Baboon Pirates

Scribbles and Scrawls from an unrepentant swashbuckling primate.

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Location: Texas, United States

Friday, January 23, 2009

Veering Left!

More Truck Problems

No, I'm not veering left politically!

It's my truck. Let go of the steering wheel, and it takes left hand turns by itself!

It started Wednesday somewhere between here and the airport. A squeaking sound, and a hard pull to the left. Left to its own devices, the truck will turn faster and faster to the left until you end up spinning in your minimum turning radius.

It's unlikely that a gas-guzzling, terrain-despoiling 4 wheel drive pickup contracted a case of Obamaitis, so WTF is going on?

Took it by the usual grease monkey, and the first thing he does is jack up the front end on a dolly jack, reach into the wheel well, and pull out this humongous bolt that's just laying there on top of the A-arm.

The problem was, that bolt was supposed to be holding the A-arm onto the frame!

No clue how it worked itself loose. Those things are usually torqued down tighter than Al Gore's bunghole.

Well, at least it wasn't a frozen brake caliper, or a burned axle bearing...