What is Your Best Stranded by Your 40 Story

[Green Bean]

The other day, I took our 40 for a little shake down cruise after some work on the engine. About 3 miles from the house she decided to quit. Not to fret, I called my wife who thought it was nothing short of hilarious that she and our bloodhound, Stanley, had to come tow me and the 40 home with our F250. It occurred to me that this is a pretty lame "stranded" story but it might be amusing to hear from this community of some real zingers. So, please share.
Thanks.

 

[mtn biker]

@60 40 @Mark W would you want to come onto the Classic Land Cruisers podcast sometime to share your experiences in depth?

 

[coinoperated40]

Interstate 40 east out of Black Mountsin NC, is a trucking fun ride. All down hill, with several pull outs for trucks with over heated brakes. Anyone in this area knows this about the road. Not saying I had to ever use one.
One trip back from Asheville to home in Statesville the water pump decided it was done working for the night.
The town of Old Fort is located at the bottom of the ride down. Best thing to do was to kick it out of gear, coast down 40, off at the exit for Old Fort coast through the stop sign and into a parking lot across from a NAPA store. Purchased water pump next day and away we go. This was my ‘82.

On a good note, I did leave Kodiak Alaska on June 21 1976 with a 1969 40 and drove to Statesville NC without a single problem.

 

[Pighead]

I was gonna add some smartass remark about 55s never stranding you and always getting back home. Unlike them 40s. Until today when my 55 stranded me. Can I add my 55 in here? Please?
Went into Pollock pines on a beerrun. Rig died in the parking lot, I steered into a sparking space, tried to start it, no go. Sounded like a dead battery. Voltmeter said i was good on both batteries, 12 v. At the starter too. No crank.
Starter was hot. Smoking some too. So i went into the store, bought beer, got a bag of ice too. Put the ice on the starter motor, had a beer. Tried the handcrank, not with my new compression after the valve job. No change on the starter. Called AAA. AAA dicked around with me for hours. @pardion pulled into the parking lot to do his shopping (benefits of small town life), somehow recognized me, gave me a tug and Pig started right up. Drove it home no problem. I called the FLAPS who sold me the starter and complained.

 

[60 40]

I was gonna add some smartass remark about 55s never stranding you and always getting back home. Unlike them 40s. Until today when my 55 stranded me. Can I add my 55 in here? Please?
Went into Pollock pines on a beerrun. Rig died in the parking lot, I steered into a sparking space, tried to start it, no go. Sounded like a dead battery. Voltmeter said i was good on both batteries, 12 v. At the starter too. No crank.
Starter was hot. Smoking some too. So i went into the store, bought beer, got a bag of ice too. Put the ice on the starter motor, had a beer. Tried the handcrank, not with my new compression after the valve job. No change on the starter. Called AAA. AAA dicked around with me for hours. @pardion pulled into the parking lot to do his shopping (benefits of small town life), somehow recognized me, gave me a tug and Pig started right up. Drove it home no problem. I called the FLAPS who sold me the starter and complained.

Ha!

If that's stranded guess I've been stranded many times.

 

[Mark W]

I was gonna add some smartass remark about 55s never stranding you and always getting back home.

Very early in my Land Cruiser life, the crankshaft in my 1978 FJ55 snapped in half while my wife was on her way home from work. Just commuting, just running down the highway at 55 miles an hour. For years, I teased her that she must have been racing the Bob tail tractors tractors on her way home.

Mark...

 

[Mark W]

@60 40 @Mark W would you want to come onto the Classic Land Cruisers podcast sometime to share your experiences in depth?

You do realize that I can tell stories 'til the cows come home... and leave and come home again and leave and...

Mark...

 

[Mark W]

Red Canyon photos:


Chocolate DropView attachment 3674011

Blue Canyon drainage - Henry Mountains in backgroundView attachment 3674012

CobraView attachment 3674013

Red CanyonView attachment 3674014

Road back to campView attachment 3674016

The desert has it's own beauty. But if I am gonna be stranded and hoofing it, I think I'll pick my environment 10 out of 10.

Mark...

 

[mtn biker]

You do realize that I can tell stories 'til the cows come home... and leave and come home again and leave and...

Mark...

Challenge excepted

 

[WildernessRimFab]

More of a funny story than an actual "stranded" situation....

January 2023 in Western Montana, its at least -20F outside and very windy.
I just got my Sniper conversion running late at night so I take a cruise around the neighborhood with a gallon or two of gas in the tank and I am sitting on a folding camp chair (seats not reinstalled yet). My rig runs out of gas about a mile from my house...its dark and I pull over to the side of a rural 2 lane road.
Turns out there was a ditch that was drifted in that I rolled into.

Called my wife for a pickup. She laughs and tells me I am an idiot. She is correct. She will come pick me up when our youngest kid goes to sleep.
Im wearing a shop coat, camo crocs, no gloves or hat. I wait in the truck (in the ditch) for a while. I start to get cold.
I start to walk home. My hands, feet, and head go numb nearly instantly. I get picked up about 1/2 mile from the house and im on the verge of frostbite.

We run to the gas station, fill up the 5 gal jug, go back to the truck and fill her up.
Im stuck in this snowy ditch pretty good, took a couple minutes of wiggling and my rear diff lock to get out and get home.
My wife is watching the stuggle to get out the ditch and she thinks this is hilarious.
We make it home unscathed.

Moral of the story? I wouldnt change a thing.
I suspect there are other stories from those who threw caution out the window for a "short neighborhood shakedown."

 

[Mark W]

More of a funny story than an actual "stranded" situation....

January 2023 in Western Montana, its at least -20F outside and very windy.
I just got my Sniper conversion running late at night so I take a cruise around the neighborhood with a gallon or two of gas in the tank and I am sitting on a folding camp chair (seats not reinstalled yet). My rig runs out of gas about a mile from my house...its dark and I pull over to the side of a rural 2 lane road.
Turns out there was a ditch that was drifted in that I rolled into.

Called my wife for a pickup. She laughs and tells me I am an idiot. She is correct. She will come pick me up when our youngest kid goes to sleep.
Im wearing a shop coat, camo crocs, no gloves or hat. I wait in the truck (in the ditch) for a while. I start to get cold.
I start to walk home. My hands, feet, and head go numb nearly instantly. I get picked up about 1/2 mile from the house and im on the verge of frostbite.

We run to the gas station, fill up the 5 gal jug, go back to the truck and fill her up.
Im stuck in this snowy ditch pretty good, took a couple minutes of wiggling and my rear diff lock to get out and get home.
My wife is watching the stuggle to get out the ditch and she thinks this is hilarious.
We make it home unscathed.

Moral of the story? I wouldnt change a thing.
I suspect there are other stories from those who threw caution out the window for a "short neighborhood shakedown."

Sounds like it was a lot funnier from her persepective than from yours.


Mark...

 

[65swb45]

Haven't read through the thread, but thought I'd share this one:


Back in the late '90s I had a customer who was an investment banker who'd bought a 40 series because it fit the outdoorman image he wanted to project. The craze hadn't started yet, and he'd got a V8 powered, SM420, front disc converted '71 for about 5K that I was slowly debugging for him. I'm just going to say that he was not mechanically inclined.

He told me he was a hunter and belonged to a club that had private hunting properties around the country. He invited me to join him on a trip to one in Northern California to hunt wild boar. Sounded interesting and different, so we set it up. He arrived at my shop around 7pm and we drove through the night, arriving in Laytonville around 7am.

The hunting was a dud. We only saw deer, and they practically came right up to us since it wasn't deer season yet. We decided to go for a scenic drive, and on the drive, the engine developed a miss, and I told him the engine was only running on 7 cylinders. He could not hear or feel the problem. It was drizzling, so I waited until we got to a gas station with an awning to investigate.

When I opened the hood, one of the spark plug wires was laying on the frame! He was SO happy that his mechanic was along! I was about equally dismayed that he couldn't tell there was a problem. Plugged the wire back in and proceeded without further incident.

On the trip home, we made good use of the V8 and hauled ass down interstate 5 through the Central Valley, where facilities are few and far between. Somewhere around King City we stopped for gas and when we jumped back in the truck, no click, no starter. I opened the hood to check the wiring and everything looked ok. Typical V8/ heat sink issue.

At this point he comes unglued, spouting off that we're in the middle of redneck rural America, and we're going to get screwed having a Toyota, blah, blah, blah. I told him to shut up and give me his hat. He looked at me quizzically, so I asked him again, making sure he understood that I was serious.

Then I hit him with his own hat, like the Skipper used to hit Gilligan, told him it was a stick shift, and we could push start the truck!

He didn't believe me!

He wasn't much help pushing the truck, and was a little heavy/ slow hopping into the rolling truck. But on the 3rd try, we had enough momentum to pop it in 3rd gear.

He grinned at me sheepishly and said if I hadn't been there, he would have paid $300 to have the truck towed back to LA.

 

[Mark W]

Haven't read through the thread, but thought I'd share this one:


Back in the late '90s I had a customer who was an investment banker who'd bought a 40 series because it fit the outdoorman image he wanted to project. The craze hadn't started yet, and he'd got a V8 powered, SM420, front disc converted '71 for about 5K that I was slowly debugging for him. I'm just going to say that he was not mechanically inclined.

He told me he was a hunter and belonged to a club that had private hunting properties around the country. He invited me to join him on a trip to one in Northern California to hunt wild boar. Sounded interesting and different, so we set it up. He arrived at my shop around 7pm and we drove through the night, arriving in Laytonville around 7am.

The hunting was a dud. We only saw deer, and they practically came right up to us since it wasn't deer season yet. We decided to go for a scenic drive, and on the drive, the engine developed a miss, and I told him the engine was only running on 7 cylinders. He could not hear or feel the problem. It was drizzling, so I waited until we got to a gas station with an awning to investigate.

When I opened the hood, one of the spark plug wires was laying on the frame! He was SO happy that his mechanic was along! I was about equally dismayed that he couldn't tell there was a problem. Plugged the wire back in and proceeded without further incident.

On the trip home, we made good use of the V8 and hauled ass down interstate 5 through the Central Valley, where facilities are few and far between. Somewhere around King City we stopped for gas and when we jumped back in the truck, no click, no starter. I opened the hood to check the wiring and everything looked ok. Typical V8/ heat sink issue.

At this point he comes unglued, spouting off that we're in the middle of redneck rural America, and we're going to get screwed having a Toyota, blah, blah, blah. I told him to shut up and give me his hat. He looked at me quizzically, so I asked him again, making sure he understood that I was serious.

Then I hit him with his own hat, like the Skipper used to hit Gilligan, told him it was a stick shift, and we could push start the truck!

He didn't believe me!

He wasn't much help pushing the truck, and was a little heavy/ slow hopping into the rolling truck. But on the 3rd try, we had enough momentum to pop it in 3rd gear.

He grinned at me sheepishly and said if I hadn't been there, he would have paid $300 to have the truck towed back to LA.

Love this one!!!

I know this guy. Okay, I guess I know his clone. A few of them. Even when they are nice guys, they make my skin itch if I have to be around them too much.

Mark...

 

[Roastchestnuts]

I have not had my fj40 leave me stranded yet (suprisingly because it needed lots of work still when I started daily driving it) but I have had plenty of toyotas do it. hopfully I have not jinxed my self on this.

My fj80 popped a rear break line on the way back from taking the praxis teaching licensure exam. limped it to a napa and got some break line and fluid. crimped the line and limped it to the ferry to get home 70 miles away.the crimped line ended up not working becase it stil leaked out because it turned out I had two broken lines. so most of the way I drove slow and used the Ebrake. passed the praxes at least.

In jacksonville florida in collage my Regular cab tacoma was lifted on 33s and I went to a target to get some stuff and went over a speed bump and completley sheered the lower ball joint in half... witch if you know 1st gen tacos and 3rd gen 4runners you know what happens next. luckly it completley failed going about 20mph not 70 on the hway.

My first gen 4runner had the clutch slave fall completley off... That was a wierd one. I think it was not on there tight or somthing. I used the clutch start cancel button and drove it home in 1st. only a bout a mile from home at least. I also broke a pinion gear on it one time doing somthing stupid on the beach... it was stuck on the beach for a day..

 

[WildernessRimFab]

Sounds like it was a lot funnier from her persepective than from yours.


Mark...

I got some chuckles typing out the story on 'mud yersterday. Good memories.
Also, this story reminds me that my gas gauge still doesnt work correctly.

 

[South Texas 97]

1982 in the plains area of Colombia running a seismic crew. All Toyotas including flatbeds and FJ40 and FJ45 troopy soft top. Driving back from Mani to Villavicencio about 8pm sun was just going down. Had to go to the city for some reason so the chief mechanic and myself were on our way and we got a flat tire. No problem we jumped out, changed the tire and got on our way. 5 minutes later the tire goes rolling down the road ahead of us. We each assumed the other had tightened the lug nuts after dropping it back on 4 wheels. We both agreed never to speak about this again with anyone. Waited about and hour for a local bus to come along. Three hours into Villavo and then arranged for a tow truck as the studs had sheared off. The chief mechanic stayed with the truck while I took the bus to the city. That year I drove 40,000km most of it on gravel or no roads. Seismic in the 80’s.

 

[fj40cruisin]

1. Once I ran out of gas on a busy road in front of a fire station because my gauge wasn't working. All of a sudden I see 3-4 firemen pushing me through the intersection and into a parking lot. My gas gauge works now but I always had to rock my 40 back in the day to see how much gas was in the tank. I guess I forgot to rock it.

2. I was wheelin with my buddies when I was 17 in my fj40 and was on a steep slope traversing it sideways. Both of my left tires on the down side of the slope pop off their bead. Its now 12 midnight and I call my dad to pull me out. He comes over in his 80 and pulls me right out. We get the fj40 on flat ground, change the tire then I drive home (about 2-3 miles) on a flat rear tire. Tire and wheel were still good.

3. I was driving my Dad's 80 to drop my girl friend off at her house in a blizzard. There was about 6 inches of snow in the front of his house and I knew at the end of the street there was going to be a large snow drift where I needed to turn. I gunned the 80 before I got to the end of the street. I slammed right through part of the snow drift. The other half high centered me. If any of you are like me, the 80 is by far the most fun vehicle to drive in the snow because it will go anywhere. I thought I could go right through it but it was packed solid underneath me with wheels spinning. Even the lockers didn't get me out. We walked back to my house to get our snowmobile suits on. We went back out in the blizzard to dig the truck out. That packed snow was like concrete. I thought about leaving it and coming back in the morning after the blizzard but I was worried that the snow plows wouldn't see it and would hit it so we kept digging it out. It took us about 2 hours to get it out.

 

[SteveH]

A minor self-rescue.....I am nerd.

The battery in my FJ40 is dated 11/11 (as in, 2011) and I keep it alive on a maintenance charger. I attended a Ham radio swap on Saturday, and left the parking lights accidentally on for 1 hour, and of course, the engine just barely wouldn't crank.

I turned on the ignition, made sure the transmission was in neutral, and got out my hand engine crank, inserted it, gave it a hearty 90 degree whirl, and the engine fired right up. The Ham swap dude next to me in the parking lot was totally stoked - 'wondered what you were doing... that was amazing!'. I then drove to a car show and met a few 'cruiserheads and it started fine after that. I'm headed to CostCo today to get a new group 27 battery and fix this.

 

[igotta40]

Haven't read through the thread, but thought I'd share this one:


Back in the late '90s I had a customer who was an investment banker who'd bought a 40 series because it fit the outdoorman image he wanted to project. The craze hadn't started yet, and he'd got a V8 powered, SM420, front disc converted '71 for about 5K that I was slowly debugging for him. I'm just going to say that he was not mechanically inclined.

He told me he was a hunter and belonged to a club that had private hunting properties around the country. He invited me to join him on a trip to one in Northern California to hunt wild boar. Sounded interesting and different, so we set it up. He arrived at my shop around 7pm and we drove through the night, arriving in Laytonville around 7am.

The hunting was a dud. We only saw deer, and they practically came right up to us since it wasn't deer season yet. We decided to go for a scenic drive, and on the drive, the engine developed a miss, and I told him the engine was only running on 7 cylinders. He could not hear or feel the problem. It was drizzling, so I waited until we got to a gas station with an awning to investigate.

When I opened the hood, one of the spark plug wires was laying on the frame! He was SO happy that his mechanic was along! I was about equally dismayed that he couldn't tell there was a problem. Plugged the wire back in and proceeded without further incident.

On the trip home, we made good use of the V8 and hauled ass down interstate 5 through the Central Valley, where facilities are few and far between. Somewhere around King City we stopped for gas and when we jumped back in the truck, no click, no starter. I opened the hood to check the wiring and everything looked ok. Typical V8/ heat sink issue.

At this point he comes unglued, spouting off that we're in the middle of redneck rural America, and we're going to get screwed having a Toyota, blah, blah, blah. I told him to shut up and give me his hat. He looked at me quizzically, so I asked him again, making sure he understood that I was serious.

Then I hit him with his own hat, like the Skipper used to hit Gilligan, told him it was a stick shift, and we could push start the truck!

He didn't believe me!

He wasn't much help pushing the truck, and was a little heavy/ slow hopping into the rolling truck. But on the 3rd try, we had enough momentum to pop it in 3rd gear.

He grinned at me sheepishly and said if I hadn't been there, he would have paid $300 to have the truck towed back to LA.

Like this?

 

[red66toy]

1. Once I ran out of gas on a busy road in front of a fire station because my gauge wasn't working. All of a sudden I see 3-4 firemen pushing me through the intersection and into a parking lot. My gas gauge works now but I always had to rock my 40 back in the day to see how much gas was in the tank. I guess I forgot to rock it.

2. I was wheelin with my buddies when I was 17 in my fj40 and was on a steep slope traversing it sideways. Both of my left tires on the down side of the slope pop off their bead. Its now 12 midnight and I call my dad to pull me out. He comes over in his 80 and pulls me right out. We get the fj40 on flat ground, change the tire then I drive home (about 2-3 miles) on a flat rear tire. Tire and wheel were still good.

3. I was driving my Dad's 80 to drop my girl friend off at her house in a blizzard. There was about 6 inches of snow in the front of his house and I knew at the end of the street there was going to be a large snow drift where I needed to turn. I gunned the 80 before I got to the end of the street. I slammed right through part of the snow drift. The other half high centered me. If any of you are like me, the 80 is by far the most fun vehicle to drive in the snow because it will go anywhere. I thought I could go right through it but it was packed solid underneath me with wheels spinning. Even the lockers didn't get me out. We walked back to my house to get our snowmobile suits on. We went back out in the blizzard to dig the truck out. That packed snow was like concrete. I thought about leaving it and coming back in the morning after the blizzard but I was worried that the snow plows wouldn't see it and would hit it so we kept digging it out. It took us about 2 hours to get it out.

Hahaha, I forgot how many times I used to rock my 40 to hear how much gas was in it too.