Well, my wife, kid, & I took a drive out to see my parents out in Colorado like we do every year, but this time, I did something stupid. I checked the antifreeze, I checked the spark plugs, I checked the transmission fluid, I checked the wiper fluid, I checked the tire pressure. Heck, I even replaced the O2 sensor, because it was giving intermittant signals.
Then we headed off. Exactly 1/2 way there, at 7 in the morning (traveled during the night so the kid would sleep through most of it) with everyone asleep, the car studders for a second & then I hear the worst thing I could ever hope to hear on a trip. It sounded like someone was taking a hammer drill to the engine.
Fortunately, I was just getting to an off ramp. Unfortunately, as I was coming to it, I noticed that there was... Corn fields, a shed with a bunch of oil pumps around it, & an abandoned gas station. Not reassuring. Needless to say, I checked everything (I came prepared with a full set of tools). Gas?...Check! Spark?...Check! Air?...Check! Should run, but only cranks. Timing belt?...Tight! Spark Plugs?...Stuck like nobody's business (I hand tighten them all the way in, so no, they weren't cross threaded to start)! Then I knew. I was stuck in the middle of know where & dropped a lifter. I had friggen run out of oil (car burned it about a quart every month or so, but my wife drove it mostly, so I hadn't thought about it & she hadn't mentioned it). Bad start to a vacation.
To make a long story short, I made friends with a bunch of farmers & got a ride to the nearest town an hour away (Hays, which I had already passed, so now I'm going backwards). Got myself a rental car (which if you didn't know that if you mention that the car broke down, you get automatic large discounts through your insurance company). Then I rented a car to get back & hope to find a way to tow the car home.
Well, that's the dilemma. What I thought would be the hard part (getting a car dolly) ended up being easy. A friend said his friend would offer me one, but not a vehicle to to it with. None of the rental places rent anything with hitches. Unless, you get a friggen 16ft moving truck from U-haul. Then they charge you by the mile & it ended up being about $600. I'm trying to stay closer to $80-100 (not to mention the extra $100 or so that I'll have to put out for gas). Of course all of my friends either don't have a truck. Have a truck, but don't want it going 1000 miles. Or just plain can't do without their vehicle for a day (which I suspect that they are just not wanting to).
Anyhow, I think I'm down to just renting, but I have an idea to rent a van (they rent full size vans that have unlimited milage) for $120 & putting my own ball hitch on there (they always have the hole for one in the bumper). However, I'm interested in any suggestions? In particular how to get the rental price down or how to get another vehicle that's not a 15 passenger van to do it.
Then we headed off. Exactly 1/2 way there, at 7 in the morning (traveled during the night so the kid would sleep through most of it) with everyone asleep, the car studders for a second & then I hear the worst thing I could ever hope to hear on a trip. It sounded like someone was taking a hammer drill to the engine.
Fortunately, I was just getting to an off ramp. Unfortunately, as I was coming to it, I noticed that there was... Corn fields, a shed with a bunch of oil pumps around it, & an abandoned gas station. Not reassuring. Needless to say, I checked everything (I came prepared with a full set of tools). Gas?...Check! Spark?...Check! Air?...Check! Should run, but only cranks. Timing belt?...Tight! Spark Plugs?...Stuck like nobody's business (I hand tighten them all the way in, so no, they weren't cross threaded to start)! Then I knew. I was stuck in the middle of know where & dropped a lifter. I had friggen run out of oil (car burned it about a quart every month or so, but my wife drove it mostly, so I hadn't thought about it & she hadn't mentioned it). Bad start to a vacation.
To make a long story short, I made friends with a bunch of farmers & got a ride to the nearest town an hour away (Hays, which I had already passed, so now I'm going backwards). Got myself a rental car (which if you didn't know that if you mention that the car broke down, you get automatic large discounts through your insurance company). Then I rented a car to get back & hope to find a way to tow the car home.
Well, that's the dilemma. What I thought would be the hard part (getting a car dolly) ended up being easy. A friend said his friend would offer me one, but not a vehicle to to it with. None of the rental places rent anything with hitches. Unless, you get a friggen 16ft moving truck from U-haul. Then they charge you by the mile & it ended up being about $600. I'm trying to stay closer to $80-100 (not to mention the extra $100 or so that I'll have to put out for gas). Of course all of my friends either don't have a truck. Have a truck, but don't want it going 1000 miles. Or just plain can't do without their vehicle for a day (which I suspect that they are just not wanting to).
Anyhow, I think I'm down to just renting, but I have an idea to rent a van (they rent full size vans that have unlimited milage) for $120 & putting my own ball hitch on there (they always have the hole for one in the bumper). However, I'm interested in any suggestions? In particular how to get the rental price down or how to get another vehicle that's not a 15 passenger van to do it.
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