war stories or the craziest road trip stories you have..

pro street rich

Registered User
Well reading some of these posts about road trips maybe it is time to add your best story you have. Keep in mind, this has to do something with car,trucks or something like that to keep it in line on this page...

Here is my best road story...
Many years ago when I first retired from my daily job we went on vacation. My kids were nine & eleven at the time. We all packed into a f250 super cab with a 8' slide in camper. On the back of that we added a 1970 bronco fully built for off roading with a trailer and headed out for the summer. One month in the mountians playing then off to the grand cayon. This is where it gets good. We are in Grand Junction Co. and ask for the shortest way to get to the grand cayon.The guy writes it down and we head out to see the country. Now let me fill in some more info on this truck we are driving. The engine is a 460, with a total of three fuel tanks two are stock and a thrid one is mounted in the right sideunder the bed.. total 62 gallons of go go juice. The bronco also has 30 gallons in it, keep that in mind..
So here we are driving and the road goes from a great paved road to something that looks more like one of the trail's we spent the first month on. Well when we were on the thrid tank on the truck it was not looking too good. Here we were out in the middle of nowhere and not a light to be seen. We have to make a choice, do we keep going or turn around and go kill that guy who sent us this way... we pushed on. When the thrid tank is getting low I stop and pull some gas from the bronco. This gets us down the way some more and then we hit a small town....Boy was that a great site for me. We did make it to the cayon but there were some times when I was not too sure if I would ever see people again... Add to the fact that there are two small kids and a wife that is starting to wonder where this is all going to end.. Next time I will go into the crossing the high desert with the outside temps over 120, and not a cloud in site.....Rich
 
1.We were still in High School, but had been let out early due to bad weather coming in. We had a K car and had dropped a friend off and was heading out to aonther friend's house to spend the night since the roads were getting so bad we were not going to make it home. We started up a hill, because no matter what we had to climb a couple to get from the river bottom up to the houses we all lived in. As we were going up the car just kept spinning and sliding all over the road. We could not get traction.

So, I got out and stood on the front fender of the wheel that kept spinning and was just bouncing up and down flexing my knees to help the car bite through the ice. The entire time freezing rain is coming down and there are 3 of us.

Well, as it happened the car finally bit while I was standing up and it took off. I went up against the windshield with my back, feet over head onto the roof and caught my right shoulder on the trunk lid and landed on my feet and ran the best I could up to the car as it was slowly now making the hill. Jumped in the car with it still moving and continued on to the house.

2. It was my birthday and it had flooded on the river bottom back in 1993. A buddy and I took his B.R.A.T out and went mudding. We came to an area that was supposed to have a lake on each side, but instead it was one large lake with flowing water. We knew where the road was supposed to be and we were discussing it as a Jacked up Blazer pulled up across the water way with 44 inch tires on it(we later found out) and he stopped and was facing us.
My friend put it in gear and off we went. What we didnt think about was the old truck (using that term loosely) being rusted as bad as it was and water started coming up through the floor board and next the truck started flowing with the current and we had started on the far left hand side of the road and we were quickly approaching the far right hand side of the road and I was busy bailing water out as he was shifting. We made it across and chuckling about it and started to pull up to the Blazer to see how he was going to cross it, but he backed up and called it a day. Oh to be 16 again.
 
First week of having my SC...

Although everyone on here knows not to street race by stories of others, I had to learn the hard way :(

I hang out with a group of car guys in what we call "the lot". I was 16, just gotten my license and my new beast. I was just becoming aware of how quick she was and the power she could handle, even though she wasn't running the greatest (all bad gaskets :rolleyes: )

One night after leaving the lot, I was stopped at a light not even a half mile down the road when a white Acura TL (2.8) pulls up next to me. He begins egging me on and wanting to race. Even though I was in no shape to race with it being 2am and just gave him a little sqwak as the light turned green. He then decides to take off. When i got into 3rd gear i was already 3 car lengths in front of him but he didn't give up...shortly down the road we were doing about 120mph in a 55 zone when I spotted a kent county sheriff whipping a U-ey in the middle of the road. Thank God the acura didn't see him and I had a car in front of me because as he kept going past me, the cop chased him.

Turns out that he was pulled out of the car at gun point (he was african american and we have some racist cops) and given 6 points on his license, all in the time that I was creeping home. When I saw him the next time, his girlfriend started harassing me and telling me she was gonna "whoop my a$$", now they're some of my really good friends :) Small world, and I will never street race again...
 
this one time when i went to this race thing, was on a nice paved road then all of a sudden were on this back ~~~ dirt road. was a fun trip overall.
 
Drove my SC about 800 miles to the 03(I think)Shootout. Raced it down the strip a few times and poof! WHite smoke from the tailpipes.

Had to hitch a ride all the way back home with a fellow member. (Bless you Mike)

Won a free chip at the shootout awards a a result of the "tragedy".

Good times! :D:p
 
Flew to Boston a few years back to pick up a 62 Thunderbird coupe. The gas gauge didn't work. The odometer didn't work. The heat gauge went to the peg quickly, but the car never overheated. I drove it to Cooperstown, NY, because a friend was interning at the baseball hall of fame. Literally as I pulled into the hotel parking lot, the oil light came on. Got out, checked the oil, and it was bone dry. Walked to Walmart and put 4 quarts in it before meeting my friend for dinner.

The next day I drove to meet him again, and he was staying at the top of a big hill. As soon as I started going down the hill, the brake pedal went to the floor. I managed to get it to a gas station by pumping the brakes and using the shifter--the master cylinder was nearly dry. Filled it up and the car stopped just fine. I then found out that to lock the car, the passenger had to lock the driver door from the inside, and then I could lock the outside of the passenger door.

I had a blast at the museum and began driving home to TN. I had to stop every 2 hours to put 2 quarts of oil in it, and I filled up with gas while I was at it. Aside from burning all that oil it did just fine until Virginia. There, in the middle of a pouring rain storm, the two windshield wipers locked together and refused to come apart.

Somehow I made it home with no further problems. The next day, I got a flat tire. The day after that, a wheel bearing and the fuel pump died.
 
After picking our friend and his stuff up from Ft. Hood, Texas when he got out of the army, we headed over to Colorado. We're driving a super duty F-350 powerstroke truck hauling an FD3S RX-7 on a u-haul trailer. Anyways, I'm on the night shift for driving, and we start getting into the mountains.

I've never been to Colorado mind you. I expect to look out for things I can safely run right the heck over if it comes to that. Cougars? Okay. Stuff like that. I even see a watch for deer sign at some point. On a steep downhill section I begin to see these really long skinny legs leading up to half of a body and I'm all "HOLY S***!! What IS that!? They have moose in Colorado!?" But this thing is in the middle of a two lane mountain pass and I have like 12,000+ lbs. of machine headed downhill with spongey brakes. I'm not going terribly fast but it's already requiring a lot of engine braking and actual braking to keep my speed down, and this thing is ready to do some serious damage to what I thought was a nigh invulnerable truck to just about anything the state wanted to throw at me! Fortunately I was not remotely zoned out and on the ready. I managed to slow down and widely turn around it as it scooted away enough for me to narrowly evade it. At this point everyone is on the edge of their urine-soaked seats and finally letting out their held breath. :eek:

Of course, we decided afterwards it was an elk. That sign was an elk warning sign. I simply had no idea how big they got! Wow! I was joking about how it was some kind of "mountain spirit" and whatnot haha! What an adventure...
 
One of many because we used to travel an awful lot but this one is family lore. Camping in PA about an hour north of Pittsburgh. Some pretty bad storms are predicted so we shut down the campsite a day early, pack up the tents, load the Ford 150 van with all our crap and the 2 little kids and head out.

The storms catch up with us about 2 hours later on I-80 as we're climbing Snow Shoe. Suddenly the accelerator drops to the floor. Just falls off under my foot. I coast to a stop on the shoulder because I have no other choice. Pull out the flash light, pop the hood and see that the throttle assembly has busted. Just came apart so there is nothing attaching the cable to the assembly anymore.

By now it's after midnight, its pouring and the girls are awake and scared to death because of the storm, the darkness and their imaginations. I begin to dig through the tool box looking for something, anything that I can use to jury rig that thing back together and after about a half hour I'm ready to start taking the van apart piece by piece until I find something that will work.

Right then the 6 year old decides to have a hissy fit and starts kicking and screaming in her seat. The wife spins around to deal with it and knocks over the ash try sitting in the console between the seats spilling butts and ashes and little pieces of junk all over the place.

Now I'm ready to kill everyone so I light a cigarette and reach for the ashtray and as I right it a paperclip falls out. [lightbulb]

Yep, the paperclip worked perfectly and five minutes later we're back on the road. We get home and a story is born about how our 6 year old little girl saved the day. Oh, and almost 20 years and 250k miles later when we finally junked the van that paperclip was still holding the throttle cable in place :D

Ira
 
these were good, but..

We are still looking for those stories that will make everyone stand and take notice.. I know they are out there, but maybe you are still too scared to tell them for fear of you buddys thinking weird of you....Rich
 
We are still looking for those stories that will make everyone stand and take notice.. I know they are out there, but maybe you are still too scared to tell them for fear of you buddys thinking weird of you....Rich

What? You mean the ones with the cops in them, or the arse-holes who flip their trailer homes over because they hopped the divider?? I drove cross-country for a few years, averaged about 100k a year for a while and I'm sure others have seen some ugly stuff as well. You don't want to hear those stories.....

Ira
 
You have to hear the Dan "old coot" Christmas tree story to take notice. There's no way putting it in a post will do it justice.
 
You have to hear the Dan "old coot" Christmas tree story to take notice. There's no way putting it in a post will do it justice.

I hear a tall tail coming with desert in front of the fire pit after dinner Sat :D

Ira
 
here is part two of the summer road trip.

We spent about a month in the grand cayon area and then started off to pismo beach in sunny calf. First thing that goes wrong is it rains just before we start into the desert on our crossing. This with the temps hitting 100+ with the rain made everything good and sticky. So we start going and we notice that the cars are dropping on the side of the road from overheating. We keep going and at the same time so is the temp guage. By the time it is getting pretty hot we think of something to help out. We turn the heat on full... Yes the heat, it will help to cool the temp some... Now we are all getting mighty hot so off come some cloths... Lets just say that swin suits were the order of the day at that point. This helped for a while, but that temp guage kept moving up... What to do in the middle of the desert, there are reports of snakes everywhere, so you can't stop, but it is getting hotter. Last option I have is to drop the bronco off the trailer and drive it. This will take about 4,000 lbs off the truck and help some... So I drop both the trailer and bronco off, hook the trailer to the bronco and off we go again.
Now keep in mind that this bronco is set up for off road with a monster big block and running a set of terra tires... Well after we get going the temps do drop in the truck and the bronco ran around 200 till we made it to the other side of the desert... Tell you what even with the wind blowing from driving 65 mph that sun was a killer on me.. Off road bronco don't have a top so I was all in that sun...
Long story made short, we made it thru the desert during daylight and did enjoy the next three weeks in sunny Calf. The stupid things we do when we are young and foolish... No one got hurt,except one sunburned me and my pride for not doing a better job of planning......Rich
 
You have to hear the Dan "old coot" Christmas tree story to take notice. There's no way putting it in a post will do it justice.

The story of how we ended nup with the SC's that

Anthony and Sally now own rivals that story some.....we may have an all-nighter around the firepit if we get started on those......Dan
 
My GF and I hadn't been dating a year when we decided to take a camping trip down the California coast to Big Sur and back (Oregon). I have a '70 3/4 ton Chevy with just an aluminum canopy on the back (not like a full camper or anything, just a shell). We threw an air mattress and our camping supplies + clothes and toiletries in the back of the truck, loaded up with fuel, and headed out. Truck ran great the whole time, and despite my grossly underestimating the fuel costs (fuel prices spiked big time about 48 hours before our departure), things were going quite well.

We rolled in to San Francisco on like a Wednesday evening. We went to Golden Gate Park, got out and stretched our legs, explored a little, then found a campground a few miles south of the city and went to bed. The next day we got up kind of late and drove in to the city. We wanted to go to China Town and City Lights bookstore, among other places, so I went looking for parking. I drove up and down a few blocks until I spotted a full-size pickup backing out of a spot in a 3-hour parking zone just a few blocks outside of China Town. Thought I lucked out because full-size pickups don't fit in a lot of spots in that area! I wheeled it in, noted the street name and the big townhouse that was being worked on nearby (so we could find the truck again), and we headed off.

GF and I spent almost three hours looking around, had lunch, decided to head back to the truck. It was about a 10 minute hike back up the hill to where we parked- or where we thought we parked. We got to where I thought we parked and we both said out loud, "Guess it must be over a block." We walked over a block and it was obvious that we were in the right spot the first time. But there was no truck in that spot, at least, not mine. We walked back over there and asked one of the construction guys if he'd seen a green Chevy move out of that spot recently. From the look on his face I KNEW he knew what happened and he sort of sheepishly said, "Yeah, I think it got towed."

My first thought should have probably been, "I hope all of our stuff's still in there." because the only thing we took with us out of the truck was our money, one cell phone, and the shirts on our backs. But really, my first thought was, "Oh man, I hope they didn't screw up my truck." Turns out, there was a hastily-scrawled "No Parking" sign scrawled on a piece of cardboard and attached to a gate that was open at the time I parked there. Gate open = sign not visible. The construction guys had my rig towed and we apparently missed it by minutes.

So GF and I are standing there on a street corner in San Francisco on a Thursday afternoon kind of looking at each other in disbelief. I get on my phone with one hand and get out my iPod Touch with the other so I can take notes. I called 411 and had them connect me to the City of SF, then worked my way through phone trees until someone could give me the number of the tow yard the truck would have been taken to. NO one could tell me if my truck had actually been towed or stolen or what. Finally I got ahold of the tow company and the lady confirmed that it had just come in on a rollback (I was happy to hear "rollback" and that it hadn't been towed rear-wheels down). I got the address of the yard, GF acted like a total badass and hailed a cab, and pretty soon we were cruising across town.

When we got there I was still holding my breath that the truck was actually there and in one piece. I filled out some paperwork, paid the $250 or whatever it cost to set it free, and the lady asked for my keys so someone could bring it around. I convinced her to let me walk out in to the yard to get it and I breathed probably the biggest sigh of relief of my life when I saw that no one had messed with our stuff, it wasn't all scratched up, the locks weren't messed up, and that it still had the same amount of fuel that it left with. The only damage was a chip out of the brittle outer window weatherstrip where they'd stuck a slimjim to pull the lock.

Needless to say, we got our asses out of San Francisco right then. We booked it to San Jose, I went to Apple HQ to get some swag from the company store as a little consolation for going through the ordeal, and I remember ordering what tasted like the best cup of coffee of my life from a nearby coffee shop. In retrospect it doesn't seem like too big of an ordeal because it really was only about 25 or 30 minutes from beginning to end, but my GF and I are small-town folk and it was pretty unnerving to have our only means of transportation + our belongings just up and disappear.

The funny thing is, I waited almost two weeks after we got home to finally clean out the truck and in the map pocket in the seat cover I found some papers that I'd hastily taken off of the windshield when I got in at the tow yard. Buried in those papers? A $110 ticket from the City of SF (for parking in a construction zone) that I never even saw. I went online to contest it because the spot was so poorly marked, but by the time I found it, the time window for contesting it had passed. :(
 
Back in 1968 I took delivery on my new torino 309 4 speed. There was a really nice long country road out where my dad lived. I decided to see what the car would do top end. I got rolling a little over 120 and still climbing. Well little did I know when the road went from one county to the next in turned into a gravel road. I hit it at 120 plus. The car just started spinning in circles. There were big deep ditches on both sides and trees lining both side too. I don't know how but the car finally came to a stop pointing back the way I had just come. I sat there and just shook for a while. Then got out of the car. I was so shook up it took me 10 minutes to get back in the car and go the other way at 40 mph. I should have been killed but God was watching out for a stupid kid with a fast car. After that I learned to preview a streach of road before got stupid. I wish I could say it was the last dumd thing I ever did but Iam 64 and still doing dumb stuff only now its at the track. Tim
 
Back
Top