The weather's been great here a mile above sea level. We've had plenty of warm days and dry roads all Winter so far. Gotten in lots of miles on the bike.
I got to thinking ahead to spring break and thought maybe I'd get some PM done on the cruiser before the big ski trip. Crawled all over it and sent a quick list to CDan. Not wanting to leave anything out I drove out into the nearest field to check the diff locks. Try as I might, I couldn't get the center diff to lock. Ditto the front/rear locks. No problem, I'll just take it up on a snow covered trail, lock it in low, drive for a while and let it fix itself - just like last time.
However, a couple of days later I drive into town for conferences with a couple professors and I notice an oil smell in the parking lot. It's a hot gear oil smell. There's a Cherokee parked in front of me and I feel sorry for the poor bastard. Before I get back in, I take a peak under the cruiser's skirt and, wait a minute, there's gear oil all over the exhaust, ps inner tire and fender! The ps birf looks like it got greased bombed. Suddenly, I remember the image of a bolt compete with nut and cone washer - the one that I thought came from the neighbor's POS - I stepped over in front of the cruiser that morning. It was a slow drive home.
Once home, I pick up the sheared off bolt and take a sniff. It smells like gear oil. Also, there's a puddle of oil not far away marking the exact position of my ps front tire that morning. I make a mental note to pull the wheel off and have a look at the damage in the morning. But, surprise! There's six inches of snow on the ground this morning. The garage if full of crap so it's going to be a while before I can pull the wheel and augment my list for CDan. The cruiser's parked until the next thaw.
Hopefully, the bolt I have wrapped in a white paper towel beside the computer isn't mine. I won't know for sure until I can pull the wheel. Hopefully, we'll get a few warm dry days soon.
I got to thinking ahead to spring break and thought maybe I'd get some PM done on the cruiser before the big ski trip. Crawled all over it and sent a quick list to CDan. Not wanting to leave anything out I drove out into the nearest field to check the diff locks. Try as I might, I couldn't get the center diff to lock. Ditto the front/rear locks. No problem, I'll just take it up on a snow covered trail, lock it in low, drive for a while and let it fix itself - just like last time. However, a couple of days later I drive into town for conferences with a couple professors and I notice an oil smell in the parking lot. It's a hot gear oil smell. There's a Cherokee parked in front of me and I feel sorry for the poor bastard. Before I get back in, I take a peak under the cruiser's skirt and, wait a minute, there's gear oil all over the exhaust, ps inner tire and fender! The ps birf looks like it got greased bombed. Suddenly, I remember the image of a bolt compete with nut and cone washer - the one that I thought came from the neighbor's POS - I stepped over in front of the cruiser that morning. It was a slow drive home.
Once home, I pick up the sheared off bolt and take a sniff. It smells like gear oil. Also, there's a puddle of oil not far away marking the exact position of my ps front tire that morning. I make a mental note to pull the wheel off and have a look at the damage in the morning. But, surprise! There's six inches of snow on the ground this morning. The garage if full of crap so it's going to be a while before I can pull the wheel and augment my list for CDan. The cruiser's parked until the next thaw.
Hopefully, the bolt I have wrapped in a white paper towel beside the computer isn't mine. I won't know for sure until I can pull the wheel. Hopefully, we'll get a few warm dry days soon.
