Truck Update: Three Weeks

I’ve been without my truck for three weeks.

Three. Weeks.

They’ve been long weeks.

Some folks might take this in stride. It’s an inconvenience and an expense (a huge one) but nothing more. Not me!

Vast swaths of the population consider a vehicle nothing more than a way to get from point A to point B. These are the sort that think self driving cars are keen and exhort me to vote for light rail subsidies.

I’m not of that tribe. I need my wheels! A vehicle is not merely transportation… it is freedom.

I might have faired better if it was motorcycle weather but it’s not. So… I’ve gone slowly mad. Everything feels like this:

I’ve been bumming rides off Mrs. Curmudgeon. She’s been very nice about it. She even accepts my apologies when I stuff 200 pounds of chicken feed in the back seat.

But homestead chores are backing up. You don’t know how much you use your truck until it’s… not.

I’ve had three weeks of not.

I considered buying a new truck. I didn’t want a new truck. I wanted my truck.

Everyone has an opinion of a better truck brand I should own. They form into teams; Ford, Chevy, Dodge… or teams from other leagues… Jeep, Toyota, etc… But to be honest no team is perfect. If you want huge and you’re in America, you’re stuck with one of the big three. I know y’all have a story about your pappy’s truck that went eleven million miles in 1970 without so much as a flat tire… but for every one fondly remembered, there’s another one sitting in a junkyard. I guess what I’m saying is that they all suck in special and different ways.

My Dodge, for example, decided to expose me to “Death Wobble”. In no universe should “Death Wobble” be a known flaw! I wrote about it here:

• Death Wobble: Part I
• Death Wobble: Part II
• Death Wobble: Part III
• Death Wobble: Part IV
• Death Wobble: Part V
• Death Wobble: Part VI
• Death Wobble: Part VII
• Death Wobble: Fini
• Death Wobble: It Never Ends

We live in a world where they’ll recall seven million Hondas because the passenger drink holder once failed and scared a Chihuahua in Pasadena. They’ll recall a generation of mini-vans because the heater fan switch has the wrong font. But I had a catastrophic failure of steering due to a know issue and that’s “a common occurence”.

WTF?!?!

How can “death wobble’ not be a big deal?  “Here, drink this soda. It has a known flaw called ‘exploding anus‘. It happens sometimes. Drink up.”

Anyway, I fixed death wobble (by hurling money at it) and got seven years of good service. It was expensive and annoying when it happened but seven years of good service isn’t bad.

Then, BOOM, transmission blown! Weirdly, I’d been rather impressed with the six speed auto. The tow setting shift points were just right for dragging an iceberg and (combined with the exhaust retarders) it was pretty good at crawling down anything short of a cliff. I was happy with the transmission right until it was flinging innards onto the pavement. I didn’t see it coming. Who knew?

You place your bets and you takes your chances. I decided to hurl more money at it and hope I get many years of service. It was cheaper than buying a new (or comparable used) but not cheap!

It’ll be done soon. Actually, it’s already done, I just haven’t paid for it yet. All I’ve got to do is spend all my money (big thanks to the folks who tossed a tip my way, you’re awesome!).

Soon. I’ll be a man with a truck again. I’ll be back where I feel best; at the wheel and enjoying the open road.