The trip down there was rather uneventful. My dad and I went and we borrowed my sister's Chev 3/4 ton 4x4 extended cab. We knew this would tow the car just fine because my sister tows a 4 place horse trailer with horses all the time.
The drive took 15 hours. We left at 8 pm on Friday, Feb 6 and arrived at the car at 11:30 am Sat Feb 7. We looked at the car for 15 or 20 minutes and decided it looked like a good buy. We had seen a lot of pictures that the seller sent us, so we had a very good idea of what to expect.
We went to the local U-Haul place to pick up the tow dolley. They could not find our reservation in the computer and did not have a tow dolley. We ended up getting a car trailer, which we actually felt more comfortable with anyway.
Loading up the car in the pouring rain was fun. We just pushed the car down the driveway and right onto the trailer backwards. After tightening it down and signing some papers, we took a few pictures and we were on our way.
The car is loaded
We got to Grants Pass after dark and it was snowing pretty good. There were trucks parked everywhere installing chains. We put the truck in 4 wheel drive and chugged on over without a problem. On the way down, I had dad pull over under a street light and I hopped out and snapped a couple pictures.
It's snowing!!
We were getting close to Ashland, OR and the transmission started slipping. It suddenly got very bad and I looked in the mirror and there was thick smoke behind us. I pulled over quickly and hopped out. I could see a glow under the truck and there was a fire. I popped the hood open the see what was on fire. I still had the Coke I was drinking in my hand, so I poured it on the fire while my dad got some water bottles from the cooler. So there we were, on the side of the road on a hill, my dad on one side of the truck and me on the other. Both of us with a water bottle in hand throwing water on the oil fire under the truck. We are lucky that we did not make things worse. The fire went out though.
Of course, this particular spot that we stopped at was in a Cellular dead zone. A couple hundred yards to the top of the hill and my phone might have had a signal. the CB in the truck did not work either. We think the antenna is bad or something. Fortunately, only 15 minutes went by and a State Trooper stopped and called for a tow truck. 1 hour later we were being hooked up, truck and trailer, and on the way to Ashland. He dropped the truck and trailer at the U-Haul place in Ashland and we spent the night at the motel next door. The tow truck driver called the operator of that place and he said he would come in at 9am and rent us a truck.
So, we left the pickup there and rented a truck to tow the car and trailer. On the road again and approaching Roseburg, OR and driver pulls up next to us and points back. I look in the mirror and see smoke on the right side. I pull over and we hop out and on of the tires on the trailer had blown and shredded. There was an exit a couple hundred yards up, so I limped it up there and pulled off. We called the U-Haul emergency number and they dispatched a tire company to come out and install a new tire. The sun was out, so we took more pictures of the car while waiting. We put the top down for the first time and rummaged around inside to see what we got.
Ugh! Flat tire!
After that, the trip was uneventful the rest of the way home.