A heartfelt thanks to a Forestry Forum brother

[grweldon]

Howdy y'all,

This may be long-winded as that's how I usually tend to be.  Just be forewarned!

I am a collector of 1994-1997 Ford Thunderbirds and Cougars.  I'm constantly looking for reasonably-priced examples for parts or to put back on the road.  I live in the Montgomery, Alabama area.  About a month ago I found a red 97 Tbird with a 4.6L (my personal favorite gas engine) that belonged to a fellow in Sylvania, Georgia, about 40 miles west of Savannah. The drive would be about 350 miles.  The guy wanted only $525 and that's about what I'm looking for.  We agreed that I would come and pick it up, but I'd be unavailable for a few weeks due to previous commitments.  I was finally able to arrange pickup last Friday (4/26/24).

I've been driving my 1999 F250 Super-Duty 7.3L Diesel (368K miles) without a spare for tens of thousands of miles.  Not too smart, I agree, but I've had no issues. I didn't have a spare because one day months ago, Overnight I had a flat on the rear while sitting at the house and the bead broke.  I put the spare on and left the old wheel/tire in the yard where it filled up with rainwater, even while still on the rim.

On Wednesday before the Friday I was supposed to leave, I just happened to glance at the spare and said to myself that I'd better remount it so I'll have it for the trip.  I own a tire machine so it only took about an hour of struggling with a tire full of water to dismount it, clean up the aluminum wheel and remount and air up the tire.  When I bought the truck with 200K miles on it years ago, it never had a jack and the spare hoist under the bed was broken and there was no jack.  I threw the spare up on the bed, gathered an 8-ton bottle jack and the appropriate socket/breaker bar and enough blocks of wood to make things work in the rare event I needed a spare.

On Friday, I head to the U-haul place to pick up a car hauler trailer. I'm on the road by 8:30 and I have a fairly uneventful drive to Sylvania, Georgia where the car is.  On the way I notice that I go right through Dublin, Georgia...past the same exit I have taken before to attend the "Sawmill Project" gatherings hosed by none other than Jake Dean (Customsawyer) at his nice place in Rentz, Georgia.  As I drove past I reminisce about both times I've been to Jake's place and how great of a time I had. On Monday of this same week, I happened to check out Robert Milton's YouTube video (Hobby Hardwoods Alabama) and realized that Jake just hosted another "Project" the previous weekend and I was bummed I missed it... anyway, back to the story...

The loading of the Thunderbird onto the trailer took much longer than expected but went smoothly.  I got back on the road at maybe 4PM.  I took my time and made several stops before I got on I-16 headed west.  I again go past the exit to get to Jakes at about 5:15 PM and silently give Jake my best wishes as I past.  A few more miles down the road, traveling about 80, I hear a BOOM from my truck and notice the truck is handing very strangely.  I pull over well off the shoulder and stop.  I get out and look at my rear tire, shredded...I mean REALLY shredded.  It's at this point I think, "wow, I'm glad I fixed my spare!".

I pull out my jack, sockets, wood blocks and breaker bar.  I start loosening lug nuts, of which there are 8.  All are fairly tight for this old man but I get 7 off easily. The last one seems to be tighter and as I am straining to get it loosened I hear a snap, and the socket slides off the lug nut. It had split halfway down the side.  So, here I am stranded and I can't get my spare off.  First thing, I look up wrecker services on my phone.  I call 4 of them and each referred me to another except for the last one.  The last wrecker service told me of the Georgia CHAMPS program which is a free roadside assistance program that I can access if I dial 511.  I thanked him, called the number, spoke to a person who worked with me to get my exact GPS position and said she just dispatched someone and told me to expect them to arrive in the next 30-45 minutes.  I thank the lady and I go take one more stab at removing the lug nut.  No-go.  I did notice that as the socket broke, it smeared the metal on 2 corners of the lug nut.  I make a mental note that it wouldn't affect getting it off if using a 6 point socket. I take a deep breath and go sit in my truck and relax. 

An hour goes by, dusk comes and the sun goes below the horizon.  A few minutes later the assistance truck arrives with bright lights flashing.  I warmly greet the guy and tell him how happy I am to see him.  I explain my situation and show him the one lug nut I need to get off.  He takes one look at the smeared corners of the lug nut and immediately says he can't help me because the lug nut is damaged.  My jaw dropped to the ground!  He explains that the rules of the job don't allow him to even touch a damaged lug nut.  I ask if he could just let me use his socket and he says he could lose his job if he did.  I asked him who would know and he points to the camera on the truck and the microphone on his lapel.  I couldn't believe it.  I was *pithed.  I told him thanks...for nothing!

Now I panic.  I get back in my truck to sort out my situation...then I think about Jake.  I don't have his phone number but we are friends on Facebook.  I messaged him and left my phone number with little hope that he would get the message, let alone respond.  I start to call more wrecker services and as the phone is ringing for the second one I call, I get a call from a number I don't know and I answer.  Its Jake!  He says he just got out of the shower and asked me what I need.  I tell him, we determine where I am and he says he will get dressed and bring me some tools and give me a hand as soon as he possibly can!  I thank him profusely!

About 45 minutes later in the pitch black, I see Jake pull up behind me.  We grab some tools and after breaking the square end of 3/8-drive extension off in a socket like it was lead, Jake finds a 1/2-drive socket wrench and a short extension. The regular socket (not deep well) was the only one he had that size and it only gripped the socket by about a quarter-inch. With the ratchet not completely seated in the drive square because the stud was in the way, I flatly told Jake that it wasn't going to work.  He disregarded what I said and commenced to wrenching on the lug nut.  He was being very careful to keep everything seated and in place and struggling to turn the ratchet.  I was closely watching the socket for movement.  Almost exactly at the same time I saw the socket move half a millimeter, the socket slipped off.  I told Jake I saw it move just a tad and he tried again.  This time, after what seemed like ages for me (wonder how long it felt like for Jake?) I saw the lug nut slowly turn then completely get loose!  Whew!  I couldn't believe it and silently thanked Jesus for sending me help!

Jake brought a floor jack and after carrying it off his truck to mine, he went back to his truck to deal with tools and I pulled the old tire off, got the spare out and put it on.  Jake comes back with a cordless impact gun and zips all the lug nuts tight.  I pick up the tools and secure mine and take his jack back to his truck. I thank him again, multiple times, give him a hug and ask if I can buy him dinner.  He refuses, even after trying to coax him.  I thank him one last time and tell him I'll do all I can to make it to the "Project" next year.

They say blood is thicker than water.  This is true, but sawdust can be pretty thick too!

Thanks Jake!

[rusticretreater]

There are still good samaritans in the good Ol USA.  

As a side note, I had problems with my Dodge Dakota lug nuts.  They have that pressed on metal crown that comes off and makes your lug nut one size smaller. 

Then I had one that rounded off and was in a recess in the deep aluminum rim.  I bought a lug nut removal set, kinda like a screw extractor set for lug nuts.  After losing one or two more lug nut caps, I just bought new lug nuts for all four wheels.

[Jeff]

One like is not enough!!!!

[gspren]

Heart warming but not really surprising, this forum just has good people.

[Ed_K]

 I had to buy 20 lug nuts just to get the socket for the wheels on Rita's 2021 forester  .

[thecfarm]

He needs more then one Ata Boy too!!!!!

[plantita]

He is such a really good person!

[customsawyer]

Don't know of any other forum member that wouldn't do the same thing given the chance. I was glad to help. Good to hear that you made it home.

[scsmith42]

If that isn't a "typical story" about Jake Dean I don't know what else is.  FF is full of fantastic folks that will drop everything to help one another, and Jake is certainly at the top of that list.

We are all richer for being members here.  Thanks Jeff for what you created and maintained for the rest of us.

[SwampDonkey]

Good work, kindness and problem remedied.