Don’t Leave Home Without ‘Em

My cousin, sister and me were cruising down the 215 south in a ‘89 Mustang 5.0 when the damn hood fliped open at 75mph and collapsed the roof and destroy the windshield, we had some rope to hold the trunk closed, but not even a few seconds later it open again. We pull over for the second time and found some clamps for an intake and we used that since we didn’t have anything else, and i held all the way and it sucked since we were driving with a f**ked up windshield and we had cut everywhere.

I was just cruising around concord NH, on my way home actually. I’m puuling up to a light, it turns red so I take my foot of the gas and all of a sudden the car dies…I was freakin out trying to start it before the light turned green. Unfortunately when I decided it’s not starting I got out and looked uder the car. to see a giant puddle of gasoline rushing towards me…my fuel line burst!!! I pulled the fuel pump relay so no more gas would spray out and in the middle of traffic with everyone honking at me, climbed under the car and tried to see if I could do anything. So a bit later a cop came and a tow truck showed up, this was all around maybe 5 or 6 and btw is in the middle of the fucking winter bout 20 degrees, I didn’t want a tow home cus I knew I could fix it. I had the guy tow me into the Sears parking lot adjacent to the road not more than 100 feet driving distance. Cost me $105.00, fucking rip off and I couldn’t push it because it was up hill and I had no one to help. So I get itno the parking lot and find that I have to take a nice long walk to Advance auto Parts to get some clamps and hose. I get back and buy some mechanics gloves from Sears I began to work with only a flat head screw driver, at a slow pace in that weather and in the dark with only my cell phone as a flash light, lucky I didn’t get a call and blow up or some shit. By about 10 my hands were frost bitten and my jacket was ruined, one side saturated with gasoline and dirt but the fuel line was fixed. The car started right up and I was practically dead, needless to say I never go anywhere with out some sort of emergency tool kit and mechanics gloves!!

i was going to the coast with my girlfriend. my clutch had been giving me crap for a while them didnt think much of it. till we both lost cell coverage and the damn thing wouldnt come out of gear. turns out my slave cylinder broke. (88 toyota pickup) so 45miles from home no tools i would shut it off go into 1st get up to speed shut off the truck shift to 2nd and keep doing that. but other than that my toy had been a tank

LOOK YOU POMPOUS ASSHOLES I don’t take kindly to that DOMESTIC VS FOREIGN crap. A car is a car. They all require proper maintanence and care. Being stranded ussually points to the lack there of.
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Working for a Foreign car maker I get to laugh at people like you all day long. People who think their foreign car is supreme because its not made in America. They dont think it’s funny though because their foreign car just left them stranded on the highway for 2 hours and they now have to shell out $1000+ to get it back on the road. Oh did I mention that foreign parts are more expencive. HA

James: I got news for ya brother, it isnt only American cars breaking down. Maintanence plays a huge part in break downs. I’ve owned 4 American cars 3 being over 20 years old and not a one of them has left me stranded. Oh did I mention that all of them were well over 100,000 miles when I owned them.
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85 Pontiac Parisienne – Even after a minivan stuffed the front end this car never stopped running. It drove straight down the road even after taking the hit.
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86 Chevy Camro Berlinetta – Pushed her over the 100,000 mark by doing 100mph. Sold her to a friend and is now awaiting restoration STILL RUNS FINE
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84 Chevy Caprice – Just hit 100k on her this weekend, NEVER BEEN STRANDED, and this bitch is carburated.
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00 Pontiac Grand Prix – Just check out my page. 130,000 miles and climbing. NEVER BEEN STRANDED or the hint of a break down.

It’s weird, every single car we’ve owned has either been a Mercedes-Benz or a Toyota. Never one problem that rendered me on the side of the road. Hell, I even smacked into a curb at 60mph and drove home. I love that Mercedes. Too bad I sold it…

It seems most of the topics relating to roadside issues pertain to mainly American cars.

BTW- THERE IS a downside to having a good set of tools in your vehicle.
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My first ‘90 Cherokee was stolen. The cops caught 3 assholes disassembling it… with MY TOOLS.
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Of course since the truck was recovered, but nothing already removed from it, I retrieved what was left of my truck.
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Anymore… I don’t put emphasis on having tools in the car. I focus on doing whatever I can to keep it in top running condition and in the unlikely case it does break down? AAA gets a call or if I’m close to an auto supply store I’ll just buy a cheap set of tools along with the part(s) I need.
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It’s not worth dragging a lot of tools around, for me at least.

My luck seems to run out along the DC beltway, en route to or from Georgia… and pretty much nowhere else.
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I once owned a ‘94 Cavalier Z24. The radiator fan relay quit amidst the I-95/beltway southbound. I got as far as northern Virginia. It was Friday. I was screwed unless a miracle happened. I had wire and even a toggle switch in the trunk, but no tools and it was not looking good. I was lucky enough that the flatbed driver knew someone who traveled in his car and fixed cars… wherever. He came out and got the fan and the car running, and I only lost 2 hours.
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The other time I was driving a ‘94 Chevy Conversion van northbound. The driver’s side front caliper was releasing very slowly. The hotter the brakes got, the longer it took to release. I had no tools or parts. Worse yet it was Saturday and based on my prior experience with the Cav, I knew I was screwed if I got stuck.
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It got so bad, the drag on the left front wheel was battling it out with the right rear drive wheel when traffic was slow on the beltway (of course). The van started TO DANCE and there is ZERO exaggeration about that. Both axles were bouncing back and forth. I remember seeing people in the RV mirror with eyes wide open. I decided to pull onto the shoulder. Rather than stopping, when the caliper finally released I got back into the right lane and drove all the way to above Philly, using the cable E-brakes and driving at or below the speed limit at a healthy distance from other vehicles ahead.

So far the worst that I’ve had happen to me was my clutch going out just at the top of a moutain pass this winter, nothing my little ratchet set could do to help me there.

My Jeep 4.0 started running terribly and missing all of a sudden. I pulled over and found the ground strap was completely loose. Got my ratchet and an SAE bit out and tightened it down. It ran perfectly fine again.

On Monday, I went to Advance Auto Parts to get new sparkplugs, and when I went to leave, my car wouldn’t start. I had the same problem at the end of the week before, but it had somehow fixed itself. My dad had convinced me it was the fuel pump, but we found out later that day it was just the relay. If I had known then, I could have gone back in, bought a relay, and drove home, instead of having to wait for my dad to come and tow my home with our van. Would have saved us hours of work that still isn’t finished now…