Colin Cobb wrote:
> snip
>
> I was sorta half way into the parking slot next to Charlie Beard's green
> MGB when all forward motion ceased and Charlie shouted, "Your front
> wheel is on fire!"
snip
Reminds me of a personal experience ....
About twenty years ago, I was sent by the company that I worked for, out of town for
training. On the second night out I called home to speak to my wife and she said "I
have some good news and I have have some bad news" .....(Since then, she has spoken
those words, in that tone of voice only a few times,... and I hate when she does that,
all kinds of horrible things pass through my mind before she actually tells me what is
on her mind). The good news: the car is home. The bad news ? Well, it is a bit of a
story ....
She is driving her 1964 white Ford Galaxie 500, (complete with 390 cubic inch engine)
down Main Street, about 40 mph. The light at the intersection she is approaching turns
red, she steps on the brake and the pedal goes to the floor. Whooosh, she sails through
the intersection, VERY fortunate to have no cross traffic, this is a relatively busy
street. She pulls the emergency brake and the car begins to slow down at a leisurely
rate of deacceleration. Through a second red light. She places the shift selector
into park and hears a tap-tap-tap-tap, but this adds nothing to slow down the car. The
call finally comes to a stop about a block and a half later. My wife step out and looks
at the car and the right front tire erupts in flames! Someone runs over with a fire
extinguisher and sprays the tire, the flames go out. 10 seconds later the flames erupt
again! Another does with the extinguisher and the flames are out.
Sharon calls the auto club and they arrive to give her a tow. He attaches the lift
mechanism to the front bumper and raises the Ford - the right front tire DROPS TO THE
GROUND. They both stand there for a minute, then the AAA guy picks up the tire and
drum assembly, tosses it onto the truck and ask: "Where to?". "To my house", she says.
"You know that we only give you one tow", he continues, "we can tow it to a repair
place, OR we can tow it to your home, but you only get one tow". Sharon confirms that
she knows where she wants it towed, and they proceed there without further incident.
Here is probably the sequence of events:
1. The right front wheel bearing seized and while driving got very, VERY hot.
2. The hydraulic brake seals melted from the heat, and when Sharon stepped on the
single circuit, 1964 vintage brake system, all of the fluid expelled past the failed
seals, leaving zero brake functionality.
3. Not sure what caught fire, wheel grease ? tire compound? something did.
4. After all these years, I forget what part failed which allowed the drum/tire
assembly to fall off, I think it was the wheel bearing which had broken apart.
There is more to the story, but let me make it shorter:
I am still in Philly for training when the Auto Club sends an adjustor to our house to
inspect the car, (we had insurace with AAA then, and they thought that our fire
insurance might cover the event). The insurance adjustor feels incapable of making a
good assessment there in our driveway, so he calls for a tow truck. The truck arrives
and our Ford is off to a repair facility. The repair facility states that the fire was
the result of a mechanical failure (no duh!) not the other way around, and AAA tells us
that this will not be covered by our fire policy.
I get home and the repair place quotes a $600 repair estimate. Sharon had paid $200 for
the car and I planned to do the reapir myself. Now the problem is how to get the car to
our house. The repair place says that they will not tow the car to our home and so I
call AAA and request that they arrainge for a tow to our house:
Somehow the subject comes up that this is not the first tow.
"I am sorry Mr Gibbs, our policy only allows the first tow, you will have to make your
own arraingements to get the car to your home" says the sweet pleasant female voice.
"I know that is your policy, which is why we had the car towed to our house" I said.
"Someone from your company had the car towed away and I would like you to return the
car."
"I am sorry Mr Gibbs, our policy ..." said the somewhat pleasant voice.
"I know", said I, "which is why ..." I repeated
We went through the above routine a few times with a few variations:
"YOU had the car towed to the repair facility!"
"No I didn't, YOUR insurance adjustor had the car towed away"
"I am sorry Mr Gibbs, but you can't expect the adjustor to be an expert in EVERYTHING,
he NEEDED to have the car towed to where an expert could see it".
"That's fine, I don't have an issue with what he did , please just return it".
"I am sorry Mr. Gibbs, but you agreed to let the adjuster remove the car."
"No I didn't."
"Then your wife must have."
"No, she didn't either".
"Yes. One of you must have agreed to let the adjustor remove the car because our policy
requires that he get your approval"
"Well I don't know about that, but neither of us were there when the car was removed
and neither of us agreed to the removal of the car, and I would like it back."
"WELL, I am sure that if you HAD been there, you would have agreed!"
and on, and on. Eventually she went to go speak with her supervisor. Kept, me on hold
for a long time, maybe thirty minutes. When she returned to the phone she told me:
"Well, my supervisor says that in light of your many years with us, and in our desire
to maintain good customer relations, we will tow you car home, but I want to tell you
that you are STILL WRONG and we shouldn't have to do this!"
"Thank you." I said and they did return the car. The parts to repair the car where
about $90 as I recall and we drove that Ford for another few years after that.
I guess this ended up being a long story.
Dual brake circuit systems are a good thing.
-Roger
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