One hell of a road trip.

[Dave7.3]

I thought you guys would get a kick out of this story of my trip yesterday. Especially those of you that carry a supply of spare parts in the back seat.

I found a nice 4 horse bumper pull trailer for my folks located about 250 miles away over in Miles City, Montana. About a 4-5 hour drive, figured why not and took Dad's 96' F250 PSD. We used to take his truck on trips to California from our home in South Dakota, so this wasn't too big of a deal in our eyes.

Left early from our farm in Belle Fourche, SD and hit HWY85 up and HWY12 over to Miles City, MT by noon. Met the guy and bought the trailer on the spot after looking it over. Pretty stout 10,000# bumper pull trailer with dual 6,000# rated axles.

Hooked it up, had lunch and hit the road for home at about 2pm. Smooth sailing until we started into the hills near Rhame, ND. Dad was driving and noticed the battery light come on. Puzzled, he fiddled with the headlights and I look over to see the temp gauge snap to the H. Quickly we pull to the side and shut off the truck.

Popped open the hood and the degas bottle is SWOLLEN, boiling over with coolant. The entire passenger side of the truck is covered with coolant spray all the way back to the end of the trailer. Coolant is puddling under the truck and the serpentine belt is wrapped around the fan. Wonderful place to be at about 4pm at a frosty temp of around 30*F.

I started to unwrap the fan and noticed the idler pulley is completely SHOT. Looking to see if I can even get the pulley off...I realize my Dad has NO metric tools at all. We are screwed.

Thankfully, my folks managed to flag down a motorist and he gave me a lift to Bowman, ND to get parts. Bought a new idler, belt, 2 gallons of coolant and a set of allen/torq head wrenches to fit. We get back and I realize...I didn't have a T-5 torq wrench...only a T-4. Its past 5pm by now and no place would be open in Bowman by the time we got back to get the right tools. To our luck, a rancher stopped to help that didn't live too far away. He ran home to get some tools while we waited at the truck.

He made his way back with a 15mm socket to open the tensioner...but he didn't grab a torq for the idler. Thinking we might be able to limp it to Bowman, we set the belt on. One turn to start and it spat it right out, no way that idler was gonna work.

So the rancher ran back home again for his torq set and another driver stopped to give us a hand. The guy turned out to be a sales rep from Bowman Ford! He was on his way home and knew exactly what we needed. He didn't live too far off and also ran to get his tools from home. We told him another driver was on his way, but he was insistent on getting his tools.

Before the Ford guy got back, the rancher showed back up with the right torq wrench! We slipped off the old idler and threw the new one on. While we are setting the belt on, the Ford sales rep showed back up. The two of them were neighbors as it turned out. Even more interesting, they were both familiar with where our farm was located too. Small world!

We topped off the coolant and fired the truck up. Everything looked good, so we limped the truck to Bowman, ND and stopped to check the coolant level. Adding a little more, we finally made it home by 10pm last night.

So, after that nice 4 hour ordeal in the cold, I can say that I am extremely thankful for the kindness of others up in North Dakota. Not only that, but from now on I will also be carrying spares in ALL vehicles that my family owns...not just mine.

Others reading this that haven't started storing spares in your vehicles, I urge you to do so!

Also, I took a picture of what was left of the original 16 year old Motorcraft idler pully. Yes, this is ALL that was left of it... Funny, I recalled a tapping noise under the hood for the past year that I couldn't ever locate. Found it!

 

[towcat]

it's good to hear you are in an area where strangers will stop and help. out here, you get robbed.

 

[h2odrx]

wow mine did that too.....

 

[Fordsandguns]

Just think of how many revolutions that pulley has made in sixteen years!

 

[bghnkinf350]

Stories like that are awesome! Around here, they are getting harder and harder to come by. I was caught by surprise when someone stopped and offered to help me with a spare tire!

 

[Fordsandguns]

Not many people will stop out here either. And this is a rural area.

 

[itsacrazyasian]

it's good to hear you are in an area where strangers will stop and help. out here, you get robbed.

Why i carry two glocks on me.

I will stop if i see someone broke down on the side of the road if it doesn't seem too sketch. See alot of broke down soccer moms but they panick when they see my truck pull up behind them.

 

[Dave7.3]

it's good to hear you are in an area where strangers will stop and help. out here, you get robbed.

Tell me about it. I've heard many horror stories over the years from my Uncle Kenny who is an officer in San Luis Obispo. It didn't take much to convince me to start carrying as soon as I could get my permit.

Why i carry two glocks on me.

I will stop if i see someone broke down on the side of the road if it doesn't seem too sketch. See alot of broke down soccer moms but they panick when they see my truck pull up behind them.

I carry a glock too, Dad carries a compact 22 and a .357 S&W magnum.

I bet those soccor moms turn right around and count their blessings when you actually help them out.

You guys would be surprised at the sheer number of people that stopped to ask if everything was alright. Close to at least a dozen. Which is interesting since having people stop to help closer to our ranch isn't nearly as common.

I bet we would still be out there if those guys hadn't stopped to help.

 

[Dave7.3]

Just think of how many revolutions that pulley has made in sixteen years!

No kidding! Dad's truck only has about 108k on it, but that pulley has been in that truck as we drove with our camper all over the West Coast years ago.

 

[6.9man]

well i guess im glad i live in north dakota where 90% of the time if your stranded along the road someone will help you out. i never even thought about getting robed along side the road either. maybe its just the lots of good country folk nd has

 

[Brimmstone]

I'll stop to help someone but I carry a Snakeslayer on me and a large Para 1911 in the truck loaded with the nastiest hollowpoints made. Crazy thing is most people are more freaked I carry a derringer loaded with 410 shotguns shells than the 1911.

 

[Simp5782]

Sorry you had to go to Miles City, I used to be a cop there. its a crappy town. Also Rhame is in North Dakota, not Montana. Im sorry you were stuck anywhere in that area. It is alot of nothing.

 

[icanfixall]

Plentywood Montana is a whole lot of nothing too. Then you get to the border crossing called Regway and then absolutly nothing in Canada for the longest distance.... For many years the paved road stopped just over the border and it was really messed up dirt for mile after mile.. Talk about a slip and slide when its wet... Holly crap is a mess... Glad you got home safely and I carry too... Everybody knows whats behind my rear seat.... Usually the wifey is with me up in that area when we are hauling horses to Regina for the biggest show in Canada... I would take her to any dog fight.. she can really kick as too...

 

[Dave7.3]

I'll stop to help someone but I carry a Snakeslayer on me and a large Para 1911 in the truck loaded with the nastiest hollowpoints made. Crazy thing is most people are more freaked I carry a derringer loaded with 410 shotguns shells than the 1911.

I guess people are afraid of the spray from the shotgun shells instead. I have a liking for 1911's...someday I'd like to own another one.

Sorry you had to go to Miles City, I used to be a cop there. its a crappy town. Also Rhame is in North Dakota, not Montana. Im sorry you were stuck anywhere in that area. It is alot of nothing.

No kidding? Man, small world! Thanks for pointing out my typo btw, I went back and edited it.
The guys that gave us a hand mentioned that things in that area got much worse when the crews for the oil fields started pouring in. A whole lot of nothing is right though, we broke down near the wind farm in that area...that was ALL there was for miles!

Plentywood Montana is a whole lot of nothing too. Then you get to the border crossing called Regway and then absolutly nothing in Canada for the longest distance.... For many years the paved road stopped just over the border and it was really messed up dirt for mile after mile.. Talk about a slip and slide when its wet... Holly crap is a mess... Glad you got home safely and I carry too... Everybody knows whats behind my rear seat.... Usually the wifey is with me up in that area when we are hauling horses to Regina for the biggest show in Canada... I would take her to any dog fight.. she can really kick as too...

I know what those kind of roads are like. Many roads around our farm are "Minimum Maintenance". I tell ya, they aren't joking...mostly just a pair of wheel tracks the county never bothers with. Lock both hubs and throw it in 4 low, otherwise you won't get through those.

A stockpile like yours would have put us back on the road in 10 minutes, but I won't complain...just making it home in one piece was enough of a reward.
My wifey is the same way, she was a blackbelt in her younger years. She still has her moves...found that out when I surprised her and ended up getting my ass thrown upside down. My folks thought that she was a hoot after that!

 

[asmith]

Tell me about it. I've heard many horror stories over the years from my Uncle Kenny who is an officer in San Luis Obispo. It didn't take much to convince me to start carrying as soon as I could get my permit.

hey i grew up in SLO and now live just north of it. crazy thing is that i have no problem stopping to help someone here, and have done it several times. It is one of the better areas of CA. what is your uncles last name? i might know him. if you ever come out this way we should meet up and grab a beer.