FillMarr
Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2016
- Messages
- 50
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 8
- Vehicle Year
- 2007
- Make / Model
- Ford ranger xlt
- Engine Type
- 4.0 V6
- Transmission
- Automatic
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Tire Size
- 255/70/16
It was supposed to be a great day.
I took my clean ranger -- which I just lifted Thursday with doetsch tech 3" spindles -- out for a day trip. I drove 4 hours total, and then ended up breaking down about 5 miles from home.
That's not the story. The story is that was a Boston state trooper interfered with my situation before AAA arrived. He didn't say much, just approached and told me he needed to push my car down the road because I was in an unsafe area (I was not). He asked me to put the car in neutral, and ended up bashing both the rear corners/fenders of my truck with his bumper bar. He was coming at me from an angle. After noticing that, he jumped out of his car, saw the damage, said "no damage there", got scared, then drove off and left me on a very highly trafficked street in downtown south Boston having said he would have to send another trooper. It's no wonder they are closing down that barracks for corruption.... Below are the pics.
A second cop arrived but refused to write a police report because "I didn't have the first officer's license plate number". I immediately had our tow driver take me and the wife to the state police barracks to get them to write a report. The guy at the desk told me to come back and talk with a detective in the morning....so I'll be doing that in a few hours.
Fortunately, the bashing happened right near the T stop, and according to local papers Homeland Security recently installed 50 cameras there. Hopefully that footage doesn't "get lost".
Any life advice here is appreciated. As for mechanical tips for my notes as to why the truck broke down are also appreciated.
1. Halfway through the day, I noticed my power steering felt more difficult than usual. I couldn't decided if it had always felt like that since installing the new spindles. I took a quick look behind the wheels, the steering rack, didn't see anything, ignored it.
2. On the highway, the battery warning light suddenly pings on for 5 seconds and the battery gauge needle dips down then returns to normal. This happened a few times over the next 15 minutes. Then the lights started to dim, we pulled off at the next exit, and the truck died at the intersection at the bottom of the exit ramp.
3. After being towed, the AAA guy jumped my car to help me get a window up. Amazingly, the car started right up and he said the alternator read as "charging". I ran the car by itself for about 10 more minutes, no issues. The battery is from advanced auto and is about 5 years old but hasn't had many issues. The fan belt is new, intact, and the alternator pully was spinning fine.
4. Under the hood, I could see the power steering cap popped open a little bit and had sprayed to the left side of the car -- on the fuse box, etc. The fluid level was about an 1.5" lower than usual. Maybe this is from steering the car while it was off?
5. At one point, my wife and I switched to steer the truck while the cop pushed us up the road. The car was still in park when he started to push . The car went about 10 feet in park, ending in a loud pop (that's when the cop left). The parking gear still seems to be working, as the tow driver and I tested it on the back of his truck after.
Thanks for listening/for any help guys.....now to go to bed.
I took my clean ranger -- which I just lifted Thursday with doetsch tech 3" spindles -- out for a day trip. I drove 4 hours total, and then ended up breaking down about 5 miles from home.
That's not the story. The story is that was a Boston state trooper interfered with my situation before AAA arrived. He didn't say much, just approached and told me he needed to push my car down the road because I was in an unsafe area (I was not). He asked me to put the car in neutral, and ended up bashing both the rear corners/fenders of my truck with his bumper bar. He was coming at me from an angle. After noticing that, he jumped out of his car, saw the damage, said "no damage there", got scared, then drove off and left me on a very highly trafficked street in downtown south Boston having said he would have to send another trooper. It's no wonder they are closing down that barracks for corruption.... Below are the pics.
A second cop arrived but refused to write a police report because "I didn't have the first officer's license plate number". I immediately had our tow driver take me and the wife to the state police barracks to get them to write a report. The guy at the desk told me to come back and talk with a detective in the morning....so I'll be doing that in a few hours.
Fortunately, the bashing happened right near the T stop, and according to local papers Homeland Security recently installed 50 cameras there. Hopefully that footage doesn't "get lost".
Any life advice here is appreciated. As for mechanical tips for my notes as to why the truck broke down are also appreciated.
1. Halfway through the day, I noticed my power steering felt more difficult than usual. I couldn't decided if it had always felt like that since installing the new spindles. I took a quick look behind the wheels, the steering rack, didn't see anything, ignored it.
2. On the highway, the battery warning light suddenly pings on for 5 seconds and the battery gauge needle dips down then returns to normal. This happened a few times over the next 15 minutes. Then the lights started to dim, we pulled off at the next exit, and the truck died at the intersection at the bottom of the exit ramp.
3. After being towed, the AAA guy jumped my car to help me get a window up. Amazingly, the car started right up and he said the alternator read as "charging". I ran the car by itself for about 10 more minutes, no issues. The battery is from advanced auto and is about 5 years old but hasn't had many issues. The fan belt is new, intact, and the alternator pully was spinning fine.
4. Under the hood, I could see the power steering cap popped open a little bit and had sprayed to the left side of the car -- on the fuse box, etc. The fluid level was about an 1.5" lower than usual. Maybe this is from steering the car while it was off?
5. At one point, my wife and I switched to steer the truck while the cop pushed us up the road. The car was still in park when he started to push . The car went about 10 feet in park, ending in a loud pop (that's when the cop left). The parking gear still seems to be working, as the tow driver and I tested it on the back of his truck after.
Thanks for listening/for any help guys.....now to go to bed.
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