as a back ground, to the other post about metal fatigue in a CV
between some health hiccups and a smokey engine - Tamworth was out of the question. Terry very very kindly came and had a look at the Phantom,
after which we spent some time at the orphanage prepping the Phantom for the trip. We then had a wonderful "test drive" - which in fact was the best run I have ever had in the phantom, - and I headed home with a big silly grin from ear to ear
(note no work was done on the area of the cv's)
for those who know the area, I came over the kinglake road onto the slide and headed down the mountain towards Dixons creek.
about two k's down I was on a straight, doing 70-80, and about to brake as I headed into the next hard left bend. suddenly the phantom shuddered, lurched, as the front drivers side wheel flew off, I braked but the pedal went straight to the floor. We were sliding straight towards the edge of the very fast way down the mountain, baby spice was in the car next to me. I swung the car at the high side with the intent of running if possible into the side to stop us, someone was looking after us and there was a side bit that was washed out, it caught us and stopped us without hitting the side.
after the screaming stopped (oh was that me
) I got out and ran back to get the tyre off the road, you can imagine my suprise when I saw the drum casing still attatched. My baby spice climbed on my lap and had a good little cry.
unfortuneately it took two and a half hours for the towies to come, due to trees down, so we had a long wet time huddled in the phantom in a precarious spot as trucks and buses thundered over us, i was pretty scared of the trees over the top of us as the storm hit, they are all dead from black saturday and a lot have been falling over in the rain. We couldnt get out though as there was no where safe to go to. and of course my mobile went flat
, a kind guy helped call the racv, some local coppers were called by concerned passerbys at the end and came and sat behind us with the blueys on to help us.
I spoke to terry the next morning, and he was amazing coming over to pick the phantom up (i'll be honest here at this stage I cant even look at it) He even conferred with the guys who helped originially with the phantom re old or new cv's and from his post is clearly trying to work it all out for us - because at this stage I am too scared to get in unless I get to understand what happened. Please remember that is the second time my youngest daughter was in the phantom in trouble without brakes.
so there it is - sounds like a bit of a novel and dramatic when I read it back - but its what happened - and terry's right Im still shaking
I guess the main point of me bothering to post this is too say yes we love our cars, and we often do them up, or run them, on a shoe string - but we need to look out where its crucial to get it right, regardless of money. A check of my paper work showed I kept the old cv's to save money - dosent feel like a bargain just now. but are the new ones any good or cheap copies?? I would like to be the last one this happens too.
if possible
thanks big time terry, and newie who copped it on the first night when I was still really shook up! I feel bad that after all terrys work I really cant see me going to Tamworth now - just too much needs to be done to trust it again. Mybe thats not logical but after my job for twenty years I dont scare easy - and well..........
sorry about the length of the thread - I think I just vented.
-
now off to the lounge for a jimmy or two
