I could have died!

[chad67]

I had my "oh my God, I could have died" moment a few months ago. I was on my way to work when my steering started feeling "funny". When I got home I found a mutilated rag joint. The only thing keeping the joint together were the strings wrapped around the rivets. What was your " moment"?

[68 Ford Stepside]

You are a very fortunate man. That looks as bad as any I have ever seen. My closest call was in 1995 when I hit a eight point, two hundred pound buck at seventy five miles per hour on my motorcycle. OUCH! I still have the road burn scars to prove it & my left knee looks really funny.The buck didn't fair as well, it broke his back.

[Ranchero50]

I found a newborn under the tongue of my car trailer out by the alley a few years ago. Does that count?

Automotive, I watched in slow motion as my '69 4v 351w tipped over and crashed to the floor. Last 3 legged engine stand I ever owned.

Car, '88 stang T-boned a BMW at 67mph. Cop in slow lane hit his lights, I looked at him and never saw the beemer...

Another was spinning out on an icy bridge in my '87 Mustang Lx 5.0 and sliding backwards into an escort that wasn't moving so slow it caused me to spin out.

[chad67]

My wife fell asleep on I44 with her cruise control set at 73. She woke up as she caught air jumping up on the service road. She made it through a 50 foot gap between a rock cliff and a guard rail and drove through 500 feet of ditch. She blew out a front tire and broke both front sway bar links when she landed. But she was able to stop it on the service road and came out shaken but unhurt. Three days later we got a recall notice for the sway bar links-Ford changed them for free.

[chad67]

Oh, and I hit a big, dumb mutt with my motorcycle in '94. Got some road rash and my foot got caught on the shifter and turned my ankle into a jello-like substance. The doctor told me I would never walk normally again, but I have no problems at all. I ran 8 miles at last years Relay for Life. The dog didn't survive. Do you still own a bike 68 ford stepside?

[68 Ford Stepside]

Oh, and I hit a big, dumb mutt with my motorcycle in '94. Got some road rash and my foot got caught on the shifter and turned my ankle into a jello-like substance. The doctor told me I would never walk normally again, but I have no problems at all. I ran 8 miles at last years Relay for Life. The dog didn't survive. Do you still own a bike 68 ford stepside?

My two wheeler days are long gone. Too many crazies on the road these days & I don't heal as fast as I use to.

[chad67]

Amen to that! I gave it up after my second mishap. Me and my girlfriend (who is now my wife) spend a few hours picking gravel out of my legs after that one. I admire motorcycles as artwork, but they have proven unlucky for me.

[averagef250]

Ragjoints should have safety pins built in. If you took the reinforced rubber out you can still steer just fine, but with about 1/8 turn of slop. If that stuff is gone then somebody's butchered it.

[Whateverman]

I had a ragjoint blow apart in a parking lot in a crappy little town a few years back -it had some kinda wierd plastic donut instead of the rubber deal thats usually there and it literally shattered into pieces...of course it was on a sunday so the parts store was closed and i didnt have money for a tow (or even to call a buddy to help out) so i had to drive it 30 miles home -pushing the column down as hard as possible to keep it engaged with the stubs on the coupler---sketchy to say the least..my arms were sore for 2 weeks afterwards

My scariest ever close call :- the pitman arm separating from the steering linkage and me shooting across 3 lanes of traffic and almost head-on-ing a bus (missed by less than 5ft,thank god he had good brakes) - appparantly there is a difference power steering pitman arms (bendix and saginaw)-who knew these things in the years before Fordification existed?
I discovered that the wrong one WILL work for awhile -until the extra force it puts on the nut holding it to the steering linkage busts the cotter pin and then backs the nut off completely....