Just how far would you go for a free parts Tracker? I now know my response: 1345 miles in 36 hours, round trip. I had no sooner returned from the LJ Adventure when I saw the post in the garage sale forum of Zukiworld about a parts Tracker "free to a good home". I started thinking about it and replied that I'd take it before I was able to talk myself out of it.
TOTAL CARNAGE said he would come along again so his wife could visit her parents in Bristol Tenn along the way. This also gave us a much needed rest break, a luxury we were lacking on the LJ Adventure...
We hit the road saturday morning and made pretty good time running with the dolly empty. Remember when I said that empty dollys like to bounce? I got a pic of it airborn:
Lunchtime saw us at the Arby's in Wytheville, VA where what we received beared little resemblance to what we ordered.
After checking the receipts, it was clear that the cashier was just randomly pushing buttons! LOL!
We rolled through Bristol between 5 and 6 PM. I got to see the speedway on our way through:
We pushed on through and made it to Cookeville, Tenn around 9PM(eastern, we crossed a time zone near Knoxville, so Cookeville time was 8PM). We pulled up to the shop and was met by Zig(Zukipilot on Zukiworld). He showed us into the shop and there it was, the free parts Tracker:
After posting with Zig for a couple years on Zukiworld, it was great to get to meet him in person and check out his white Sidekick(made famous by Calmini's website
).
Digger and Zig:
We set to wrenching and after a quick parts run for missing bolts, we had enough parts put back on so we could tow it with a dolly. We dragged it on and strapped it down. Here's a shot of it rolling out of Zig's shop:
Aside from some missing pieces and some wrinkles and dents from the rollover, the Tracker was a great score. The truck is pretty much rust-free and solid. Plus as an added bonus, as Zig was cleaning out his shop, every Track/kick part he came across that he didn't need for his 'kick got tossed into the back of the Tracker. This little rig was LOADED to the gills!
We said our goodbyes and hit the road around 11PM(eastern), stopping occasionally to check the straps(notice the piece of blue tape in the windhseild?
):
We got back to Bristol around 4AM, after noticing a sort of metallic scraping noise at low speed through town. We were so tired and so close to our rest, we basically ignored it. Without so much as a sideways glance at the Tracker, we walked into the house and passed out for a few hours...
Sunday morning after a real home-cooked breakfast we went out to inspect the dolly and the Tracker to see if we could figure out the noise.
(see that piece of blue tape again on the windsheild?
)
This one?:
(good, cause we hadn't yet...
)
Anyways, the dolly had a flat. I borrowed a compressor and filled it back up and it held. I jacked up each rear wheel of the Tracker to find them spinning freely. The Tracker's driveshaft was laying inside it, so that wasn't it either
Oh well... nothing major apparently, so back on the road we go. The noise came back, but was only noticable at lower speeds. At interstate speeds the noise seemed to go away. We kept pressing on. At a roadside rest area I finally noticed the piece of blue tape on the windsheild and pulled it off to see what it was. It was just a piece of masking tape. I was about to wad it up and pitch it when I noticed writing on it, so I looked closer:
Hmmm... I wonder what that noise is from now??!?
I called Zig on my cell phone to ask him about it and "oh, shoot!" was more or less his reply! LOL!
He said he had put it on there some time ago to remind himself that the diff was dry before he tried driving it or towing it with the rear wheels down.
Guess that noise was the rear wheel bearings melting down! LOL!
We didn't have any gear oil with us and were getting closer to home, plus we figured that the axle is probably going to be toast by now anyways, so we kept going. At the next rest stop, we discovered the van's electric cooling fan quit working, so we had to keep it moving to keep it from overheating quickly.
Here's the last stop that I took a pic at:
I walked into my house around 9PM sunday, wore out. But at least I have more Tracker parts to play with now! Plus I have plans for this truck, so you all will be seeing it again soon, I'm sure!
Would I do this again? Maybe, but it would have to be a heck of a deal, like a
free X-90 in excellent condition or perhaps a pristine LJ... Although after running 1000 miles in 24 hours monday and tuesday picking up the LJ, then running 1345 miles in 36 hours this weekend, I'm tired of being on the road! I gotta get to work on some of these projects before I go collect another one! LOL!
