Woke up at 7:40. Headed to the gas station to get some milk, then came back and ate some cereal. Took a shower, then began the task of checking the prices for brake parts. I was looking at $150 in parts and labor. I'm not goin' to lie, I was pretty OK with that price. I thought it would be much worse.
I headed outside at one point, though, and I looked at my truck in my driveway. And this time I noticed something different! My RIGHT FRONT brake was just spewing out drops of brake fluid! Agh! My garage floor told the tale, too. Along my left frame I had the drips of brake fluid from the left rear brake line from being parked overnight. But sure enough, there was a mark where the right front tire sat, too. It was also leaking.
And my driveway was even worse after coming back from the gas station! I literally had drops coming out of the rubber brake hose at my right front tire! So I started calling around repair shops to see how much THAT would cost! Basically, I was looking at the same price for both at Midas. But in order to get that down a bit, I decided to fix the front hose myself. It's a pretty simple fix (in theory). So I headed over to my sister's house, grabbed the jackstands, then headed to AutoZone (with VERY poor brakes, mind you), picked up a hose for $10.79, then headed to Wal-Mart for some deodorant (mine wasn't working!), then headed home.
I jacked up the truck, took off the wheel and tried to get the old rubber hose off. I just couldn't get it. The parts were too rusty, and I couldn't turn the bolt head. GRR!!! After about 10 minutes of trying, I just decided to let the professionals do it. I didn't want to spend the time it was going to take and possibly end up breaking something. So I set up an appointment for noon.
Boogs came over with Baby, and she ended up driving her car as I drove my truck to Midas. And what a treat that was. I basically had lost my front brakes due to the cut hose. And I didn't really have much on my back brakes due to the hole in the steel line. So let's just say I had a hairy situation to get through during lunch-hour traffic. I had a couple of pretty bad moments...I had to make a tire-screeching U-turn at one point to avoid going into the back of a car at a stoplight, and I also had to coast through a stoplight while making a turn hoping that no one was coming. It was...interesting. Not too fun!!! But I finally made it..."safely."
I dropped the truck off, then headed across town with Boogs to eat with Mom for lunch. I was so nervous about my phone ringing, and sure enough, it did. The mechanic was calling to say that I should replace the other lines, too. Yeah, yeah, I know. AND I should replace my U-joints. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure of that, too. But contrary to his recommendations (they always do this), I said just do the two brake lines. Phew! At least it wasn't a big problem they found. From there we headed back to Midas (I was given an hour and a half estimate), but they still weren't done. I was told it would be another 45 minutes. So we headed back to my house. We played with Baby, and I made a photo CD for the local newspaper for an upcoming story I'll be featured in. Well, around 3:00, Boogs decided she was going to head home. No worries. I still had no word on my truck.
I decided to be productive, so I headed outside to find something to do. I ended up making a birdhouse! I had some scrap wood in the garage, and I was tired of looking at it, so I made a wren house. It turned out lookin' pretty good! I think I have enough wood to make another couple. There is just something about MAKING something that is good for a man's soul.
I called Midas, they he said the truck would be ready at 4:30. Hmm. Well, they still never called me, so at 5:30 I called them yet again! The receptionist told me my truck was done, so I made three phone calls before I found a ride to pick it up. Dad swung by to take me downtown. He dropped me off, but I noticed that my truck was very-much tire-less in the bay. So I waited. I went ahead and paid the $157.50 (I'm still very happy with that). And I sat there and just talked with the VERY attractive (and easy to talk to!) receptionist. Here's to hoping she is single!
Well, I was dropped off at 5:45, but my truck wasn't done until 6:25. They stayed late to work on something else. I guess when they bled the brake lines, I had another line burst due to the pressure. The manager told the mechanic to make a patch for it, so I waited for that. Always somethin'!
So at 6:30, I finally left with my truck!!! And I'm not goin' to lie, I was pretty nervous about the lines! I mean, they are "fixed," but I still have a very rusty under-belly! Anything can happen. So I took it pretty easy on the driving and braking. But when I hit the brakes, man, did they catch!!! It makes me wonder if I had had a leak the entire time even after installing my front pads. I mean, these brakes were all of a sudden GOOD!!! I stopped so quickly that my tires would squeak! I had to completely alter my former level of pressure that I was used to putting on the brake pedal. But I had a very successful trip back home, so that was good.
Here's to hoping these brakes last me for the rest of the life of this truck!!! I don't want to put any more money into her! Buuuuuuuuuuuut, with that said, I still only have $1500 TOTAL in this thing, gas, insurance, tax, title, license, and purchase price included!!! That's simply hard to beat. She's given me a nice 1250 miles so far.
I came back home, showered, then headed to Jobu's house to watch the All-Star game. Ended up getting there at 7:30 and staying until about 10:30. Came back home and ended up headin' to bed at 12:30.
Got a couple of e-mails today. One asking if she can buy the mower for $75 (that would be a $40 profit for me after $10 in gas), and one asking if he can couch-surf with me tomorrow night. I guess we'll see what happens with both of those!
C'mon, TRUCK!!! I need you to last me a long time! Behave already!!!
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