Don't do this to your car

[Rob Z]

I think almost everyone saw the now famous picture of the car with a broken axle that was leaving the H*** D**** in Waldorf, MD. I think it was a VW Jetta (or something similar) , and it had numerous sheets of plywood and 2x4's on the roof, along with 1,000 lbs of concrete mix in the back seat. Maybe Cami or Dave can find it and post it here for the anyone that didn't see it.

Well, in the past week I saw two close competitors to the VW Jetta. The first was a mid 80's Chevy Cavalier wagon, with the interior completely packed with building materials. The only open space was for the driver. On the roof was a stack of plywood and drywall that was about a foot high. The thing that made this most interesting was the white cast iron bathtub on top of the plywood! :D this car had so much squat in the rear that the muffler was trailing sparks. I liked to know how that guy got the 350 lb tub off the roof when he got home, assuming it actually made it. :)

The second event was at one of my favorite H*** D****. I came out with my lumber, and the guy next to me had 12 pieces of 4'x12' drywall (I counted them) on the roof rack of a mid sized station wagon. At about 2 lbs per square foot, that was about 1,000 lbs on the luggage rack. After I got in my truck, he came out of the store with the rest of his materials...about a dozen rolls of insulation. You may be wondering what he used to secure this load? I acted like I was doing some paperwork in my truck, because I really had to see this one.

Our fearless drywaller pulled out about 25' of that thick kite string that is usually found at the front of the store. Yes, he tied down the load with that thin string.

:D

[Sponsored Links]

[Cami A]

Rob, you really need to start bringing your camera with you. :D:D:D

[Rob Z]

Cami

When you work by yourself, ya gotta find entertainment anywhere it presents itself. There are no office co- workers to share good jokes with.

:D

[Cami A]

And if you had a camera it would almost be like having us all in the truck with you....only not so crowded. ;)

[John K]

Unbelieveable. The funny thing, Rob. These goons have actually been hired by someone. If it was me doing that, I would have every cop in the county on me..:D

John K

[Sonnie Layne]

Funny Rob!!! I mean, we've all been guilty of over-loading, but the station wagon thingy... I'm surprised the luggage rack held up.

Now, I have a confession to make... no not load, but about as bad. For all the years I've been painting, I've managed to keep my '90 F-150 Lariat pretty nice, at least as far as paint goes. Last week I was contracted by a local kitchen installer to "fix" two jobs. Both had doors/carcasses/trim that didn't match the rest. I told him it'd save him some money if he'd get the mfg. to ship the appropriate finishes in. They did, I'm riding around with all 8 cans of stuff on the shelf in the back of the truck. When I was through with the second one, I tossed everything on the back and drove off only to find that when I got home, I hadn't secured the lid on one can and it, of course was the only one that fell off the shelf!

All over the tailgate, flooded down over half my bumper and I'm sure left a trail of white down the tollway. Now I know why no one was tailgating me :). This would typically not be a problem, except this one can was epoxy that I had already added the catalyst to. :(

This may be a good time to paint my truck :)

Oh well, at least I can! If I can find a nice clean place to do it. (another nice thing about CO2 bottles, you can fire up anywhere) ;)

[John Bridge]

Cami,

Rob can't work a scanner. How do you suppose he would ever be able to handle something as complex as a camera? :D

[Rob Z]

Sonnie :mad: Bummer! :(

BTW, the luggage rack was crushing into the sheet metal on the top of the car (I checked :D)

John K
I have a ladder rack on my van that is manufacturer rated at about a zillion pounds, I have a rider on my business liability policy to cover me if something I am carrying falls off the roof, I have heavy duty tie downs to secure a load, AND still I am afraid to put too much of there. You're right, if you or I did anything like that, we would end up explaining things to The Law along the side of the road. :eek:

John B
Okay smart guy...I'll get Christina to hook it up sometime just to make you be quiet. I COULD do it, I just DON'T WANT to do it. :D


Cami
It would take a big big big vehicle to fit this crew. :)

[IBJT]

I was working in Detroit, would have been about 1978. I stopped a truck at about 2 am on, I-75 just south of Davison, because he was going too slowly. Upon closer examination it was a wonder he was going at all. His load consisted of several sheets of slab steel. From his bill{s} of the lading the total weight of his load was more than 360,000 pounds. The tires on his trailer were flattened out on the bottom.

Normally I would have had him weighed and prosecuted. The City of Detroit had jurisdiction and would not send a weigh master out at 2 am. My supervisor, declined to call in the state weigh master. :mad:

The Davison Freeway had been under construction was almost done, yet not open to traffic yet. We escorted him to the unopened road, and made him off load until he was legal. It took three additional trucks to make it right. I can't remember now if we wrote him up or not. I know he didn't go to court.

Not long after that the Michigan Public Service Commission, was merged into the State Police. We could then call somebody who cared when we got heavy trucks. :D

[Sonnie Layne]

JT, do you have a card I can spit out of my wallet next time I'm in trouble ;) ?

No, never mind, seems that you were the hard-arse in the case at hand... ;)

sounds like you had an all night stop on that one, to have to weight (PI) for all that help to arrive.

[Bud Cline]

OK guys top this.....http://www.humboldt1.com/~dspreen/ficom/images/truckload3.jpg

Notice the napping driver.:)

[flatfloor]

Getting the tub off the roof is easy, untie all strings then accelerate gradually up the driveway then slam on brakes. (make sure the garage door is open). :D

[Harry]

I'm amazed .... that load would probably even bottom out my Chevy pick-up.

[Rob Z]

Good work, Bud! :)

[IBJT]

That photo is a doozie!
:)

[Ron]

Wow.You'd think that the picture is staged.Wow. :) that's just plain moronic.

[RandyL]

That really must be just a joke cus no one can be that stupid. Thats unbelievable.

[flatfloor]

I have seen that picture before, if I remember correctly there is a legitimate newspaper article that goes with it.

[Bud Cline]

It's legit, I went and borrowed it from flooringinstaller.com where it turned up about a year ago.:)

[drew]

Probably sleepin it off, cuz he musta been drunk to load that!! Got to agree with folks, if I tried that, johnny law would have had me before I got out of the driveway. Looks like he'd been to Lowes, judging from the blue sided osb, got him a couple of the 20 something idiots that work there to help him tie it down.

[Rob Z]

New ones to add to the list: :D


Yesterday, in Potomac, Maryland....a friend got stuck in traffic for two hours because a guy ahead of him hit and knocked down power wires with his ladder. It looked like it was a 32' ladder, tied to the tailgate of a Toyota Tacoma pickup, with the rest of the ladder up over the cab. We don't know just how high this thing was up above the truck, but it was high enough to hit the wires. Nice!

Today, at a building supply store in a "less affluent" section of the Nation's Capitol, we saw two HUGE guys crawl out of an ancient Chevy S10 pickup, load up 20 94 pound bags of portland along with all their tools. The truck squatted so much that the trailer hitch was throwing sparks going down the road.

Same visit, same store....the guy in line ahead of us rolls out of the checkout with about 100 2x4x10's. The vehicle to carry these? A Honda Accord. About 2/3 of them went in the trunk, with the rear seat down, sticking way out the back of the car. The rest were put in the sunroof, angling FORWARD, sticking about 6 feet above the car.:rofl:

[Bri]

...so...you made it to the job ok Rob?;) :shades:

[Rob Z]

Unfortunately...I was looking for any excuse to skip working today. :o

[Stoneguy]

When you sell stone for a living, you see people (stupidly) overloading vehicles almost daily.
The most moronic in recent memory was the guy in his rangerover/landrover/somethinglikethatrover/machomobile and a go to hell landscaper trailer.
He came in just before closing on a friday a few weeks back.
He went down in the yard & had an operator fill up his trailer with gravel, a small 3/8" river gravel.
I saw him as he pulled onto the scale on his way out. When he put on the brakes to stop on the scale, the trailer pushed the rover about 6' before it came to a stop, all 4 wheels barking.
I gave the guy my standard warning about overloading, safety, yadda yadda yadda, & Mr Macho insisted that he hauls this much "all the time on this trailer".
He paid for his gravel, over 4 tons IIRC, and headed out onto the main drag.
About 5 minutes later, traffic had come to a crawl. One of my employees, who had left for home moments after Mr Macho departed, then radioed in on the Nextel.
Mr Macho, the Rover, & the trailer full of gravel were up on the median strip not more than 1/4 mile from the yard. He apparently had to stop for the red light, & the load of stone on the trailer was WAY to much for his Rover to handle.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt, no other vehicles involved. Just Mr Macho standing on the median strip talking to the cops, waving his arms around.
I would have loved to hear that discussion.

I try to stress on all my employees that there are many stupid people who try to overload their vehicles, & that I would like them to use good judgement in loading vehicles appropriately. It works most times, but sometimes a customer will convince my employees to overload.
I had another meeting with the yard staff regarding overloading vehicles the following morning.

David

[Rob Z]

David :D Good one!

I was at Sisler's Stone and Gravel in Falls Church, VA a year or two ago, and there was a guy getting almost an entire scoop of sand loaded into a plywood box that was built on the roof of his van. Just the turn down the driveway out onto the street looked as if the van was going to roll.


I'm sure you have seen it all!

[Stoneguy]

And then there's the Cadilacs & Lincolns that put about a ton's worth of gravel bags in the trunk.

or the f150's with a 3000 lb pallet

or the guy in a jaguar shoveling loose gravel into the trunk LOL:bang: I guess he can't afford to pay the extra price of buying it in bags

and how many times have we loaded a 6' long, or more, marble shelf or vanity in a car, perching it on the reclined passenger seat. It touches the floor, then the headrest, then the top of the back seat. A few loose items laying around in the car, coats, kleenex boxes, spare shoes, etc, get jammed under it in the middle of the seat and the customer says "Oh, I'm sure it will be fine". I always cringe when my advice for alternative transport method is scoffed off, and away they go.

3' x 3' x 2" hunk of flagstone slid onto someone's leather seats.

It goes on & on & on:( :( :( :(

[Stoneguy]

Originally posted by Rob Zschoche
David :D Good one!

I was at Sisler's Stone and Gravel in Falls Church, VA a year or two ago, and there was a guy getting almost an entire scoop of sand loaded into a plywood box that was built on the roof of his van. Just the turn down the driveway out onto the street looked as if the van was going to roll.




Hey, why didn't JB come to my yard & buy his sand?
:D :D

[Davy]

Last weekend I went to finish up a small job in Dallas. I noticed the people across the street doing yard work. Alittle while later a brand new white Cady (still had the cardboard dealer license plate) backed in the driveway, rearend real low to the ground. The guy got out and started to unload sod out of the trunk.:)

[Rob Z]

Davy

:D

[flatfloor]

You expect him to use the Rolls? :D

[cx]

Allegedly true story:

Was an old guy (maybe even older than flatfloor) out in west Texas maybe twenty five or thirty years ago who was inna all field service bidness. A relative, who was inna all bidness, too, died and left a substantial estate. To this particular fella was left a sure-nuff Rolls Royce Limo.

Well, everybody he knew was tellin' him what a fine piece of equipment this car was and how he should prolly sell it on accounta he really had no use for such a vehicle, which he agreed was true enough.

What he did need, however was a really good, reliable service truck. So he chopped the back off the Rolls and installed a utility bed and made him one damn fine service truck, air conditioned and all.

Did not require a comany logo onna side for recognition. :D

[flatfloor]

CX, you don't have to worry about gettin older than me. pssst, Vinny http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/sauer/angry-smiley-044.gif

[jjwq8]

THis isn't by way of going one better, but this is true.

When I arrived in Q8 in '78 I was gob smacked to see a non-standard standard taxi in the line up outside the airport arrivals. Painted the same horrible orange, with the same awful welded roof bar carrying the usual busted taxi sign. It was replete with the normal number of dings and scratches that I was to learn went with such vehicles, and included thick sheepskin covers on the seats. the cabbie would haul anything inside his cab including fauna.

Seems he had a major beef with the agency who had charged him for something that he deemed fixable under warranty. Given that it was a '77 model year auto my money is on the cabbie.

Seems the argument got to the point of no return and the cabbie took out an ad in the local paper explaining that until he received a written apology from the agent, by then the money was no longer the main issue, for the insults visited upon the integrity of the cabbie, who came from a very well known local family, said vehicle would be painted up, kitted out and utilized as a taxi, coz the cabbie deemed the agency were treating his valued custom at that level.

And that ladies and gentlemen is why Q8 had the worlds only Rolls Royce Silver Shadow II taxi plying its streets.

Now somewhere I have a collection of photos of trucks and assorted vehicles in varying states of disrepair, dismemberment, and massive overloading.

Record to date, a Type 1924 Mercedes Tipper truck with a bearing shaft and generator motor assembly for an oil gathering station in the skip. Truck rated at 40 tons all up. Gear in the skip. 85 tons.

And it had a police escort!

[Sonnie Layne]

David,

Formerly I worked in the landscape biz and we sold a LOT of sod. One gentleman came in like 6weeks in a row in his Caddy. Have the guys cover all the seats and trunk with plastic and hand load a pallet of sod. Countless were the times when someone would come in with a pickup, buy two pallets of sod. While taking their money, prior to loading, I'd explain the weight. Some weeks were much worse than others due to moisture or thickness of the sod. 3000 lb was not unusal.

So, then I get on the forklift or Spider, load the first, move it forward to transfer the weight. I look, they look, I ask, they say go ahead, put the second one on. How many times did I wish I had some kind of release form for them to sign!!! Then the guy with the 4x8 utility trailer from Home Depot... took him all of about 20 yards to bust the axle. His intention was to haul it 25 miles to his house.

[jjwq8]

Sonnie,
Tis a well known fact amongst mechanics hereabouts locally termed DOCTORS!!!!! :eek: - that axles are for the sole purpose of keeping the wheels apart. Load is an irrelevancy. We are trying to export this self evident truth. It seems that we are achieving a measure of success in the States at least. :D

[flatfloor]

Jeremy looks like your neighbor didn't get the message! :D

http://www3.utsidan.se/corax-e/photos%20older/nomad.JPG

[jjwq8]

Neighbours don't got bactrians. theyz mean sumbiches. bight, spit and all. And the saliva carries spirochetes for syphilis, so kissing one can be a real dodgy proposition. :eek:

[flatfloor]

Tell me about it. When I was 14 years old I was a Camel driver.

[jjwq8]

So that is really a self portrait huh Jim???? :D

[jjwq8]

And this just in from the same source as the Bill of Non Rights. Traffic roolz for the Gulf. I understand that Boston has mutatis mutandis, pretty much the same set.

1. It is expressly forbidden for any Muslim to attempt to guide his vehicle by handling the steering wheel, as this would demonstrate a lack of faith and trust in Allah's guidance.

2. At certain junctions lanes are provided for right turns and U-turns. These lanes are also to help you reach the front of a queue.

3. It is a serious offence to drive past an accident. All drivers should stop and get out of their cars. If possible, block at least one carriageway to ensure that people behind (who may be unaware of this rule) stop as well.

4. All cars should have steering wheels. Non-Muslims are advised to use these to guide their vehicles. Muslims, under Allah's protection, are advised to use them as a seat for small children, affording the children the same protection, in the front of the car, as the driver. The back seat should only be used for adult females, animals and any children in excess of the maximum six allowed in the front.

5. Traffic lights are operated, automatically, by sound sensors, so all drivers should use their horns liberally at light-controlled junctions. Above all please remember they are for ex patriots only. Nationals are exempt.

6. At prayer times, drivers should attempt to block roads near mosques as a signal to devout motorists that it is time to enter the mosque.

7. Females and animals are not permitted to drive, as attempting to reach the pedals from the back seat could prove hazardous.

8. When shopping, it is an offence to park more than twenty meters from the shop you intend to use. In upholding this rule, one should not block more than three cars in.

9. There are three permissible driving modes:
i. Drivers travelling at the speed limit should not deviate from the middle lane.
ii. Drivers travelling in excess of the speed limit should weave from lane to lane so that their average speed in any lane is less than the limit. For example, on a three-lane carriageway in an 80 kph zone, drivers should not exceed 240 kph, and if approaching this speed should spend one third of their time in each lane.
iii. Drivers wishing to travel slower than the speed limit spend many more hours on the road than those above, and should therefore weave from lane to lane in order to ensure that wear and tear on the road surface is equal in all lanes. Should two drivers be in this mode of travel, one has probably broken down, but, if not, there is no need to weave, just ensure the right and left lanes are being used.

10. When travelling at night, it is an offence to drive with a low battery. If you are in doubt, and can see where you are going, (in the case of Muslims if Allah can see where you are going), it is a good idea to turn off your lights to give the battery a chance to recharge.

11. To help save our world's resources, it is an offence to change tires with any wear left in them.

12. If you are involved in an accident with a National it is your fault. If you are involved in an accident with a Pakistani it is his fault. If you are involved in an accident with a Yemeni, wait for the police to arrive to claim your reward.

13. One should endeavour to collect as many dents and rust patches on one's car as possible, as the Nationals regard these as a sign of an experienced driver.

14. Whilst the use of indicators is entirely optional, one should note that, although it is customary to drive on the right (as in America), XXX has adopted the British signalling system. A turn to the passenger's side is indicated by a left signal and a turn to the driver's side is indicated by a right signal.

15. New cars must display a garage price tag for at least one year in order to show how wealthy the owner is.

16. It is an offence to drive with crooked headgear. All mirrors in cars should be set ready for the driver to adjust his headgear at an opportune moment.

17. The XXX authorities have wisely decided to paint broken white lines on some roads. Always ensure the centre of your car bonnet is placed over these lines on straight roads. At roundabouts, one must cross all broken white lines at least twice.

18. When entering roundabouts, always remember the bigger the vehicle the higher the priority.

19. When overtaking, it is customary for friendly drivers behind to flash their lights. This is a polite gesture, which signifies that they are in no hurry and that the lane is 'yours'. Make the most of this, as should you move over they might well be offended.

[Sonnie Layne]

the centre of your objections have been so noted. Clever verbage. That's not to be taken that I admit that I either adhere or withdraw from your statements. I remain receptive to all trains and every measure (lucky me?).

As long as it amuses me.

With my best regards to you and those that mean most to you, I remain,

Truly,

Sonnie

[tileguytodd]

Well now,finally,an explanation as to why so many Muslims tried to run roadblocks.Obviously it was Muhammeds fault ;)
Dont ya just wonder about them back seat drivers ;)

[jjwq8]

Todd, you are missing the point.

They don't try to run roadblocks.

That would require them to recognize them in the first place. :D