What a day it has been…

We forgot to get up early so we could go to the farmer’s market, and we had no other plans for today, so we decided to make today a lazy day. Around noon we thought it would be fun to go to the antique store and see if they added anything new to their inventory.

We loaded up the kids and started down the road. Before we even got off our street, I heard a “whoosh whoosh” sound from the front tie on the driver’s side. I pulled over to check it out and the tire looked fine. All the tires looked fine, so I got back in the truck and off we went.

We got about a 1/2 mile down the road when we heard an even stranger sound coming from the front end, almost like a “thump thump” sound. It wasn’t the normal flat tire thumping sound, but sounded almost like it came from inside the engine area.

I pulled over on another side street and got out in time to watch the front left tire slowly go completely flat. The wife and kids got out of truck and I began the painful process of changing the tire. As some of you know my left shoulder has been bothering me for about a year now (it may be bursitis) and I have little to no strength in that arm, at times. This one was of those times.

We got the tire changed, but as we did, Gidget noticed that the gap between the “stuff” behind the tire, not the brake pads but where the break lines and all that join together just behind the tire, was very small, and seemed to be rubbing. I checked the tire on the passenger side and the gap on that side was wider than my fist, but the gap on the driver’s side was less than one index finger wide.

We took the truck home and decided not to drive it until we could get someone to look at it. After taking a shower and then discussing things for about an hour, I took our oldest son with me to the GMC dealer about 10 miles from our house. They looked at the wheel well and discovered, among other things, a cracked tie rod and some other stuff that was really bent up and “smooshed”. Smooshed is a technical term I use for auto parts I can’t remember the name of that were really messed up.

The mechanic related just how serious the issue was. Basically, we were just -| |-this far from the tire coming completely off the truck. Rim and all. The mechanic said it appeared to have been that way for a while and thought it was a miracle that we made it to the dealership in the first place. All I could think of was the fact we went to the north Georgia mountains just two weeks ago… ((shudder))

I may not remember all the names of the numerous other parts he mentioned, but I sure remember the price to repair it all. Their estimate was close to $7,000. Ugh. I didn’t have $7,000 to pour into the thing, and there was no way I was paying $7,000 to fix a truck that I only owed $12,000 on.

So, we sat at the dealership for two hours, yes just two hours, and came home with this instead:

It’s a 2007 4-door GMC Sierra crew-cab. The color is Stealth Gray, it has more room inside it than just about every other car or truck I have owned, and it only had 15 miles on it when I drove it off the lot to bring it home. My payment is remarkable close to the previous payment, and we no longer have to worry about a truck that needs new tires or that just came out from under warranty, which the Envoy did just 25 days ago.

I thank God we were not on the interstate when that tire came off, and I think God for sending me a little “whoosh whoosh” noise to warn me something bad was about to happen. I will wrap this up tonight and thank God once again that my wife and kids are sleeping soundly in their beds as I type this, because things could have been much worse in the end.

1. SWEEEEEET looking truck there brother!!! I’m glad no one got hurt!! hugs & kisses to all

   Comment by KC on Jul 22nd, 2007 @ 10:51

   
   

2. [...] for the lack of posts for the past couple days, but we had a harrowing experience over the weekend, which could have ended up horrible, but instead ended up with us owning a brand [...]

   Pingback by How Was Your Weekend? : The Alligator Pit on Jul 23rd, 2007 @ 01:11

   
   

3. That’s some scary stuff, but look at the pretty thing you wound up with! Good luck with it! :-)

   Comment by Lisa on Jul 24th, 2007 @ 15:00

   
   

4. Thanks… I love that truck.. :grin:

   Comment by Slobokan on Jul 24th, 2007 @ 16:11

   
   

5. [...] wife has been thinking about that vacation I wanted to take. Because of issues with my GMC Envoy, I now own a GMC Sierra 4-door Crew Cab and we’re all itching to go somewhere. She mentioned North Carolina and the Outer Banks, so I [...]

   Pingback by Work Work Work : The Alligator Pit on Jul 24th, 2007 @ 22:18

   
   

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