Part 3: The hook.
A trailer?
"Sorry I'm late, but I thought this would be the safest way to bring the jeep out". The seller had slinked out of a large truck with a huge Fastwax logo on it. He introduced himself as being the owner of the company. The inside of the truck was a bit of a mess, and the three who got out had clearly had one hell of a bender the night before.
I really was about to walk, but we came so far that I figured I might as well take a look. So I started crawling under and around. The frame was nicely plated. I tugged on the suspension, and found no play anywhere. The tires looked brand new. The paint looked good. Under the hood I found a clean engine. I popped off the radiator cap, stuck my finger deep under the rim and came back without any goo. I felt the block and she was dead cold, the oil had enough color that it was not brand new, but no bad signs and no bad smells.
Okay, well I'm still a little skeptical, but this is actually not looking too bad. I asked him to start it up and his mechanic who was with him jumped to and started to point out this and that. He turned the key and the Edelbrock fuel injection sprang to life and it started and idled perfectly. Hmmm, I have to admit I was encouraged. Still, it was time for a ride, so me and the mechanic jumped in. Up and down the street, we did not miss a beat. This Jeep ran without a hitch. We got back about 18-20 minutes later, the engine was fully up to temp and I was back to being in love with the Jeep. So what if the seller was a flake, he had barely owned it.
So we did the deal right there in the parking lot. It was about 2 in the afternoon and I had wanted to be outside of Moab that night. We were late, and we had a storm coming. The seller knew full well that I planned to drive it home, but suddenly started warning me that I should really think about shipping it home because those tires were really not for winter. I had already researched the Mickey Thompson mts and while not the perfect snow tire, many guys had run them in snow and liked them. We were going.
Before we left it was a 5 minute ride down the street to the hardware store where we shopped for 30 minutes and picked up a shovel, some oil, antifreeze, tools and other odds and ends just in case. Next, I asked Siri to find the tire store that had the chains. We went up and down the street 5 or six times, it turns out the map had pinned the wrong location. Eventually I figured it out and a couple miles down the road we found the store. Chaos ensues as we burn another 45 minutes as the tire store tried to find the chains they had promised to hold. It's past 3:30 and we still have many miles ahead of us, and the sun is going to start sinking. The roads are currently in good shape, so I decide we are better off getting across the mountains out of Durango that day, than wait and get snowed in. We will have better luck finding chains in Moab anyway.
Back in the Jeep, we hit the highway out of town. It's going up a hill right from the get go and to make matters worse, above about 50 she is a bit to handle on the compact snow though traction is fine, the alignment is clearly out. I note that the temp gauge is not reading correctly, and make a mental note that we should add that to the list for the next parts store. The transmission gauge is working, but I'm not sure what that should be running. I'm simply trying to take stock of what is reading what, so I can later use that as a point of reference. Going up the hill at 45-55, I'm right between gears on the th350, revving high and then low, rinse, repeat. Every time she shifts, I have to steady the wheel. Somewhere in the back of my mind the figure 1,200 miles keeps registering. I've gone about ten miles and its two handed driving. We push on. We get to the first small crest and get to coast a bit before the next climb. I note that the transmission temp has not stabilized yet, but is pushing towards 200 degrees. Hmmm, make a mental note as to when that stabilizes, after all were just going up and up. As we get to the top of the first incline I also note the first mini ski area. I wish we had time to stop and take a few pictures, but our precious daylight is burning. As I turn to say something to my father in law, our eyes suddenly meet with a strange glance. Did you just hear that? "I thought I felt a miss, was it just the road?"
"Kack!"
"Ka-Ka-Kack"
I turn and look again and in an instant I proclaim that we are turning around. Luckily, there is room to do this in the middle of the road and right round we go. No discussion. No second guess. Soon we are back to the recreation area and I pull off. Just as I come to a stop, the jeep dies completely.
With no small amount of disbelief I call the sellers number, he does not answer so I leave a message. "Hey, my Jeep just died and I'm only 15 miles out of town, what's going on?"
Sitting there, we realize that the sun is almost down and we are sitting on the side of a mountain, in winter. Suddenly our adventure did not seem so bright. I tried the ignition and she started. I did not even think twice and got her on the road. One mile down the road and it was downhill the rest of the way back to Durango. She died three more times going down the hill. The steering would get stiff and the hydro boost, I learned quickly was only good for a couple presses before she was terribly hard to stop. Each time she would start, she would run worse and worse. With perseverance we made it to the bottom of the hill and the end of the highway. Luck saw the traffic light green as we got off the highway and right back to the parking lot we had departed from. I came to a stop in a parking spot and the Jeep died, but for the first time would not start.
We felt fortunate to be back to relative safety. I picked up my phone and noted I had a message from the seller. Playing it back, I heard the following "I don't know what's wrong with YOUR Jeep", with a snickering emphasis on the word your. I had been had, hook line and sinker.
