Hauling grain into the elevator in a small town 8 miles away it was common to tap the brakes so the front tires would grip the road going into a turn. 1964 Chevrolet 1/2t pickup with 4 ft sides added to the box.All back roads never more than 15 miles a hour,age 14 driving on a farm permit.
When the wife and I moved from California to Florida in 1998 I towed a fully loaded U-Haul trailer behind my '56 F-100. After unloading the trailer, I was taking it to the local U-Haul office to turn in. Hadn't gone more than a quarter of a mile from the apartment when the trailer came off the truck, held only by the chains. WTF? I pulled over and went back to check, found the ball still in the receiver of the trailer. Somewhere between California and Florida the nut came off of the ball. Glad I loaded it with the heavy stuff forward.
You know the funny part, every time I go to use a rachet strap I can't find one anywhere, so I go out and buy more. I think there is a gremlin who steals these things just to screw with your head. Paul (Paco on here) sold me that stuff and packed the trailer for me. He did a great job, nothing moved an inch all the way from Ga to South Fl. Don
A neighbor put 1950 Chevy pickup springs and a station wagon rear end under his El Camino. He had an odd shaped water tank he slid in the back, it stuck out the rear quite a bit. He used it to haul water from town 10 miles away. I used to meet him on the highway and the front wheels of the poor El Camino were leaving the ground at every bump he hit. He wasn't going slow, he didn't know how to spare the horses in the 350 4-speed. He hauled water and wood for several years with this rig until he bought a 3/4 ton 4x4.
You can only get away with dumb things for a while and then it catches up with you big time. God loves fools but even he gets tired after a while.
****gy, Member since 2003 deserves a little more respect here ..... If you are cool with it - that is all that matters Jim
I think ratchet straps have a shelf life. When their time is up they disappear. Kinda same theory behind socks in the dryer because I seem to only find half of the straps after a while
Oh, i'm laughing about it, i know it was stupid, and if i didnt have thick skin i wouldnt have posted anything! I woulda used the '81 el camino but the 283 in it has been giving me some ****, as well as a ton of other little issues, so the '65 is my current modern rig. And as for the el camino, my dad in the 1980's had a '66 with h/d truck springs in his with 427 impala springs up front, he said it handled good, rode rough, and there are pictures of it loaded up with wood up to nearly the top of the roof with side boards!
My grandfather's tow vehicle for his drag car was a new '68 Elky with a 300hp 327. Told me he shoulda just went for the big block. Hahaha.
Long as we're confessing our stupidity, two weeks ago I was 75 miles from home and happened across a heavy duty equipment trailer for $200! Has a pintel hitch ring and all my mini-pickup has is a bumper hitch hole. Sooo, found an iron barbell weight and a 1 inch carriage bolt, double nutted at the bottom... The safety chains were in good shape and connected to my frame. Lot of clunking going on but towed fine.
We lugged a '71 Nova, sans engine/transmission, on a trailer behind a late 80's Ford Ranger for about 25 miles on Oklahoma backroads. I swear we might have been p***ed by an Amish horse and buggy at one point. Not one of our better ideas.
When I was younger and still married my now ex wife decided she wanted a brick walkway from the back door to the garage- A friend mentioned there was a school being torn down near him with lots of bricks sitting there- I took her and my early 80's s-10 longbed and went over. We loaded it level with the top of the bed never thinking about the weight. Drove 25 miles home with the mudflaps dragging.
The Jalopy Journal
