Arthritis Car Show & Shawshank Redemption Trail - July 5-9

[graytoad]

Sandy,

Glad to hear that your tire rupture turned out as well as it did! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

For me personally, this just reinforces my thoughts that when I replace the tires on Crimson Pearl, I'm going to stick with run-flats!

I still would not go back to run flats if I could turn back the clock, these tires handle so much nicer and smoother. I have been driving for over 40 years and this was my first blow out. As for this situation, we could not have driven home on it, nor would WalMart fix it, nor do they stock run flats in that odd size so I would have had to get a replacement. Had this happened another day of the week that part of the story may be different if I could have be able to go to a speciality tire shop.

Anyway, Steve took the tire to my sons tire shop and he inspected it and said there was no sidewall damage, no chord damage and was in an ideal spot in the tire for repairing so it was not as bad as I had thought. He said they have successfully repaired much worse and as long as it holds air (and he could see no reason it wouldn't) he had no reason to replace the tire. Also there was no way he would let his momma out there in her cherished car if he felt it was a risk.

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Firstly - Just so you know - We had a fantastic time BUT none the less I think I earned a couple of 'there-there's' combined with a pat on the back or a group hug and have earned the Tough Luck Award.
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Tuesday the 5th we were virtually all set to leave for the show, trunk packed, just going over my mental check list (which - btw - my mental check list needs some help) when Steve pushed the button to close the trunk - - - half way down then stopped, tried again, then again, doors didn't want to open etc: we realized we had trouble The car always has a Battery Tender on it when it is not being actively driven but it was actually the original battery in the car. I usually get it tested each year but never did this year.... figures eh!

Fast forward 2 1/2 hours later, after having used a booster box to get the car to start and saw that they system was charging etc we managed to get it to our favorite repair shop and get a new battery installed - and we were on our way!

As a side note to the gang: Sorry we arrived at the BnB so late: everyone was nice enough to wait for us before departing for dinner. We had figured we would arrive 3:30 or 4 pm and rolled in around 7:15 pm.

Fast forward once again to today. On our way home we were driving around 65 mph in a section of I-90 that was under construction, 2 narrow lanes of traffic with concrete barriers immediately on the edge of the left lane and no shoulder on the right lane - when we suddenly hit something. Neither of us saw anything but we were changing lanes from left to right and we both think the front tire popped out one of the road reflectors and the rear tire ran over it having its spike pierce our tire. It was a heck of a racket as it went around a couple of times beating against the wheel well before it finally flew out then a few moments later we had a full on flat. We turned on the 4 ways and slowed down but had to limp along about an 1/8 of a mile to find a safe spot to pull over. All the while there was a terrible flapping noise: I though the tire was flying apart taking my fender with it, but we finally happened to come upon a narrow 'emergency vehicle only' pull off. Did I tell you also that we were on a sweeping curve and having just passed under a bridge with its support pillars dangerously close to the temporary lanes we were in?

My XLR does not have 'run flats' but I do have a compressor and a tire plug kit and AAA but there was a chunk of rubber sticking out of the hole in the center of my tread and we knew it was beyond my tire repair kit: besides the point that we were barely off the travel lanes of I-90 - way too dangerous even if it was the passenger rear.

I crawled out of the passengers seat (Steve was driving) fearing the worst but all was good, the sidewall was folded under the rim and amazingly there appears to be no rim damage.

Anyway, the flat bed truck was there way faster than they said: he arrived with a regular tow truck as back up for extra flashing lights etc and they were very careful with my baby, added extra ramps to keep from ripping off the nose and used a strap instead of the hook on the tow line.

We ended up at a WalMart; certainly not my first choice but one of the only choices in that area on a Sunday afternoon. The young guy that helped us was as careful - yes I showed the diagrams in my manual where the jack points were and actually had to get a new jack that would fit under the car he got us fixed up quickly. Part of the Walmart policy on tire changes is all cars must be run in a figure 8 loop 5 or 6 times out back where it is recorded on their security camera system as proof they are checked, then re-torqued them again. So here is this young guy in his early 20 at most out back driving an XLR in figure 8's; bet you he will be talking about that for a while. Anyway, they had me back on the road exactly 2 hours after I dialed my CAA/AAA number.

I run Michelin's but now have one Dunlop on the right rear which I will replace this week along with the drivers side rear so I don't run in circles . The tires only have about 18,000 miles on them and I bought hazard warranty so wish me luck this wont cost me too much more.

Her she is; sitting forlornly on the flat bed ...... it is kind of a selfie: that is me too, Steve was in the front seat with Nick our tow truck guy.
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Anyway, other than a few minor silly things I have never had any real trouble with this car at all so I guess I was due. This has just added some extra excitement to a fantastic trip with some great XLR friends.

This is why I hate where there is road construction going on, it's a very tight squeeze in some of them areas along with construction crap everywhere and slows down the traffic! But lucky alls well even your babe!


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[nerkpowers]

For those of us who attended the Arthritis Foundation Car Show, I wanted to let you know that I sent a Thank You Letter to Mark Thomas on all of our behalf. I thanked him both for sponsoring all of the awards in our Cadillac Roadster Class (which included the XLRs), but also for his dedication to the Car Show and the Arthritis Foundation.
Tim


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[cubby558]

Thanks for doing that for us Tim. Also thank you for planning a great trip for us beforehand. We had a great time!

For those of us who attended the Arthritis Foundation Car Show, I wanted to let you know that I sent a Thank You Letter to Mark Thomas on all of our behalf. I thanked him both for sponsoring all of the awards in our Cadillac Roadster Class (which included the XLRs), but also for his dedication to the Car Show and the Arthritis Foundation.
Tim


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[graytoad]

Hey fellow Shawshank-ers! Just watching "Air Force One", with the Mansfield Reformatory (AKA Shawshank) as the Russian prison in it. Watched The Shawshank Redemption a week ago. So cool to have seen exactly were all those scenes were filmed.