It all seemed simple enough. I’d pull off the front, driver’s side tire, pull off the front brake drum, adjust the brakes (The front right was pulling some on braking, so I needed to adjust the front left), and put everything back together … easy enough, yes?
Well, that was last night. This morning, I hopped in the jeep and drove down to the local gas station to get some gas, before heading to the local home/garden shop (Zamzow’s).
As I exited the station, my pedal suddenly drops to the floor. Hmm .. not good. I jump out, lift the hood, and, sure enough my accelerator cable connector had come loose. I re-attached the cable and drove back home to more permanently fix the solution.
So, I’m back on the road, heading to Zamzows again. Life is good. I drive about 2 miles and I start hearing a tinging; “an odd sound,” I think to myself …. I listen more closely; “That is coming from the front left side.”
And then it hit me, “had I tightened the lug nuts from my brake work the night before?” Crap, I couldn’t remember.
At just that moment, when the grip of dread descended upon me that I might have forgotten to tighten the nuts, I was looking down at the driver’s tire, driving about 35 mph, when a silver bullet shot from the wheel and landed in the grass divider (never did find it). Holy shit! That was a lug nut! I pulled over into the median (it’s a rural road with a grass median) and checked out the situation.
After doing some accounting (yes, that MBA of mine really came in handy about now), I concluded the situation was not good. 1 lug nut missing. 2 lug nuts loose. 2 lug nuts holding on the rim. 0 tools … and 1 idiot standing there (yes, that would be me).
What to do? Head back home very slowly. Every 1/4 mile or so I stopped, jumped out, hand tightened the lug nuts, got back in, and kept going. Drive another 1/4 mile & repeat. You get the idea!
I finally did make it home, tightened everything back up, PACKED MY TOOLS, and took off again. No more problems the rest of the day … whew!
However, to add insult to injury, my adjustments still didn’t fix the pull to the right I have! Just know that I won’t be forgetting to double check my lug nuts in the future!!