road trip/parts run/meetin up with members

[Longhorn Man]

This is how to enjoy your saturday... a day you are supposed to be at work

Got a mssg from Randy.. aka byrd last week sayin he was cruisin through columbus headed to PA on a parts run, and he'd like to stop and grab lunch with me... or if I was free, I could tag along.
SWEET!
I've been itchin for a road trip! Been more than 6 months now since I had a good one.
So randy gets to town.. and the fun and confusion starts from the get go... he misses his exit where I am waiting for him, so i have to jump on the freeway and do 80 or 90 MPH to catch up to him and guide him to our lunch spot (Culvers... awesome burgers)... but the fun continues when we go to gas up 20 min after leaving, and he realizes that he left his wallet at the burger joint.
This is the first of many U-turns.
Amazingly, his wallet is there.
Other than a few more U-turns, the trip there was uneventfull... BS'in and joking, showing each other cell phone photos of our kids, talkin bad about some members, talkin bout other members we would love to meet, talkin bout the upcoming board meet... the usual board member BS'in.

I haven't been to PA since 02 when i got the longhorn... and I don't think I've ever been to this part of the state. (north west corner)
Here's me and Randy... lookin drunk... or gay... or something.
In all reality, neither of us look like this... this was our stunt doubles.
Yeah, stunt doubles... that's it.

We got to Brian aka burnsman (I think that's right) place... after what seemed like a dozen U turns, and got to look at his toys. Rather impressive toy barn IMO... and his 67 he's getting together looks pretty bad ass IMO. Simple, yet sweet.
Didn't get any photos of the toys... I have no idea why... but I did get a few pics of them putting the parts on the trailer.

Randy on the come-a-long, Brian in the back, and Brian's little assistant on the left. Brian's son was sittin there talking about putting nice rims on one of the projects... kinda had to take a double take on that!

I was wearing a white T-shirt... I stayed away from the work!

Actually, I got in on the loading and strapping, but I wasn't handin over my phone, and no one else was taking photos... so there's no proof other than the big spot of dirt on my noggin that I never saw till i got home.

Didn't stick around very long... had to hit the road, chatted with Brian's wife briefly... her name escapes me now, but I'd forget my own name if it wasn't on my license! Mrs brian seemed like a nice enough woman, and she seemed to think Randy and I were cool... that or she was just being polite!

It was tail lights and tire smoke on the way outta there. It was already like 6 or so, and he still had a lot of freeway between him, and Louisville Ky.

Now, of course, a road trip wouldn't be a road trip without a fuel scare, and this one was no exception. The guage did the typical joke on us, saying 1/4 tank as we left, and like 12 miles down the road it was resting on E... by the time we found a Mountain Dew station that sold gas too, the light was on, and the truck was starting to cuss and protest on the hill pulling up to the parking lot.
I think he said it was a 28 gallon tank, and he put in 27.5? I remember it was like $80 worth.
Stocked up the dew cooler and hit the road.


You know, the trouble with doing a road trip in a new-fangled vehicle... it takes all the adventure out of the trip.
I mean, what fun is it, if you KNOW you'll make it home? Where is the suffering if you push a button and ice cold air comes out the dash vents the moment it gets 3 degrees over comfortable? I don't even know if this thing had a spare tire... we didn't need to use it. I don't understand this... seems... I dunno... too safe or something.

I think Randy was going for a land speed record... but, we never got stopped. (again... where's the fun in that???)

Last photo... and even though i think it is the worst one... it is also the coolest one. We got back to Columbus, and instead of giving directions, and possibly making him do a few more U-turns, I jumped in my truck when he dropped me off at the house, and took him to the local Mountain Dew store so he could get some gas and pointed him in the direction he needed to be going. As he was pulling outta the parking lot, i whipped the phone out, and got real lucky on this photo... 11:23, he's got the thing floored, it's dark, and I'm trying to get this pic with a crap tastic digi-cam with a built in phone.

I got lucky.

Brian, was nice seeing you again... get that truck done man, it's been hidden in there too long!
To Randy... Same thing man, great seeing you again... let us know if you got home OK, and I'll see you in a few months!


Oh yeah... and this was much... MUCH better... than going to work!

[Shyguy]

Sounds like a mighty fine road trip.

Thanks for sharing.

Danny

[jamie72]

sounds like a good time... that 2nd pic did scare me a little...lol

[big blue 72]

Cool pic Andy.
Glad you guys had a safe trip!

[byrd]

Great story coverage!!! The fun didn't stop in columbus when Andy got out. My friend Danny and I continued on home from there. Another stop for Fuel, and a couple of pit stops later we got into Ky. We were about 10 mles from geting home when the unthinkable happens, one of the tie down straps broke and THE CAB SLID OFF THE TRAILER!!!!!!! The strap broke off just as I went over and overpass and hit a big dip and Danny said "Dude there it went", and I was like NO F@#$%$ way!!!! and sure enough it did. This is where is gets really interesting, Brian had given me a small dolly for the cab to move around once I got it home and we put the dolly under the cab and strapped it all down tight. When the strap broke and the cab slid off the back it fell to the roadway and still on the dolly. When I looked back in my mirror I could see the cab throwing sparks and spun around a few times on the dolly and rolling/sliding almost 100' before coming to rest at the 23 mile marker. The cab slid into the sign in the pic, and that was the best place it could have stopped, the dolly kept the cab from rolling over and imploding, and the sign it stopped on kept the cab from rolling down a 50-60' embankment. Luckilily there was a guy following not too far behind me saw the whole thing take place and stopped to see if he could help. His name is Josh and he works a Bill Collins Ford here locally. Without his help we would have most likely not gotten the cab back on the trailer, I had $40 or so in cash on me for the trip left and gave it to Josh the guy who stopped to help. He tried to refuse and I insisted, since who in there right mind would come out at 3 am to help us out of a bind, 40??? So after about 10 minutes of messing with the cab we got it up on the trailer and got it strapped down with the one remaining strap and limped the last ten miles home. So now onto the pics of the scare and they are terrible, too dark on the road, but the first pic is the cab back on the trailor facing the other way now(check out Andy's last pic posted and you will see the cab was facing the DS) and you can see the dolly up against the street sign, the second pic is looking at the sign where you can see the dolly and the back of the trailer, the last pic shows the path the cab took to get to the sign. That is the first time in my life that I have ever lost any kind of load and this is no where near my first time out, heck I have logged more than 200 K miles in a truck and trailer 42' long, weighing 13 tons doing electrical work. The cab doesn't look like it got hurt, and it could have been MUCH MUCH worse. All I can see is the cab corners got rolled under a little and the rockers are pushed up slightly, but I do not think any of the damage is bad at all. Andy kept talking about some other member who lost a cab in transit and it was destoyed, I think he jinxed me( j/k). Anyway I had a great time all in all and wouldn't hesistate to do it again, preferrably with the cab staying on the trailer this time The total milage worked out to be about 950-975 total with a couple of extra miles in there for missesd exits and other fun stuff
I will get more pics of the cab once I get it off the trailer and see if there is any real damage, so stay tuned!

Brian thank you for helping me out and having everything ready to go when we got there. You have a beautiful home and spread and I love all your toys!!!! Wish we could have hung out longer, but the road was a callin'.

Andy thanks for taggin along and navigating for me, LOL. It was great to see you again and I hope you can stop by on the way to the board meet.

[Burnsman]

Damn! It must have been the bragging about how beefy those straps were! That stinks. I have been very fortunate as well (not losing loads). This will make me do a double check now though. Glad to see nobody got hurt. It was nice to meet you guys. Wished we could have bs'd more (I love to BS). Hopefully next time we meet it won't be so quick and nothing bad happens! Hopefully the cab didn't get hurt too bad......

[72BlckButy]

What a trip! I'm glad to hear that the cab wasn't lost forever.

[leddzepp]

Awesome pics! Especially that 2nd one, it's sooo cute...lol.

[Longhorn Man]

WOW!
Randy just called me and told me what happened... that's NUTS!

Andy kept talking about some other member who lost a cab in transit and it was destoyed, I think he jinxed me( j/k)

It was never talked about very much, but back in 03 or maybe 04, fleetside paul tood a trip from central PA to pick up a cab. He stopped by here on his way home, but he had no cab on board anywhere. Turns out, he got on here asking everyone "whats the best way to strap bown a cab"... a few ppl just said toss it on the trailer and run the straps through the door openings. Paul said he didn't make it 5 miles before his cab fell off, tumbled, rolled, sun, and was totally ruined. He said he just kicked the cab off into the ditch and went home not only empty handed, but with no money either.
That's the story Randy was refering to.

Like i said... what fun is a road trip... when nothing happens?
When i said that talkin to randy, he specificly said he woulda been fine without this 'fun' at the end.

Randy, I'm glad you made it home, and that no one got hurt... that woulda gone WAY bad with a cab rolling down the freeway at 50 MPH, and if Danny hadn't seen it (turns out he was just reaching in the back of the truck for a dew) falling off.... that woulda just sucked.
Lookin forward to seein you on my way to Tn.

[class01]

twins?? lol

[fine69]

Damn you Andy. I coulda' went on this road trip. Sounds like you guys had a blast.

Im a hater.

[68,69 K20]

Wow!! Sounds like a good time up until you almost lost the cab!!
Glad to see you made it back ok.

[Longhorn Man]

Mike.. you woulda had to carry the cooler and my jacket on your lap had you gone... besides, we lkept some room open in case we found a chick that wanted to cruise with us.
Never happened.

[72 Super]

Sounds like a great trip minus the incident with the cab. I'm glad nobody got hurt. I hope the cab wasn't damaged very much.

Ray

[special-K]

Yet another message board story from the history books.I tell you,we need a stories message board.I`m glad it all turned out ok.
Did the strap get cut or just work loose?I looked at Andy`s pictures and wondered if just one strap was used.I try to make an "x" with two straps or use four and anchor one from each corner running diagonal to the trailer,like a rollback.Nothing really matters when a strap breaks or comes loose.

[byrd]

Originally Posted by special-K

Yet another message board story from the history books.I tell you,we need a stories message board.I`m glad it all turned out ok.
Did the strap get cut or just work loose?I looked at Andy`s pictures and wondered if just one strap was used.I try to make an "x" with two straps or use four and anchor one from each corner running diagonal to the trailer,like a rollback.Nothing really matters when a strap breaks or comes loose.

The straps did not come loose, it was cut.
Two 5000 lb. straps were used, both went thru the windshied and rear window area, one on each side. One went thru and to the back of the trailer on both sides and the other went from the front on both sides. They were pulling against each other. The one that broke got sheared off by a sharp edge somewhere?? I know the window openings have sharp edges but none were observed where the straps were going thru?? I checked the straps every time we stopped and they were tight evey time. The deal breaker was the roads in Ohio and north eastern Ky. There were pot holes every 10 ft it seemed.
On a lighter note, we got the cab off earlier today and the body guy Rick who is helping me build my other truck said it still looks just to be minor cosmetics and NO REAL DAMAGE to speak of, and any damage that did occur can be cured with a hammer and dolly.

[Longhorn Man]

two straps were used... at least, till the last 10 miles anywyas.
We ran it through the windshield hole, back out the back glass hole, and to the side or the trailer. I could see it possibly getting cut, but still sounds unlikely.

Yet another message board story from the history books.I tell you,we need a stories message board

That's crazy enough... it could almost work! But I'm suire it'd get clogged up with booring crap stories... like the first half of this one.
Turns out, it had Mrs Byrd bustin a gut laughing with us.
Wait Randy... was she laughing WITH is.... or AT us???

[byrd]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

Turns out, it had Mrs Byrd bustin a gut laughing with us.
Wait Randy... was she laughing WITH is.... or AT us???

I believe she was laughing AT US.

[Longhorn Man]

lol... my post wasn't even there when you started typing, you type slow like me!

[Longhorn Man]

She can laugh at you all she wants.
Well OK, she can laugh at me too... I guess.

[70c10]

Glad the cab didn't get messed up too bad Randy!. Too bad you didn't come up the I-95 corridor, you could have stopped by my house since I'm close

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

She can laugh at you all she wants.
Well OK, she can laugh at me too... I guess.

shes not the only one to laugh AT you


sounds like a fun trip to me, even with the cab falling off the trailer, a straight on trip is kinda boring to me, well... depending on what happens to make it not boring, lol

[special-K]

I was riding along today and I thought about this adventure and a ZZ Top song came to mind..."Master of Sparks":
In the back
Of Jimmy`s Mack
Stood a round steel cage...

[67ChevyRedneck]

Wow!!! Great story (and with a happy ending!)

I had a road trip myself this weekend. I drove 1200 miles round trip to hang out with my dad at carlisle. I came home with some FREE, yes FREE wheel tubs, and a new front bed panel.