My truck is pretty much totally road-ready, just needs some stuff like trim and a stereo, so last weekend I took it on a good long shakedown run (16 miles). This weekend is the West Side Cruisers show, which I really wanted to drive the truck to (there are a couple hundred nice older cars/trucks at this show, not bad for a town of 50,000). So I took off for the show this morning after doing my "chores".

I didn't even go a block before I noticed a very strange noise, sounded like something striking a hollow piece of metal. Occured at very low speeds and increased with speed. It wasn't something to ignore. My guess (as I headed back to the garage) was that the e-brake cable was hitting the driveshaft.

Got it back in the garage and there was nothing within a foot of the driveshaft. So I decided to jack up each wheel and spin it, maybe a loose brake part? Started with the right front. Spun it, and was rewarded with a very loud noise from something inside the hubcap. Pulled that off, and it was a lugnut!!! I checked the other 4 lugnuts, they were finger tight at best!!! As best I can remember now, I had the wheel off so I could get at the front fender bolts about 2 years ago, and I must have put the lugnuts on loosely when I went to do the other side. Why would I put the hubcap on over a loose wheel? I can only assume it was to take a picture of my progress...

So, my lesson to share here is, over the course of a 4 or 5 yr long restoration, sometimes you stick stuff together "temporarily", just to move it around or to check fit, etc. It's real easy to forget those "temporary" measures when you are working on it over a long period of time, unless you write them down. I can't believe I did this, but something like a wheel should NEVER be temporarily installed; either screw it down right the first time or leave it so obviously loose that you can't miss it. (If I'd left the hubcap off, this wouldn't have happened.)

Amazing how much tighter the steering is with the lugnuts tight!

 

Good post. I bet your heart started to race a little bit when you found your problem. That would scare me just a bit.

 

How many times did you jump up and kick yourself in the rear thinking about what coulda happened? I really hate it when I do something like that, but if that's all you forgot over a long build, be thankful.

 

albuqu
Good catch though. Good post to keep us on our toes

 

Glad it was a Lesson rather than an Expensive Lesson. I think I'll put a magnet on the dash with a sheet of paper listing any shortcut I take.

Thanks for the heads-up, Ross!

 

Ross
That's one any of us can do, I'm just glad that ya love us all so much that you had to share

 

albuq- just a good thing it wasn't anything more serious or that the wheel came loose altogether. I'm not real fond of hubcaps, but in this case it was a good choice. I usually tighten my lugs snug and then when I drop the truck to the floor, I go around once again to make sure the lugs are tight. Did you make it to the show?

 

Been there done that a few times myself seems the older I get the more forgetful I am LOL. a trick that works for me I picked up from the grandkids. when I put something on that is temperary I mark it or its location with a piece of sidewalk chalk. Y ou know the same stuff the kids use to decorate the garage or in my case the 59 when your not looking. stands right out and wipes off easy.

 

Cruised by and around it. It has gotten so big they limit it to 200 cars, and parking is real hard to come by. I have to say, the more I drive the truck the better the engine runs! Short start-ups and idling in the garage are no good for carbs and plugs.

Saw BobbyT right afterwards, too. Watch for pictures of his new rear bumper, it's surprising!

 

I got this the other day from a friend... it's like they followed me around for a weekend!

-----------------------------------
Subject: Does this happen to You?


Recently, I was diagnosed with AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit
Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden, as it has not rained for one week.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decided my
car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table
that I put there from the mailbox earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I put my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the wastebin under
the table, and notice that the wastebin is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and empty the wastebin first.


But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox at the end of the
driveway, when I empty the wastebin, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left.


My extra checkbook is in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my
desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so
that I don't accidentally knock it over. I realize the Coke is getting warm,
and I decide I should put it in the fridge to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter
catches my eye - Hmmmm they need to be watered.

I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that
I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the
flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a jug with water and
suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for t he
remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to
put it back in the lounge where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.


I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I put the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the
spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
the driveway is flooded
the car isn't washed,
the bills aren't paid,
there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, there is still only one
check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and
I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled
because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it,
but first I 'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to someone you know, because I
don't remember who I have sent it to.

Don't laugh - if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!

 

I'm so absent-minded that I make it a habit of leaving one lug nut off if I'm temporarily installing a wheel. I would never put a hubcap over a wheel with only 4 lug nuts on it....works for me.

 

Maybe that's what I did???!!! I can't figure out how a rusty old lugnut unscrewed itself completely off the stud from 15 miles driving. It's hell to have CRS!!

 

I was diagnosed with AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit
Disorder.

My gosh...........I am sure I have that too Maybe I can get a Government grant or some kind of pension to help LOL

 

Albuq, finally I know what my problem is! I run around in circles all day and never seem to accomplish all I set out to do, AAADD, I'll have to rember that, just after I find the remote and those damn keys.

 

Albuq, glad you caught it and did not get hurt. The post from 59 Shorty is EXACTLY me. I better check my nuts before heading back home ( NM ) this summer. Jon