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!!