My Luck Holds...

Yesterday I used my wife’s van to commute because she said it had been “shaking”.  I suspected the front end was out of alignment and wanted to test drive it.  I didn’t feel anything during the morning commute—which is normal, I am really not a morning person.  Who knows, maybe it was shaking. ;P

At the end of the day I decided to leave work on time for a change.  I knew that meant the subway would be more crowded, but that’s still better than working late.  Right?  Of course the subway was awful.  The trains were running late and the platform was packed.  I had to wait for the 3^rd train, which was still crowded—no personal space.  Finally I got to my destination and thought the worst was behind me.  I was wrong.

Traffic was almost as bad as the subway had been.  I was happy to get into the 3^rd lane on the highway to go around the worst of the congestion.  Then the van started to shimmy, hard.  I eased back over into the middle lane.  Then the van really started shaking, like it was going to fall apart.  I merged over to the first lane, into a smaller space than I normally would.  Within seconds I heard a mini-explosion and black smoke was pouring out from behind the van.  And at 65 mph, the van couldn’t decide which direction it wanted to go.  The next few seconds were an interesting blur that ended with me coasting to a stop on the side of the road, in the shade of a bridge. 

I inspected the damage after the smoke cleared—the nasty smell lingered.  Both rear wheels were tilted in at the top, as if a giant had pushed down too hard on the car.  I back-off a little and could see the rear axle had snapped in half, almost right in the middle.

It turns out there had been a recall for that vehicle’s rear axle—and its front axle.  I didn’t know about either one.  After a mini-detour, the vehicle is now at a dealership being repaired (for free).

What lessons did I learn from this?

1:  Periodically Google factory recalls for your vehicle—you might find a life-saving surprise.
2:  Never leave work on time.  It’s just asking for trouble—leave early instead. =)
3:  Let my wife test drive her own vehicle from now on!!!

LOL, jk, I’m glad it happened to me instead of her.   Aside from the obvious reason, I always seem to have good luck in situations like that (emergencies, stalkings, etc.).  KNOCK ON WOOD! 


What was your worst or most exciting automobile-related incident???