mikew968 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Was the drive home or the race more treacherous? The winds were unreal moving the truck and trailer all over the place. When I got home in Cincinnati my lawn looked like a bomb went off with tree tops all over the place. Fortunately there was no damage to the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clutchless Bastard Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 We had a 4X8 sheet of plywood fly off an overpass right in frt. of us. The car just in frt. of us drove over it right after it landed. Could have been messy. We saw huge uprooted oaktrees every where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstreit911 Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 (edited) Cheez... It was a real pisser of a trip for us. Hope everyone got home okay. We got on Route 30... 2 miles onto the highway I got a flat tire on the trailer. Changed that and back on the way. Then the winds started picking up. Local forecasts said gusts to 40MPH... Why are they ALWAYS from the side? Someday I want those big winds to come from behind and help the mileage. Needless to say our 63' of motorhome and trailer didn't handle it too gracefully despite my pulling over twice to crank down the anti-sway a bit more. The second time I tightened it all the way.. After fighting the winds for a while I stopped in "Beaverdam" at a Flying J after seeing a 5th wheel trailer on it's side with a dually pickup still hanging wheels-up off the hitch. I'm lucky my 3 year old was asleep. He's a little prone to car-sickness and definitely would have blown chunks if he'd been awake. When I stepped out of the motorhome I couldn't believe how bad it was. Resolved to wait it out. Put the jacks down, walked (at a 45 degree angle) around to the various truck dealers looking for a replacement spare for the trailer. I found one place open at 8PM Sunday night. The guy took my rim and we walked to the back tire storage, umm..shed, and dug one out. THEN he tells me he's just the janitor and all the service guys are out cleaning up a semi-rollover/accident about 2 hours away so it "may be a while". Geez I hadn't even gotten 1/3 of the way home yet 5 hours into the trip! I asked him if I could just use the machine. Those 75 sidewall trailer tires are so easy you could almost do it with a couple of dinner spoons. Well he said "no, liability and all that", but that he could use the machine if I "helped". Well he started but was not so sure how to use their mounting machine, great! When he walked up front to answer his phone which had started ringing, I quickly unmounted the torn tire and mounted the new one. Got 'er done, paid him, and went off again. We packed it in at the local Walmart parking lot when I started seeing pink elephants on the highway. Monday morning we're just about to hit 80/94 into Chicago when we see a sign that the highway is closed due to flooding also. No problem, dial a detour into the GPS. Well, so did everyone else. The local route was absolutely stopped. I started driving through neighborhoods in back-country Indiana and got to our on-ramp past the flooding. It was eerie. When I got back on 80/94 which is usually wall-to-wall cars at ANY time of the day or night, there was NO ONE there. I mean NO ONE. I saw like 5 cars on our way westbound. Imagine 16 lanes of highway with no cars, weird! The eastbound side was closed too and there were only cops and tow-trucks picking up all the abandoned cars. There must have been one every 1/4 mile. Finally I saw where they were routing people off. It was a parking lot for 15 miles. I didn't see a single car move our whole way by. Edited September 16, 2008 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikew968 Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 Chris: That was quite an experience!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrtracing Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 Must have been weird karma, as I had a flat on the trailer as well. Once again, the toy trailer that I pull proved to be an asset. I was getting drug all over the road by the wind at 45mph, so I thought I would try 70. 70 worked much better, although I’m not sure why. Only downside was the 20 or so naps I took during he last hour of the drive. For some reason after 6 track sessions for the last 4 days, I was tired. Also weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Child Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 We had a 4X8 sheet of plywood fly off an overpass right in frt. of us. The car just in frt. of us drove over it right after it landed. Could have been messy. We saw huge uprooted oaktrees every where. I was right behind/beside you when that happend. I can't believe it didn't hit that car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CARVAL Motorsports Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 We didn't fair to well either. Actually, we did not get home until 11:45.... MONDAY night! After podium and loading, and yet another failed effort at the dump site (as Sacha said, "Your RV is Constipated", we headed on towards home. Everything was fine as we moved toward I71, Valarie following in the Yukon, we examined all the trees down on Steam Corners and the rest of the mess along the way. As I headed north on the ramp for our minor 1.5 hour haul, I noticed that the RV was sluggish all of a sudden, thought maybe the wind, but, as I said, we were heading North, it was a tailwind. 30mph tops up the long hill, but no better as we crested, actually worse. I pulled off to the side just as the "Check Engine" light came on. Felt like it was running on about 5 cylinders. We crept up to SR13 at about 5mph, and headed for the safety of the WalMart parking lot. All was blacked out with no power. We settled in, called AAA as we have RV Emergency Service to see what they may have if we needed help or a tow. Finally said we were tired after the long week, would turn in an see what the morning brought. Here is how Monday went: After about 25 calls into AAA, it became clear that they were going to be absolutely no help. We found out that basically, nobody in the area deals with them anymore. AAA said that they were unable to help us, could not give us an references or phone numbers or anything concerning towing or emergency help. We (Valarie) finally located a large towing service that could handle Class A RV's, but suggested we try this other truck repair place first as they did roadside repair. By this time it is almost 10AM, they show up about 45 minutes later. After all the codes were read, fuel pressure check, replace fuel filter and then replace Wires, Plugs, Cap and Rotor, no difference, still runs like crap. In the meantime, I attach race trailer to Yukon. He has some other ideas, but needed the RV at the shop, so we crept across 9 miles, back into Mansfield. Co worker gave us a ride back to retrieve the Trailer/Yukon, while the mechanic (#1) was going to get a sandwich and be back in 30 minutes. We get back, no mechanic, did not show up until 4:15 (shop closes at 4:30) and says there is nothing he could do until tommorow!! I look up the street and noticed the tow company that we originally called was just up the hill (thus the recommendation). Long story shorter, we both had to get to work by Tuesday, I didn't trust the repair facility or the mechanic, and all the logistics were dictating, so we towed the 36' RV. Class act, if you are ever in need near Mansfield - Shelly Smith Wrecking. Nobody wants to tow a big class A, but these guys said no problem. Didn't appear to be, up till removing the driveshaft, which didn't go good because of the reverse star socket nut that GM used for a few years. Next Idea, remove one axle. OK. All good, until the last bolt snapped off while removing the retaining plate. No problem. Easy fix later. (Forgot to turn key on to release the famous GM P-30 Auto-Park mechanism, so the axle was still torqued!) Off we go, hauling to Streetsboro OH, home of SOS Power, my trusted mechanic. Everything really went fine, even pulling the enclosed with the Yukon, all well. Arrive and unhook to a $1027 tow bill! WOW. I was planning on 700-800 max. ($175 an hour, it was after 5:00 of Course ) That, as well as $350 something for the first attempted roadside repair. Since I was just 20 minutes down the road, I also dropped the trailer at the Steinel's HQ, gonna need a look see about that great money shift I pulled on the back straight. Needless to say, the wasted day, all the money spent, the unrepaired RV, and well... you know, it becomes a very sick feeling. I just about forgot about the great feelings of the race and the finish. Seemed like years ago already! My lessons: Mid O needs to change the angle of their dump site area No AAA RV - Useless (open for suggestions!) No Allstate RV (same useless deal last year!!!) Big trucks cost money Big RV's cost money RV- possible camshaft sensor, possible crank sensor, possible Distributor shaft gear, possible fuel injectors clogged, possible, possible, possible..... Racing is just plain expensive period, all aspects Triple A will reimburse me or I will own that company Chris Streit, after your race weekend, I hated to hear your story! UPDATE: my friend travelling home in his old RV had the wind rip the canopy right off the unit! Sweet. See, spectating is even expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heckmotor Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 This year, the character-building opportunities obviously didn't stop at the track!!! Carl, I had AAA a couple of years ago and canceled immediately when they declined to tow my dually truck - which was explicitly included on the sign-up website, but their HQ claimed that the site was inaccurate. Legally not a defensible position, but also not a battle that I had time to fight (but then again that wound up being a towing bill that was less than 1/10th of yours!!!). Good Sam offers breakdown & towing coverage and some insurers like Progressive have roadside assistance, but I don't know anything about their track records. Big congrats however on your podium (and to all the other GTS drivers), and we're glad everyone got home safely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpnwiz Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 I had CoachNet for two years - they were absolutely excellent. I had to use them 4 times in one year. Never a complaint. One tow was 2 1/2 hours long, another was from a remote campground in the Smoky Mountains - they sent a semi-towing rig to come get me. Never charged me a dime more than what the registration fee was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstreit911 Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Good information! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CARVAL Motorsports Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Coach.net seems to be the most popular amongst the RV Forums as well, not many compalints but certainly accolades like yours. I will look into this. Nothing but pathetic scenario after scenario with the oldest Car Club company in America. I am suprised that they are still in business. When we had to call around Mansfield, almost all the Tow Companies said they could not do business with AAA, their rates were arcaic, decades old, out of touch. Seems to hold true with my experience. BUT, I will give them a chance to reimburse us. I will update this post when that occurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackrocket Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Hey ya'all! ...sorry, I've been M.I.A. since the Nationals, for many reasons. Just to chime in, yup, our drive home was INTERESTING, to say the least. We checked out of MO probably 30-60min. before anyone in GTS as my race ended early. The winds were INSANE as we were leaving...we actually drove the rig down towards grid to see where the podium was setup and decided to bag ass after seeing several tents, 55gal. drums (trash containers) and whatnot DESTROYED and/or rolling about the paddock. I had enough damage to my "race ego" and the race car, my weekend and couldn't bear to think that my truck or trailer would get damaged...I was not in the best of moods so we headed up towards the gate. It was incredible to see how trashed the paddock was within the hour or so that Ike "stopped by", just incredible and we could see if from the road as we turned left to go through town towards the highway. When we got on the highway, it was nuts, the wind was treachorous and passing semi-tractor/trailers was 10x that! Once we got onto 76W into Pennsylvania, I made the announcement to my navigator that I was not going to exceed the speed limit as we had a few close calls prior to the announcement. Power was out at most stops and we were in need of diesel. We stopped at one of the service plazas, ordered some food at Kenny Rogers (that place SUCKS) and got our food just in time for the power to go out...no diesel for ME!! We were lucky to make it all the way to Breezewood where I filled up, on fumes...literally...our heartrates took a break at that point as we only had about 4hrs left of the drive to get to my girlfriend's house in Md. to pickup my doggie and crash for the night. Both Jason and I had stories to swap the next day about the insane wind and what he saw from his view atop Madness. He said it was extremely hectic for the crowd with chairs/blankets taking off, trash barrels, etc. Overall, yes, what a friggin' crazy weekend...we were all certainly "tested" in all scenarios. Good to hear that everyone made it home OK...Carl, sounds like you had a real nail-biter for your return trip - sorry to hear that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CARVAL Motorsports Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 My lessons: Mid O needs to change the angle of their dump site area No AAA RV - Useless (open for suggestions!) No Allstate RV (same useless deal last year!!!) Big trucks cost money Big RV's cost money RV- possible camshaft sensor, possible crank sensor, possible Distributor shaft gear, possible fuel injectors clogged, possible, possible, possible..... Racing is just plain expensive period, all aspects Triple A will reimburse me or I will own that company Chris Streit, after your race weekend, I hated to hear your story! UPDATE: my friend travelling home in his old RV had the wind rip the canopy right off the unit! Sweet. See, spectating is even expensive. NEWER UPDATE: AAA - Received a check from AAA today. Covered entire towing expense. We were within the 100 mile range to nearest service. RV - RV is still disabled as trusted mechanic has not gotten to it yet Mid Ohio - Trusted RV mechanic will probably die when he test drives this unit with 3/4 full holding tanks that have not been emptied in 2.5 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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