OT: What's next~or~Pathfinder follies, Epilogue

[J Miller]

Well, lets see. 4 days till the get together in IN. My wifes truck has bald tires, and possibly needs front or rear or both breaks.

TODAY we were doing some errands in my Nissan Pathfinder getting stuff for this weekend. My wife had a small winning lottery ticket so we went into a Circle K to cash it. As we backed out I had the front wheels cut hard right to get out of the parking place and line up for the street exit.

Something went BANG - BANG under the left front. HUH!? Well, I didn't get out and look, I just continued backing out and then we came home. On the way it was pulling to the right and pulled worse when I used the breaks.
We got home and took the groceries in and then looked at the Pathfinder. Had I looked at it at the Circle K it would have come home on a flat bed.
The left strut rod had broke where it passed through the frame hanger. The jaged stump had caught on the flimsy sheet metal thing that holds the bushing. I drove it home that way.

Busted strut rod.JPG

Busted strut rod_rear.JPG

Do you believe in Angles??? I do.

Now tomorrow I'll be on the phone trying to find out what this is going to cost to get fixed. No call to wrecking yards will be made as the rust factor will make it probable I'd get a trashed one. And what about the right side? All the bolts are covered with 14 years of Illinois road salt residue and rust. Can I even get them apart?

What next?

Joe

PS; We're just thankful it broke here and now and not on the way to or from IN.

[mescalero1]

Jeez Joe,
My 1972 Dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 still has the factory paint on the undercarrige

[Tycer]

Had to hire a lawyer to communicate with my wife's siblings last week. $875 retainer.
I wrecked my cherry 49 Chevy yesterday. 'Bout a grand worth.
Saw an article today that the guy I gave a thousand dollars to order some Liberty Dollars is indicted in Federal court for those same Liberty Dollars.
My MIL went into assisted living today and won't be able to keep her PITA jack russel after all. I have a new dog.

I feel your pain.

[JReed]

Jeez Joe,
My 1972 Dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 still has the factory paint on the undercarrige

But you live in the land of 6" of rain a year and no salt trucks.

Glad you got home safe Joe. If I was closer to you I would offer to come over and help you out. I used to be a mechanic and still have most of my tools. Hope this don't keep ya from coming shooting.

[J Miller]

Jeez Joe,
My 1972 Dodge 3/4 ton 4x4 still has the factory paint on the undercarrige

But you live in the land of 6" of rain a year and no salt trucks.

Glad you got home safe Joe. If I was closer to you I would offer to come over and help you out. I used to be a mechanic and still have most of my tools. Hope this don't keep ya from coming shooting.

Jeremy,
I got 4 days to get the Pathfinder or my wife's truck fixed up so I've not given up hope yet.
I "should" have enough tools to do the work, if not there's several places around here to buy them. I'm just hoping I can get the rod quickly and that the right side rod isn't damaged.
But if you were closer I'd sure accept the help.

Joe

[JReed]

If it wouldn't break the bank I would go ahead and replace the right side just for peace of mind. It has the same years and miles as the other side so it would be suspect in my eyes.

[J Miller]

If it wouldn't break the bank I would go ahead and replace the right side just for peace of mind. It has the same years and miles as the other side so it would be suspect in my eyes.

Yep, that's my plan, but I'll bet these are Dealer only parts and if so I'll bet they cost a fortune. We'll see tomorrow.

Joe

[mescalero1]

Yeah, you are right about the environmental conditions and differences.
Still, that would drive me nuts, knowing my property was rusting away.

[J Miller]

Yeah, you are right about the environmental conditions and differences.
Still, that would drive me nuts, knowing my property was rusting away.

It does.

Joe

[mescalero1]

Yeah, I'm one of those goobers that washes the undercarrige and paints it.

[AJMD429]

Just like with a GUN - if a CAR makes a funny noise - I've learned it is best to investigate pronto. I don't know anything about cars and can't fix them, but I do know I've saved money and kept safer because of that practice.

Next time you're feeling down about life in general, remember you DID have a guardian angel that day. God must be keeping you around for some reason!

[Ysabel Kid]

Dang Joe, I'm sorry to hear this. Same for you Tycer...

[Old Ironsights]

Yeah, I'm one of those goobers that washes the undercarrige and paints it.

Even better, if you can do it, spray it with Truck Bed Liner.

[J Miller]

Chapter II


I called the dealer this morning and told him what happened. He was like: "Ok, what's new? This is common, they break all the time." Oh really ............. I didn't need to hear that. But then he goes on to tell me they keep the parts in stock. OK, that I did need to hear.
So for less than two C notes I have the "tension" bars, washers, bushings, nuts for both sides waiting to be picked up at the dealer. Before I leave I'll need to verify that I have the sockets and / or wrenches of the correct size then we'll hope for the best.

I'll keep you updated as I progress on this project.

Now for a message from our sponsor. Don't touch that dial.

Joe

[Travis Morgan]

Had to hire a lawyer to communicate with my wife's siblings last week. $875 retainer.
I wrecked my cherry 49 Chevy yesterday. 'Bout a grand worth.
Saw an article today that the guy I gave a thousand dollars to order some Liberty Dollars is indicted in Federal court for those same Liberty Dollars.
My MIL went into assisted living today and won't be able to keep her PITA jack russel after all. I have a new dog.

I feel your pain.

Prayers sent. If you can swing it, go find a mountain and disappear for a while.

[rjohns94]

joe and tycer, sorry to hear of your misfortune. I hope the tide changes for you.

[Old Savage]

Old cars break - ask me how I know. I spent $11,000 keeping a 87 Cadillac I bought new on the road. It was great to 140,000 then one thing after another - always hoped it was the last thing.

[morgan in nm]

Like mescalero, this is one of the many reasons why I am glad to live in NM where there isn't enough rain or snow to make anything rust. The only thing I have to worry about is rubber as the sun and drought sure to take the life away from tires and windshield wiper blades.

[Blaine]

I remember full well how rigs would disolve in the midwest......We don't really have that problem out here...but: They sand the roads and we get windshield chips out the ying yang....The insurance fixes them for free, tho, because they don't want to pay for a whole windshield someday....

[J Miller]

Epilogue.


Well, I can't do anything about the road salt. I can't do anything about the existing salt damage. It's just the way it is. As Blaine said the midwest is really bad about ruining cars. It's where I live now, so it's basically something we just live with. I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it.

After getting back from the dealer and the parts house I was just too exhausted to do anything. I crapped out and slept for a while. Then about 2:00 PM I got started. Very surprisingly I got the left side off, back on and done with only a bit of minor frustration. Because the lower control arm had moved around I had fits getting the bolts lined up in the new tension rod. That's what Nissan calls it.
In between her pizza deliveries my wife made a run to a hardware store to get me a 15/16" box wrench for the big nut at the rear of the rod. No room for a socket in there.

JReed said: "If it wouldn't break the bank I would go ahead and replace the right side just for peace of mind. It has the same years and miles as the other side so it would be suspect in my eyes."

Well he was absolutely correct. When I got the right side rod out it was worn about half way through. Not long for this world.

So I finished up with the tension rods and bushings about 6:30. And after getting the suspension greased while the tires were off I had it back on the ground around 7:30.

I'm done. Only one minor scrape. No broken parts, no banged heads. Nothing in my eyes. I'm amazed at how easy this job was.

Gonna go take a shower now and then go test drive the Pathfinder. Hopefully the front alignment isn't too far out now.

Joe

[TedH]

Good job Joe.

[mescalero1]

way to go

[Tycer]

Yes! Accomplishment!

[2ndovc]

Joe,

Glad to hear it wasn't too bad.

I hate working on cars.

I can build you a house or a multi story building but when it comes
to anything more than two wheels, forget it!

jb

[JReed]

That's awesome Joe glad to hear that it wasn't to much of a bear of a job. Usually when I am working on vehicles if I am not bleeding then I am doing some thing wrong. Hopefully the alignment is still good and you can truck it out to the shoot.

[Travis Morgan]

Well, I can't do anything about the road salt. I can't do anything about the existing salt damage. It's just the way it is. As Blaine said the midwest is really bad about ruining cars. It's where I live now, so it's basically something we just live with. I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Midwest? I'd love to choke the retard that came up with the idea of eastern states being the "midwest". Illinois is NOT in the middle, and it's not in the west! Nevada is in the midwest.

[JReed]

Well, I can't do anything about the road salt. I can't do anything about the existing salt damage. It's just the way it is. As Blaine said the midwest is really bad about ruining cars. It's where I live now, so it's basically something we just live with. I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Midwest? I'd love to choke the retard that came up with the idea of eastern states being the "midwest". Illinois is NOT in the middle, and it's not in the west! Nevada is in the midwest.

I am right there with ya on that one.

[J Miller]

JReed,

Our plans might have to be adjusted a wee bit. The parts took our hotel money so we may end up in a tent or just doing one day. We'll see tomorrow when I get the tent out and see if it's still usable. Been packed away for a long time.

Im not going to get the test drive done tonight, but tomorrow for sure. If it needs an alignment we'll see what we can get done. Hopefully it wont be too far off.

Joe

[JReed]

JReed,

Our plans might have to be adjusted a wee bit. The parts took our hotel money so we may end up in a tent or just doing one day. We'll see tomorrow when I get the tent out and see if it's still usable. Been packed away for a long time.

Im not going to get the test drive done tonight, but tomorrow for sure. If it needs an alignment we'll see what we can get done. Hopefully it wont be too far off.

Joe

If you need to borrow a tent I got you covered. I have a nice big one that I am not using on this run since I am borrowing a smaller two man from one of the guys at work.