now paid off twice; once when the clutch cable broke last year, and again today. If you don't already have them, get something like them. Secondly, get that towing insurance. It's a couple bucks, and it's worth its weight in gold.
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