Old Truck

You know you have an old truck when........

you spend your whole paycheck each week keeping running. Ok well, that what happens when something gets old, it takes more to keep it up. My truck has been in the shop more than it has been in the driveway over the last month... (streching the truth just a little) I have taken it for tires, brakes and now this. Now the tires you see is what my friend Pam Abbot calls Maypops....They were so old that if you were driving down the road they just may pop for no apparent reason. After all they were staring to have seperation anxiety. the steel was coming through the sidewalls and it was just a matter of time before they blew.Then there were the breaks Well, you might just say that they were not much better. To put it mildly, If I drove another week on them, then I might need to cut the floorboard out and stopping it with my heels, Fred Flinstone style. Every time I hit the breaks the back end would shake until I came to a complete stop. Now those two "little" Bills I was ready for. But the one today, well now, that was a horse of a different color.

It all started on my way from Tallahassee, Florida on my way Saturday night. I had finished working around 5:00 pm and my wife and her Parents were going to meet me at Smokey Bones. I made it there, no problem We all had dinner and I must say it was rather good. Jeanie(that would be my wife) Had rode down with her folks and going to ride back with me. We made it back to Thomasville, without a hitch, and then decided to go for Ice Cream at the local Dairy Queen. That's when the all started. I could smell brakes..it is a smell that you hardly ever smell but you pretty much can guess what it is when you smell it. I said, Well it can't be mine I just had new ones put on last week. The more I drove the stronger it became. Well, Dairy Queen was in range so when arrived, I took a quick glance arounfd and every thing seemed normal so we went on and had our treats. I got back in my truck cranked it up and started down the road. Again the aroma of brakes was becoming stong. We were stoppped by a red light about halway home and I thought I saw smoke. Well that doesn't look to good I thought, and took a quick glance down at my gages. all seemed to be in order, I continued on. Once I made it home , you could see where the smoke was coming from, the front passenger tire wheel well."Boy I hope nothing caught on fire", I said. I hurried inside to get a flashlight. when I came out I could still see the smoke, but not as bad. I couldn't find anything the matter but you know when it is smoking, It can't be good. I took it to the shop this morning and explained what was happening. The mechanic said " sounds like a bad caliper to me." Well I am not exactly what you call savvy when it comes to motor vehicles. I put gas in the tank, water in the radiater, oil in the engine and air in the tires and that is about all I know how to do. "it's not going to cost" that much he says, I will look at it and give a call later. So jump on my bike( Bicycle for you motorheads) and head off to work. about an hour later I get the Bad news" It looks like it going to cost more than we thought." "Fix it, I need to be able to get to work with something besides a bicycle" and that was that

the damage----$200 on a part that I didn't even know existed until today. I hope your day went better than mine............Shipwreck