broken down on the way to a race.

[chuck w]

Thought i would share my story of breaking down on my way to a weekend of racing at millville. This kind of thing must happen to other people??
My father and i headed out from long island. We left at the worst possible time and hit traffic going through the city and then again on the jersey turnpike. A few hours into the trip the battery light came on and i noticed the volt gauge was reading low. of course it was getting dark out. We realized we needed a alternator or we would break down. I googled advanced auto parts and put it in my gps. We were 20 minutes away when the engine was loosing power and there was a window of time until the store closed. They did have the alternator in stock. We were able to make it into a hotel parking lot before losing all power. We ended up taking our jumper box we keep in trailer JUST INCASE and rigged it to under the hood and secured everything down including hood with anything we had in trailer and we were back on the road. It was a little scary but i kept it slow. We got to advanced auto parts and i was able to install the new alternator in 20 minutes.
finally on the road again off to millville. I was worried about getting in late and finding somewhere to park the trailer since i have never been there before.
Well we got there and saw some familiar faces and met some new people and put some cold ones back.
Thought this would be interesting to share and im sure there might be some of you out there that have been broken down on the way to a race.

[PROPDOC]

Thanks for sharing and no, you're not the only one!

[rumleyfips]

I had an alternator go bad Sunday night leaving the Finger Lakes NY for home. I got to a village with no lights, parked in the lot od an auto parts store and went to sleep. The next morning I installed an alternator and left for home. I was late for work.

[A/B Speedliner]

In 1965 on our way to the 1000 Island Marathon on the St Lawrence river we left after work for the long trip from Long Island NY to Alexandria Bay NY. We were tooling along the NY Thruway when along about Albany we hear a horrible noise coming from behind us. Stopping on the side of the road we get out and check out the trailer. Sure enough one of the wheel bearings decided to abandon us. Of course we never thought to bring spares along with us so what do two engineers do, improvise. We just happened to have in our spare parts box an aluminum cone nut for our A/B Quickie gear case. We jammed it in an reinstalled the nut and proceeded at a slower pace. About 4 AM we made it to Utica this being the last large city on our way north we pull off and find a parking spot right in front of Auto Parts store. Luckily they had the bearing available when they opened. Twenty minutes later we were on our way.
The facts maybe a little distorted since this happened nearly 50 years ago.

[chuck w]

In 1965 on our way to the 1000 Island Marathon on the St Lawrence river we left after work for the long trip from Long Island NY to Alexandria Bay NY. We were tooling along the NY Thruway when along about Albany we hear a horrible noise coming from behind us. Stopping on the side of the road we get out and check out the trailer. Sure enough one of the wheel bearings decided to abandon us. Of course we never thought to bring spares along with us so what do two engineers do, improvise. We just happened to have in our spare parts box an aluminum cone nut for our A/B Quickie gear case. We jammed it in an reinstalled the nut and proceeded at a slower pace. About 4 AM we made it to Utica this being the last large city on our way north we pull off and find a parking spot right in front of Auto Parts store. Luckily they had the bearing available when they opened. Twenty minutes later we were on our way.
The facts maybe a little distorted since this happened nearly 50 years ago.

Thats great. Nothing like making it work.

[jeff55v]

There was the time I spent four days at a three day race, camping in a tent. No shower all weekend. Coming home, still wet from the waist down. I spent the last of my money as a down payment on a boat that I found for sale at the race. In Chicago traffic, the timing belt broke on my tow vehicle. I had to have a few hundred Bucks western union'ed to me so I could fix the thing in a parking lot and pay off the tow guy.

And then there was the time without warning, my RV distributor went out. I was in middle of a highway construction zone. Barely enough room to get out of traffic. I got towed to a truck stop. The next day, I got a ride to a nearby junk yard and bought a used HEI distributor for $20.

[runabout333]

The summer of 1993.. Sat. early a.m. getting ready to head to Macon, Missouri for an AOF//ODA race.. Sunday only race..
Decided to change the oil in my 1889 S-10 Chevy with the 4.3 V-6.. Drained the pan,, replaced the filter,, raised the hood, add new oil.
Shut the hood and headed to the car wash.. Washed the truck,,, raised the hood to clean off the motor,, when I saw something fly through the air..
Was the rubber plug for the oil inlet tube.. Thinking,,, darn,, I probably now have water and soap in my new oil.. Called a mechanic buddy of mine..
He thought I would be OK,, but stated that if the oil light comes on,, change the oil ASAP.. Made it about 75 miles out and sure enough the oil light came on.
Pulled into Wal-Mart service bay,, explained the situation,, the serviced tech. got a kick out of it,, but worked me in right away and got me back on the road.
No more oil light problems.. Gave him a personal $10.00 tip. Made it to the race sight,, tested on Sat.,, raced on Sunday.. On the way home,, I stopped
at a Hardees for a little supper.. Whoops.. Locked my keys in the truck,, and no spares to be had. . There was a Missouri State Trooper in the parking lot.
Explained the situation to him and he loaned my 2 slot tip screw drivers.. Used one to spread open the sliding rear window and the other to pop open the latch.
By this time I had gathered a crowd as they were watching me try to wiggle through the window and reach the keys. Got the task done,, the crowd cheered and I took a bow.. I thanked the Troper,, gave him back his screw drivers and headed for home. Later that week I placed several sets of truck keys and motor
box keys underneath the race trailer.. My dad was always harping at me for not having extra keys.. Later that summer, I took Dad with me to a race in
Mcalister, Ok. Before we left,, I showed him where the extra sets were hidden. He was so proud... He has passed on and I miss him DEARLY..
Dads always know best.

[Jack Stotts]

Not a breakdown story but a police inquiry while traveling. Back many years ago I went to a big race in Detroit. Being a new member of APBA, I was given a temporary number which was X3S as I was from Ohio. After the races we loaded up and put the boat on top of the station wagon upside down. Never gave it a thought until someone, I believe to have been a law enforcement officer, ask why I had the letters SEX on the side of my boat. No good answer.

[PROPDOC]

Now that's funny!

[Dennis Crews]

Toooo funny!

[CSR4C]

1975 on the way home from the second Big Dayton nationals. 4 boats on a trailer & 1 of top of the van. The trailer axle was from an old chevy that had been extended with some hex rods. On the way in to a cut rate gas station in Green River WY, hit a chuck hole and the the axle broke at the extension. It was 6:30 in the evening. A block away was a shop that made tanks for the oil fields.Three working in the shop. Asked it they could weld it, they said they could. Borrowed a short length of angle & a couple c clamps, got the axle clamped back together and the trailer in the shop. The welder welded over head for a half hour and it was fixed good enough to get us back to Oregon. We we asked the price, he said: how about a six pack of beer, We paid him 2 six packs. We were back on the road by 8 pm. I'm sure if the boss was there the price would been a little different.

[Rocket]

Who bought the beer??

[CSR4C]

I did, it was my trailer that broke.

[Rocket]

We thank you for that too, cause at that time John and I did not even have a trailer.

[HYDRO21Z]

I could add some Farmer John Stories here, too many to decide which is the best to share. John I will leave it up to you if you want to share about the trip to Whitney point, or the trip that resulted in the new van. Traveling to races with John was always an adventure. Great Memories for sure.

[krazy karl]

Hey Darrell, how about all the blowouts going to Top 'O in 2007? We spent one night camped outside a tire shop in Fargo ND.
kk

[1100-one]

Well Darrell I have one similar to that. We were heading to Constatine Michigan with 3 boats on the trailer and 2 boats on a rack in the back of the pickup. Yes it looked like the Beverly Hill Billies. We just switched out drivers and yours truly was driving. I will never forget it as it was mile marker 87 on Interstate 80 in Nebraska when I was passing a semi truck when I looked into the mirror and seen sparks. I asked Derek what the hell and he yelled out there goes our tire and rim across the interstate.Long story short. We have a long trailer tow truck that picked up the trailer up and took us back to a shop. We spent the night and the next day everyone helped us locate a new axle. That afternoon we were on our way again. They even drove us to get the axle, got us what we needed and assisted us in putting it all together. It cost us the price of the axle only and a few hand shakes with there favorite beverage and we were off. Never found the tire and rim and thankfully nobody was hurt. What was concerning after was we carried 20 gallons of methanol in saddle boxes on each side of the trailer. The steel drug on the pavement but no boom.

[krazy karl]

This is not a trip to a boat race but I thought I would share it anyway. This took place in 1985. I was moving from Colo to Calif after going bust due to a great recession. I had shipped household goods and was driving an old beater 71 Chevy pickup with a big camper on it filled with the rest of our household goods. My wife at the time was following in the car. I also had my cat Ralph with me.

As we were pulling into the town of Fort Duchesne, Utah, little more than a wide spot in the road, I backed off the throttle to observe the town speed limit, when I started to put my foot back down, nothing. After coasting to the side of the road, I pulled the distributor cap, the rotor was turning but it wasn't pointing to # 1 when it should have been. It was 100* in the shade if it was a degree. I started pulling stuff off the front of the motor and realized I needed an harmoinic balancer puller. I had died directly across the street from and auto repair shop. I asked the owner if I could beg, borrow, steal, buy a harmonic balancer puller. He handed me one and said good luck. I pulled it all apart and the fiber crap had come off the cam gear and it had jumped time and to top it off the chain had chewed a hole in the cover.

The local NAPA had a timing set and dug up an old beat up timing cover in the back somewhere. I started to put it back together, when I realized I need another puller to get the crank sprocket off but I didn't want to push my luck with the nice guy at the repair shop. I put it all back together with the old gear and the new chain and unplasticised cam gear. It ran fine except for a slight whine from the mismatched parts. It also had a leak from the old used timing cover seal. Of course through all of this my wife was complaining about how hot it was and when I would have it done. Didn't help much, I actually felt worse for the poor cat who was suffering from the heat more than anyone else.

We made it to Calif with no more issues, the whine went away eventually and the leak went away for the most part. I had intended to redo this repair but never did and put another 60,000 miles on that old truck.

This was the worst break down ever and the worst part was I didn't have much money and had to make do as best I could but we got through it. Like the other stories there are some nice people out there willing and happy to help those in a jam, just like boat racers.
kk

[Art K]

Went to a race at Vicksburg Miss, 400 mi mile trip from St. louis. We were approx. 15 miles from the Lake making a left turn at a stop sign in a long line of cars. As we were just about to complete a left turn, some guy decided to pass all the cars and hit the left rear corner of the trailer. This trrailer was heavy duty carried 5 boats and i don`t know how many motors. The impact knocked the trailer off the trailer ball and tore up the corner pretty good. The person that hit us took off, but only made it a short distance before it quit. When the Hwy. Patrolman got there he asked us why we did not just thump the guy. After surveying the damage we thought we could go on. Made about five miles and we blew out a tire. one of the axles had broken loose and forced the tire into the edge of the fender. With no way to fix it in the dark we dicided to stay the night on the side of the road. Their was 5 of us in my station wagon. Two of the guys decided to throw their slleep bags on the ground. Well that did not last long, sand fleas ate them up. Was not a pleasant night. The next morning we got lucky, Dale Hull came by on the way to the lake. He had a Bronco with a winch. We used it to pull the axle back and drop one bolt in to hold it long enough to get to the lake. There was guy with a mobile welder out there and he took care of the axle problem. I mentioned the trailer got knocked off the ball. We thought it would be ok, well wrong. One O`clock in the morrning we here a loud bang, the trailer had come off the ball. Lucky again we were headed uphill and it did not run into the back of the vehicle. With nowhere to get it fixed we hooked it backup and tied it down with rope. We did make it home ok, but every little noise kept everybody from resting. What a trip.
Art K