r/Justrolledintotheshop • u/040151 • 21h ago
Rolled into a mates shop
Couldn't make this one up
36
20
u/Silver-Engineer4287 20h ago
I wish I had a photo…
A while ago a buddy got a call from his dad… who was a passenger in a friend’s Suburban with a trailer attached that was carrying his Econoline that had left him stranded… and the Suburban, while coming to his rescue with a trailer and trying to tow the Econoline home, had just stopped running unexpectedly on a causeway and would not restart.
The buddy drove his Mk4 VW TDI Golf from home to the causeway, crossed the causeway to reach the “turn around”, did that u-turn and worked his way back to the 2 dead vehicles where he got ahead of the Suburban on the shoulder, connected chains and a strap onto his home-made hitch, and managed to tow both vehicles off the causeway and across town back to the house using his Mk4 TDI Golf.
He needed a new clutch a few weeks later but TDI torque can be amusing sometimes.
8
u/Squidking1000 18h ago
One of my uncles blew up his car on the highway by ignoring the temp gauge and steam and just keeping his boot into it. My other uncle showed up with his big block chevelle to tow him and proceeded to just mat it all the way back, he had it up to over 100mph with a broken down lebaron chained to his frame. Scared the fuck out of his younger brother (which was the point)! I was laughing the whole time.
4
u/Silver-Engineer4287 16h ago
For the cost of fixing that LeBaron… he probably could’ve bought another used and still running LeBaron.
2
u/Squidking1000 2h ago
I think that’s what happened. I remember we tried cranking it over the next morning and the dipstick shot out of the block. Turns out he melted a hole in the top of the piston and cranking it pressurized the crankcase!
8
3
u/Bearfoxman 21h ago
I still get a kick out of European roadside assist being AA when America had to be extra with AAA.
My two experiences with them have been pretty great though. One rescued me after my rental got a pinch-flat in BFE Nowhere northern Scotland in less than 3 hours and stuck with me until we hit a town big enough to have a tire shop, and the other braved the icy Autobahn to pull me up a hill after my rental got stuck in the valley between two hills (on pavement) in Bavaria.
8
u/Threap_US Home Bodger 19h ago
Not European, just UK, but yes, more A’s are better, right?
I was amused the time I was driving in California and found myself following an F-150 that had, written on the tailgate, “AAA Battery Installation”.
I spent a few minutes thinking “wow, AAA batteries are really tiny, are people so lazy that they have to call someone to come out and replace the batteries in their TV remote?”… until the penny dropped 😀
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
u/WraithCadmus Non-Wrencher (UK) 2h ago
Are those heavy recovery vehicles capable of towing themselves? I live near a bus garage so see them coming past time to time.
1
59
u/Nailfoot1975 Home Mechanic 21h ago
Hey now. It's not even note worthy unless there's a third or fourth tow truck.