Just Keep Rolling On
Just when things starting rolling along at Boxes In Fields, everyday life tends to kick you. Went to visit family over the weekend and all was lovely until we were half way home. Driving along it sounded like a stick was stuck under the truck. The sound was made when driving straight, turning to the left or the right, driving slow, or running down the highway. Tires go round and round, round and round and should not wobble side to side. As you guessed it was not a stick, it was the ball joints.
Argh! There were all these things planned for this week. To the wayside they went! Of course when things of this nature occur it always causes grumbling and negative thoughts. Why now? Why me? Really? Come on, seriously? Negative, negative, negative.
If one were to rationally think about things after the emotions have settled, one would realize the truck is 11 years old and has 170k miles. It has survived salt air, salt water, and salt de-icer. It has had stock tires, off road tires, and now mile-friendly street tires It has gone from stock long bed, to camper bed, to utility flatbed. So honestly, new ball joints and tie rods are just normal wear and tear. I mean, the oil is changed every 5000 miles and no complaints are ever made about that!
Of course, positive Polly would say things could always be worse. And then…
After pulling the That’s a Big ‘Un to its new home, the Planner thought he’d give it the once over. The brakes weren’t working very well on the trip over and besides it’s always a good idea to give a used piece of equipment some TLC. This trailer had belonged to a hotshot driver, and we knew it had some mileage. Turns out is must have been driven to hell and back, twice. The brake drums were toast, several pieces of the brake hardware were missing or broken, and the axle seals were shot.
Fortunately, the previous owner had recently installed brake shoes and included several old backing plates with hardware that could be salvaged. So after buying new drums, seals, and magnets; everything was cleaned up and reinstalled.
So yes, plans were postponed and the job took longer than anticipated. But it is done and done and our plans can roll on…..