well, is it better than the subaru RIP????

Note to all that when suffering from radiator problems it is most wise to take radiator cap off so that pressure does not build in system and blow temporary seals of duct tape etc.

Nice work on the limp home. Next time buy a Toyota Landcruiser. Good for 20 years with very little maintainence, diesel though, no spark plugs to worry about and way cheap to run.

we procured yet more water and a roll of duct tape. The duct tape did a marvelous job (better than cloth tape)

Never fear! I'm sure dingus will show up to cheer you up with his Invincible Jeep story, provided of course you purchased one with the correct engine, built in the small factory in tennessee, was either black or red, and had a serial number ending in an even number. If you did, you're golden.

(standing on one leg with fingers crossed so I don't jinx myself by saying that)

Did that work for you? Oops, I will just refer back to the original post for that answer..... 8^) OK, that was mean spirited of me. We are now even... Don't hate me cuz I'm beautiful too!

-DD-

Alternate title: The Grape Escape
--Vol. 297 of Misadventures as Experienced from the Passenger Seat, a series by Hillary D.--

Welcome to the latest installment of Misadventures as Experienced from the Passenger Seat. The car in this case is a 1995 Heap Cherokee that sucks a big fat Texas Wal-Mart patron's ass (and yes, I have been in a Texas Wal-Mart). It's an unreliable, uncomfortable vehicle, but Alex reasons that it's okay, because we got it for cheap, and parts are common, easy to find, and inexpensive. Coincidence?

In the past year and 3 months that we've had the Heap, we have been saddled with a blown radiator, a broken fan, a dead starter, shredded transmission lines, a broken computer, several blown tires, 2 bad spindles, a driver's-side door that can only be closed by rolling down the window a bit and pulling it shut with your hand over the top of the glass, and DAMMIT, my cup holder broke. The thing is constantly making mystery rattling and/or clunking sounds, the windshield always meets up with flying pebbles, and it overheats way too much. Most of our epics happen when we're on climbing trips.

Last night, at about midnight in the desolate, hilly desert between JTree and the AZ border, smoke and foul odors come from the hood. (we were actually in LA earlier, not JTree, btw) We pull over and find a rip in the radiator hose. Not a huge problem but turns into one at midnight in the middle of nowhere. We had a roll of climbing tape and about a quarter of a gallon of water, plus my mini jug of grape gatorade. Alex desparately patches the rip with climbing tape and hydrates the car with all of our liquids, including my grape drinky! Wah! We limped around on the water+ gatorade for oh, 5 miles tops before it started threatening us again. But luckily, we found a highway patrolman who gave us enough water to limp to a rest stop, where we cooled the beast and got more water. Then we carefully rode the broken Heap into Blythe, where we procured yet more water and a roll of duct tape. The duct tape did a marvelous job (better than cloth tape) and got us to Phoenix at 4 a.m., where we were able to "bivy" at my mom's house. Shortly, we will have a new hose put in and finally be back in Tucson. 7 hour drive to LA my ass! Alex was a good MacGyver yet again, and we lived, and the Heap will be resurrected. So we're plenty lucky. I just like to b----.

I think it's time I teach my husky how to pull a sled...

Interestingly enough, at the end of the whole epic, we gimp into my mom's driveway to see an hours-old GMC Sierra, personally driven to their house by a Showcase Chevrolet goon, on the occasion of my brother's 18th birthday. You know they were puking the whole way over, knowing they were delivering a brand new truck to a rich kid who had to be woken up by his mom at noon to get his $20k present. The Jeep vomited some filthy stinking anti-freeze and engine-crud liquid on their driveway, and mommy asks if it'll stain the driveway. But if I sound hostile, I'm really not. I know I have no occasion to be. I think it's funny though, almost scripted comedy.

Maybe they hate me for the EIGHT years it took to graduate from college?

Lower radiator hose blew on my beeotch. 7pm. On a Sunday. Thank God for AAA+.

http://www.coastal4wdhire.com.au/...ndcruiser78troop.jpg

Diesel Troop Carriers rool. Best road trippin vehicle on the planet.

Hey! I gotchyer Jeep horror story right here.

Mine has about 230k on it... needs a bit of body work though:

http://img196.imageshack.us/...62917r104420a1cq.jpg