If these things happen in 3's...

[Chebby]

... I should live to a ripe old age!

I may have mentioned this to you before but this happened to me about 31 years ago (I'm going by my oldest daughter's age who was only a year old at the time).

I was coming home from a rod run with my then "new" street rod (1940 Studebaker, 4 door sedan, 327 cid small block) when I lost the steering at 60 miles an hour. I was on a divided highway and when my car hit the expansion joint at the entrance of a bridge a steering link fell out and I was instantly without steering. I turned around to my wife who had just moved to the back seat to attend to our daughter and said: "Hold on!". At that moment the adrenalin kicked in and everything went into slow motion. I noticed that a curve was coming in the road ahead with huge concrete pillars. I also noticed that the crown of the road was pulling the car to the left and my gentle testing of the brakes pulled the car to the right. I checked my mirrors and there were no cars anywhere around me (This is the Trans-Canada Highway on a Sunday afternoon) so I slowed down as quickly as I could using the crown of the road and my brakes to steer. As I got to the edge of the pavement I was probably doing 20 MPH, the right wheel then veered the car quickly and I slammed the brakes. I stopped on a slight incline about 90 degrees to the highway to which my wife said: "Why are we stopping here?" Looking through my windscreen I could see a Texaco station parking lot... Looking behind me, I could see that the traffic had resumed to its usual density with tractor trailers and motor homes whizzing by at full speed.

Whenever I pass that spot on the highway, I always count: "One potato, two potatoes, three potatoes..." and at 60 MPH I've never been able to count more than 6 potatoes from the expansion joint to where I came to a halt!

As I said, that was approximately 31 years ago. Fast forward to TODAY... My buddy comes to visit me to go to a car show in our village with his "new to him" '50 GMC pickup. It's mostly stock but has a Toyota power steering box and chrome rims and radials. After viewing the cars at our local show we decided to go to another car show about an hour's drive away. When we came to a bridge (are you following this???) he was talking about his alignment needing to be checked as he found it was wandering a bit more than usual. We were half way across the bridge when the truck hit what we thought was the guardrail of the bridge (remember this truck is mostly stock so there are NO SEATBELTS!) and we are now careening banked against the guardrail, then as we get to the end of the bridge the truck starts crossing the highway (did I mention this in two-way traffic) luckily, there are no cars that we can see coming in the other direction (there's an upcoming hill and curve... See any similarities to my story? I know I did!). We finally came to a full stop on the opposite bank of the highway as if we had stopped to pick berries on the side of the road!

We got out and he instantly came over to my side to see the damages to his freshly painted truck... NOTHING... Not a scratch, his tires scraped the edge of the concrete abutment of the bridge and gently bounced us across the highway. Then we looked for what came unhooked in the steering system...

Have I ever expounded on the use of Mr. Cotter's little invention... Namely cotter pins??? My buddy, rather red faced, realized he had forgotten to put one back in after the Toyota steering box addition.

Well like I said in the subject line, if these incidents come in 3's then my next episode will be in the year 2038 and I'll be 91 years old, luckily I'll most likely be wearing Depends!!!

Chebby

Epilogue 1: As Canadians, we are NOT very litigious people, but the reason I lost the steering in my Studebaker was that I followed an article in the now defunct magazine called Rod Action. They explained that using a D-Shaft slip joint you could install a rack & pinion steering mounted to your straight axle... Yeah, right! The unsuspended weight of a rack & pinion factored in I would have needed a slip joint twice the length of the one I installed. I didn't sue anyone because I'd also have to factor in MY STUPIDITY!

Epilogue 2: And this one is straight from the heart... I have a feeling GOD was reminding me not to be as complacent as I have been lately... He's STILL in control!!!

[Deuce]

... I should live to a ripe old age!

Three strikes and you are OUT ...

Neat story.  

[GPster]

... Epilogue 2: And this one is straight from the heart... I have a feeling GOD was reminding me not to be as complacent as I have been lately... He's STILL in control!!!

And he works on Sunday afternoons. GPster

[UGLY OLDS]

... Epilogue 2: And this one is straight from the heart... I have a feeling GOD was reminding me not to be as complacent as I have been lately... He's STILL in control!!!

And he works on Sunday afternoons. GPster

Very well put Joe..I'd never quite thought of it that way....

[EMSjunkie]

I count on Him for help every day :!:

Vance

[UGLY OLDS]

I count on Him for help every day :!:

Vance

Mee Too.... ( Trust me ...I NEED it... :!: )

[Dave]

I count on Him for help every day :!:

Vance

Mee Too.... ( Trust me ...I NEED it... :!: )

Ya me too...
I cant come much closer to death having been there once from the heart attack and thinking i was going there with the bike crash.. Im gonna ride again and im gonna ride with Jesus if i have to..
Dave  

[enjenjo]

im gonna ride with Jesus if i have to..

Jesus rides a Goldwing

[Deuce]

im gonna ride with Jesus if i have to..

Jesus rides a Goldwing

Yes ... he does ... because EVEN Jesus has a hard time keeping a old Panhead or Knucklehead Harley running