&*%& @#% @%* (@$%&@ %(&%@!!!!!

[rabbit]

To set the stage, I am already on my last nerve. I graduate from Ohio Northern in two weeks. I have three papers and a 20-minute oral presentation coming due in the next week, and then finals. The day after my last final, I'm taking the fam to Disney World with my income tax return. So I'm a little stressed.

So tonight I was driving my 1998 Mercury Tracer back to the office after covering a basketball game. I got within a half-mile of the office and I started to feel a vibration in the right front, like the tire was going down. I heard a loud "POW!" and the steering wheel jerked out of my hand. I got out of the car and walked around... no flat tire. I'm not sure what broke, but something did. Now I have to find somebody to tow it and then charge me an arm and a leg to fix it. Meanwhile, I am car-less, which is really a b!tch since I commute 48 miles round-trip to school everyday, in addition to going to work. Plus I will probably have to dip into my vacation fund$ to pay for the repair.

Arrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!! I do not need this right now! :mad: :cry:

[racer2c]

I feel your pain. I can't do math in my head. :)

Chin up. When life gives you lemons...take them and throw them at people you don't like. :)

[devilmaster]

Chin up. When life gives you lemons...take them and throw them at people you don't like. :)

:laugh:

I just started laughing uncontrollably at that..... I needed it too.... can i order a bushel of lemons? ;)

[chop456]

Should have smashed it into a pole so you could get rental coverage. :D

[Ankf00]

Should have smashed it into a pole so you could get rental coverage. :D

you know....





that can still be arranged. :D

[rabbit]

Got up this morning to take a look at it. Turned the steering wheel all the way to the right so I could get a look behind the wheel. My front wheel look like this: /----l

[Ankf00]

that sounds expensive, sorry dude :(

[Redwing]

Loud POW in the front end...I had a 95 Escort that spent it's life in salt country up north and the coil spring snapped. 800 bucks to get a new one.
I've never seen a recall, but maybe there's a TSB for this. Nissan issued a recall on their Sentra's for the same problem. Sorry about the bad luck, but just think, now you're overdue for some good fortune, and racing season is right around the corner.

[Al Czervik]

Got up this morning to take a look at it. Turned the steering wheel all the way to the right so I could get a look behind the wheel. My front wheel look like this: /----l

Sounds like bad ball joints/tie rod ends.

Just be glad it didn't happen during a top speed run!

[Andrew Longman]

Got up this morning to take a look at it. Turned the steering wheel all the way to the right so I could get a look behind the wheel. My front wheel look like this: /----l

In other words the steering wheel only turns one wheel? I was going to guess CV joint failed but this sounds like a failed ball joint on the tie rod. That's cheaper.

[G.]

Dude, the failure didn't happen in 85 MPH traffic, bumper-to-bumper, with the family on board and a bushel full of lemons in the trunk, with an 18-wheeler in the lane next to you.

While you were driving to post bail for Ank, for some unknown booze-related incident.

Could've been worse, is my point.

I think. :confused:

Sorry, dude.

[rabbit]

Dude, the failure didn't happen in 85 MPH traffic, bumper-to-bumper, with the family on board and a bushel full of lemons in the trunk, with an 18-wheeler in the lane next to you.

While you were driving to post bail for Ank, for some unknown booze-related incident.

Could've been worse, is my point.

I think. :confused:

Sorry, dude.Yeah, it happened at 40 mph on a four-lane street with no traffic a half-mile from the office. It could have been much, much worse. It's just extra stress I could do without right now. (Plus I NEED that car right now.)

But I have to go now. I have some lemons I have to throw at Michael Andretti, per r2c's advice. ;)

[rabbit]

In other words the steering wheel only turns one wheel? I was going to guess CV joint failed but this sounds like a failed ball joint on the tie rod. That's cheaper.
I don't think it was the CV joint. I've had one go bad before and it made a lot of noise before it ever had a chance to fail. This happened without any warning (well, about two seconds worth). Tie rod was my first thought. I know Escorts/Tracers are (in)famous for tie-rod problems.

[IlliniRacer]

Relax, alright? My old man is a television repairman, he's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it.

[RacinM3]

Is that keyboard drawing meant to show that the wheel is "collapsed" inward at the top toward the center of the axle or is it meant to show that when you turn the wheel, one wheel turns but the other doesn't?

Sounds like a failed control arm to me.

[rabbit]

Is that keyboard drawing meant to show that the wheel is "collapsed" inward at the top toward the center of the axle or is it meant to show that when you turn the wheel, one wheel turns but the other doesn't?

Sounds like a failed control arm to me.When I turn the wheel to the right, the LF turns right and the RF remains at attention.

[RacinM3]

OK, tie rod.

[Stu]

I feel your pain. I can't do math in my head. :)

Chin up. When life gives you lemons...take them and throw them at people you don't like. :)


When life gives Jack Bauer lemons, he uses them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.

[racer2c]

When life gives Jack Bauer lemons, he uses them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.

I once threw a lemon at Jack Bauer. He shot me five times with hollow point bullets out of a 357. Then he kicked me all the way to the hospital. I'm lucky to be alive! Thanks Jack!

[Rob]

I know how that goes, rabbit. With just over a month left before my college graduation, in the midst of working on my final presentation, I was the victim of a hit-and-run. It totally screwed everything up, but I survived the ordeal and managed to get everything finished. Hang in there.

[Rob]

P.S. You're 6'8" and manage to fit into a Mercury Tracer?!?

[rabbit]

P.S. You're 6'8" and manage to fit into a Mercury Tracer?!?
http://207.236.61.38/MainServer/items/images/ACC%20H03.jpg

:gomer:

[extramundane]

P.S. You're 6'8" and manage to fit into a Mercury Tracer?!?

That was my thought too. I'm only 6'2" and I wouldn't last 10 minutes in anything that size.

Then again, my brother's best friend from High School was 6'7" and drove a Volkswagen Rabbit. Maybe the extra half-foot comes with a hinge? ;)

[Rob]

Well, I'm 6'4", and the car I had my aforementioned accident in was a Chevy Spectrum hatchback. I had enough room in there, but I'm not sure I could have grown another 4" and kept it.

[devilmaster]

I had enough room in there, but I'm not sure I could have grown another 4" and kept it.

k.... ain't gonna touch that one...... literally.

[chop456]

That was my thought too. I'm only 6'2" and I wouldn't last 10 minutes in anything that size.

Then again, my brother's best friend from High School was 6'7" and drove a Volkswagen Rabbit. Maybe the extra half-foot comes with a hinge? ;)

You're too young to remember this, I guess:

http://www.adaholic.com/fullaccess/1884_I1.jpg

[rabbit]

Tie-rod end. A buddy just fixed it in 15 minutes.

$10.52 w/ tax.

:cool::thumbup:

[fourrunner]

Tie-rod end. A buddy just fixed it in 15 minutes.

$10.52 w/ tax.

:cool::thumbup:

Everything works out in the end :thumbup:

And Life goes on !!!

[Joelski]

Better invest in a front-end alignment or else you'll be replacing some chewed up tires.

[cart7]

When life gives you lemons...take them and throw them at people you don't like. :)

No, when life gives you lemons....

go out and find someone whose life has given them a bottle of Tequila. ;)

[extramundane]

You're too young to remember this, I guess:

http://www.adaholic.com/fullaccess/1884_I1.jpg

I can barely remember what my name is these days. Age don't enter into it ;)

[CARTNUT]

I would also spend another $10.52 or whatever they charge to replace the other side. Those Ford tie rod ends have no lube fittings and tend to rust internally and bind which causes the ball/socket to wear out. And you HAVE TO GET AN ALIGNMENT!

[TKGAngel]

Rabbit, if it makes you feel any better, today my driver's side front rim was replaced for the 2nd time in three weeks. I blame the magnet that Dodge installed on my front end for attracting me to the curbs in our parking lot. ;)