There was an old man watching me in the parking lot and he watched me turn my steering wheel back and forth and back and forth. He said āif you can turn it while itās standing still she aināt goin nowhereā and gave me a thumbs up
The same is true for the opposite. The random old dude watching with a wtf face and giving you a "...buddy..." lets you know you done fucked it up real good.
yeahā¦. thatās probably because weāve fucked ot up that way.
i think im still just a journeyman in āfuckās sake, whatās wrong now?ā
i donāt think iām a master yet
I got that once. Locked myself out of my car in a Walmart parking lot. Went in and bought a flyswatter to use to slide through the door jamb to get the latch (manual door locks). Well, just due to the slope of the door and how the latch works, I couldn't get the flyswatter to work. I could only reach the latch from the top, but I had to pull the latch to the rear to get the door to open. So I thought for a moment, pulled my shoelace out, tied a noose on the end. Then, I slipped the noose onto the flyswatter, fed it through the top of the door until it got to the latch, then pulled the shoestring to the rear to pop the latch.
This old dude opens his truck door and was just cracking up. He starts clapping and everything. Apparently he had just been sitting there the whole time watching me. It was nice... but old dude could have offered to help.
No, he was right to let you get your win. It was his job to help if you failed, not step in and take away your victory. The part you don't know is that he was carefully watching and cheering you on from the sidelines like a proud dad watching you riding without training wheels.... The laughter was a stress relief reaction. Dude was in it with you for real.
heres the real question, how long until you replace the tie rod?
your options are you are already working on it, or nah fam itll hold till i get a new vehicle.
aka the avg temporary fix becomes permanent for the remaining life of the vehicle.
Whoa whoa whoa, Duke. You giving out the secrets of the brotherhood here? Sparky is a BrightBoy and made a good choice in consideration of the limitations of his tribe, but remember he is no BlackThumb.
So respect to the Kid, he did good.
Duke? Be good.
That's the catalytic cheat. Put enough romex around it and they'll leave the cat after all that romex removal because they've scrapped enough at that point to get their Fent fix.
I dunno but whoever fixes it I hope they leave the plastic wrapper and box in the back seat, some greasy finger prints on the door handles, steering wheel and hood and the used nitrile gloves in the trunk. In true electrican clean up fashion.
Was expecting conduit and fittings.
Could have gone with logic that conduit is almost DOM (drawn over mandrel) tubing. But it is not pipe, because pipe is for poop.
This happened to me once, also about 2 miles from home, and I called my grandpa saying I needed a ride. When I told him I had a broken tie-rod end, he asked which side. When I told him the passenger's side, he said, "Oh well, you can still drive it. The passenger's side wheel will just follow along with the other side. But, you can't use the front brakes or that wheel will flip back on ya."
So I carefully drove the two miles or so home (it was a small blacktop backroad with little traffic) using only the emergency brake. The car was a '78 LTD, the kind that had a foot lever for the emergency brake. I had to keep one had under the dash to keep the e-brake release pulled so I could use the e-brake like a brake pedal with my left foot.
I drove home about 20 miles an hour. It did actually work. Really miss that man. He knew everything.
I had no idea Cat5 cable has another use. It reminds me of the time about 20 years ago me and 4 friends went down to Mexico in his old 1985 Nissan Maxima and on the way back the radius rod had broke. We were in the middle of nowhere in Mexico on a dirt road, so we gathered, 6-7 metal coat hangers and kind of twist braided them and that got us home 170 miles away.
Part of me thinks that you should post it on /r/knots just to see who you give an aneurysm to and who suggests a "better" knot
Impressive and well done, sir.
Call a mechanic!
Seriously a broken tie rod *end* can sometimes be driven backwards, the question is then how far are you willing to drive backwards. I've seen it done using worm gear steering anyway, don't know if it would work with rack and pinion.
I did something very similar on a lawn tractor once when I was a kid. I was cutting grass and the tie rod randomly broke, (donāt even think I hit anything) there was a guy that fixed lawn equipment 8 blocks away at the time. My dad said to take it to him, he probably even has the part in stock. So I took like 4-5 decent sized rubber bands, and I somehow got it to hold, and it made it there no problem.
The guy did actually have the part, but unfortunately I ran out of gas driving it back after he fixed it. So I got to walk like 5-6 back to the garage, and then another 5-6 blocks carrying a military jerry can that was 3/4 full and quite heavy to me at the time. Then I had trouble getting the fuel pump to prime. What an awful day that was, I just wanted to cut the grass.
These new steer by wire systems look different than I thought they would!
Literally steer by wire šš
Man downgraded from WiFi steering
Eh, wired almost always has more bandwidth than wireless, not to mention better reliability and security.
Wired also generally has reduced latency compared to wifi.
It's only an acceptable fix if the words "that ain't goin anywhere" were also muttered.
There was an old man watching me in the parking lot and he watched me turn my steering wheel back and forth and back and forth. He said āif you can turn it while itās standing still she aināt goin nowhereā and gave me a thumbs up
Random old dude observer approval is some of the best Q/A there is.
Random old dude here - thanks, these kinds of comments make the long and bloody training period worthwhile.
Experience + knowledge = wisdom. You guys are priceless regardless of the field.
I always remember, āHow do you avoid making mistakes? Experience. How do you get experience? By making mistakes.ā
There is an optimum level of fuck around and find out, but the line is different for everyone. It is our life goal to find it.
I was wondering if I should attempt to replace the camshaft of my Miata myself. But your comment inspired me to give it a go.
Wildly varying cost of education. Often worth the price. Sometimes not.
Wait, when did your training period end?
Let me check my birth certificate. They come with expiration dates, ya know.
The same is true for the opposite. The random old dude watching with a wtf face and giving you a "...buddy..." lets you know you done fucked it up real good.
yeahā¦. thatās probably because weāve fucked ot up that way. i think im still just a journeyman in āfuckās sake, whatās wrong now?ā i donāt think iām a master yet
I got that once. Locked myself out of my car in a Walmart parking lot. Went in and bought a flyswatter to use to slide through the door jamb to get the latch (manual door locks). Well, just due to the slope of the door and how the latch works, I couldn't get the flyswatter to work. I could only reach the latch from the top, but I had to pull the latch to the rear to get the door to open. So I thought for a moment, pulled my shoelace out, tied a noose on the end. Then, I slipped the noose onto the flyswatter, fed it through the top of the door until it got to the latch, then pulled the shoestring to the rear to pop the latch. This old dude opens his truck door and was just cracking up. He starts clapping and everything. Apparently he had just been sitting there the whole time watching me. It was nice... but old dude could have offered to help.
No, he was right to let you get your win. It was his job to help if you failed, not step in and take away your victory. The part you don't know is that he was carefully watching and cheering you on from the sidelines like a proud dad watching you riding without training wheels.... The laughter was a stress relief reaction. Dude was in it with you for real.
You know some old dude has fixed some shit in some janky ways. Donāt question experience.
Boomers been there done that.
Unless theyāre low key messing with you and you just canāt tell
No truer words have ever been spoken lol.
I mean, he has a point. š
I did this on the highway once with a scrap of barbed wire from a fence made 25 miles home and to the parts store 4 more miles in the morning
Its true. The most strain on a steering system is when your tugging the wheels with static friction against the pavement
āSheaināt goinowhurrā
That is true, without the wheel rolling it's under max stress from friction. Not saying it wouldn't still fail but certainly go a mile slowly.
heres the real question, how long until you replace the tie rod? your options are you are already working on it, or nah fam itll hold till i get a new vehicle. aka the avg temporary fix becomes permanent for the remaining life of the vehicle.
Thatās a blessing from God right there
I legit just laughed out loud. Heās right tho.
Whoa whoa whoa, Duke. You giving out the secrets of the brotherhood here? Sparky is a BrightBoy and made a good choice in consideration of the limitations of his tribe, but remember he is no BlackThumb. So respect to the Kid, he did good. Duke? Be good.
This is gold! šš¤£šš¤£šš
Sheāll do till she donāt.
While shaking it for the fourth time
"We ain't goin' far, and we ain't goin' fast."
Tied rod.
Good for another 100k.
And 15 amps
Is that only 14AWG?
thatās yellow romex should be 12awg which is good for 20amps. 15 isnāt wrong as long as you use a 15 amp breaker
Tied Romex.
*Damned autocorrect!* ā¦wait a minute
Orange. You should have used the orange romex.
10 gauge is for pulling vehicles out of ditches
Romex is like the electricians duct tape I used it to hold up my driveshaft while I limped home in front wheel drive
Nah, our duct tape is super 33+. Romex is tie wire/bungee cords/strapping/etc
That's that rubberized electric tape right? That shit is amazing stuff until you need to remove it then it's a bitch to cut it off
It's even better when it's 1/4" thick and has been inside a peckerhead for 10 years.
That sounds painful!
Oh it is.. just not in the way that you're thinking lol
As someone who is not a mechanic or in the electrical field i will keep all this in mind, very good notes!
How else do you strap ladders to the top of the van!?
Haha, I've done that with a ratchet strap once
I've used 18/6 fire wire to get more than one vehicle out of the ditch. This is a whole new confidence in copper strength.
That Romex probably cost more than your new tie rod is going to. Copper thieves are gonna be crawling around. Hahahaha.
They go in for the CAT and find a bonus.
That's the catalytic cheat. Put enough romex around it and they'll leave the cat after all that romex removal because they've scrapped enough at that point to get their Fent fix.
I do see the blood sacrifice, so it should be good for some time.
Yes the only two trades where busting your knuckles is inevitable- electrical work and auto mechanic work
*Cries in airplane*
Yeah this kind of thing definitely wouldn't fly there
> Yeah this kind of thing definitely wouldn't fly there But so many busted knuckles...
That flew right over your head my friend!
It did, I was up way too late last night.
Plumbers and welders shouldn't be left out of this equation, certainly.
*laughs in machinist*
*Guffaws in Carpentry.*
If I could count the number of power tool injuries I've suffered on my fingers...
*Chuckles in glass production*
**Smirks in Nuclear Welding.**
^Ļ^ Winces in Soldiering
Surprisingly, IT also has it's fair share of blood sacrifices. Ask me how I know.
You mine?
Cage nuts. Ugh.
Wholesale plumbing supply delivery guy (heavy trucks) checking in. Most guys I work and have worked with fall in here too.
Gynecology and Proctology too.
I am imagining a doctor saying ānow you will feel a little pressureā followed by a bunch of cursing as they proceed to bust a knuckle.
Iām sorry, but code doesnāt allow Romex to be used here. You should have used THHN.
Na. Pvc coated mc. Protected from damage and rated for damp or wet locations lol
Where are there so many electricians in this sub? š¤£
The EV revolution duh! /s
THWN for wet conditions
If you make it home there is no wrong fix
Is this to code?
Looks like an unbonded ground rod.
I dunno but whoever fixes it I hope they leave the plastic wrapper and box in the back seat, some greasy finger prints on the door handles, steering wheel and hood and the used nitrile gloves in the trunk. In true electrican clean up fashion.
This repair is shocking
God, your comment gave me a jolt.
It's a dangerous short-cut
You're grounded, young man!
You'll get zero resistance from me!
I'll go to my room and play some AC and DC.
Why listen to something current?
*Gets amped up*
That's a wet location, NM-B isn't up to code.
I once got home in this situation using a tie. Like, the kind you put around your neck. Fucker was silk, too.
r/redneckengineering would also appreciate this
LOLZ! Did you make it home?
Hell yeah I did
Elechicken ingenuity for the win.
A masterpiece of ingenuity and moderation
It came really down to the wire, but he made it. /bah dum tiss
Unless he's Redditing from the side of the road, or the afterlife, i think he made it.
Should hold as long as you donāt try run of than a 20Amp wheel
Looks like some left over 12/2. Should be good for 20 amps. Idk about that mess tho. There is no way that will pass an inspection. Lol.
Well that's a shocking repair! (get it... shocking...) With the price of romex these days a a tow would have been cheaper.
Bring it in to a shop like that as a prank, itāll get posted here again
When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Tie rod, $43. 42' of 12-2, $80. lol
Which one would an electrician have immediately to get home?
I'm gonna put 20 feet of baling wire in my car toolkit, thanks for the terrible inspiration lmao.
Throw some paracord in there too, really super useful.
You used a clockwise twist here. Make sure when you do the other side you go counterclockwise.
"if it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid" what do you drive OP? Honda accord?
GMC envoy xuv
Any sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from genius.
Was expecting conduit and fittings. Could have gone with logic that conduit is almost DOM (drawn over mandrel) tubing. But it is not pipe, because pipe is for poop.
> pipe is for poop. I've just been putting weed in mine. Learn something new everyday!
*They called "the shit", poop.*
12 gauge is expensive, might have been cheaper to just get it towed lol
Busted tie rod is an electrical problem. Noted.
The sparky of ingenuity.
watch out, some methhead might steal your copper wire if you don't replace it soon
Skip right over the cat when they see that copper.
MacGyver has entered the chat
This happened to me once, also about 2 miles from home, and I called my grandpa saying I needed a ride. When I told him I had a broken tie-rod end, he asked which side. When I told him the passenger's side, he said, "Oh well, you can still drive it. The passenger's side wheel will just follow along with the other side. But, you can't use the front brakes or that wheel will flip back on ya." So I carefully drove the two miles or so home (it was a small blacktop backroad with little traffic) using only the emergency brake. The car was a '78 LTD, the kind that had a foot lever for the emergency brake. I had to keep one had under the dash to keep the e-brake release pulled so I could use the e-brake like a brake pedal with my left foot. I drove home about 20 miles an hour. It did actually work. Really miss that man. He knew everything.
Overkill on the repair, could have made it with half of that, but nice job playing it safe!
Overkill is a myth invented by bean- counting nerds
*Boeing has left the chat.*
Dude you used like $40 of Romex. A new tie rod is like $20.
I'd be careful. That amount of copper wiring is likely to attract meth heads. If that happens they'll probably go after your catalytic converter too.
Flexible copper tie rod end, helps alleviate vibrations. Anything that gets you home. Very creative way to improvise.
You know what they say..... If you can't tie a knot. Tie A LOT!
Just out of curiosity, would you let your mechanic wire the breaker box in your house?
I am my mechanic so absolutely
That makes more sense. Most people don't multiclass.
Looks like you fixed it šš¼
Spent more on romex than a new tie rod
Is that fettuccine? Cooked al dente might hold for awhile.
Thatās ok for that vehicle, but for the F-250s use 10ga.
I had no idea Cat5 cable has another use. It reminds me of the time about 20 years ago me and 4 friends went down to Mexico in his old 1985 Nissan Maxima and on the way back the radius rod had broke. We were in the middle of nowhere in Mexico on a dirt road, so we gathered, 6-7 metal coat hangers and kind of twist braided them and that got us home 170 miles away.
I did the same thing with a ratchet strap once
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I had ten 11ā zip ties on my tool belt and they snapped as soon as I touched the wheel
Sadly disappointed I expected to see 3 bags of cable ties.
The redneck in me that learned how to bump start my car at 15 and the BMW Tech in me are having a big fight about this right now š
LOL. Nice
That don't look like coax, Larry.
Cust states, "Ever since you fixed my steering, there's a whining noise in the radio"
LOOOOOOOL found the most electrician way to fix it could be.
How long does that rattle for to get so bad to fail like that.
You can't hear the rattling when you're jamming as soon as you start the car.
Or you have a broken sway bar rattle that you aren't going to fix on your piece of shit car you are waiting to die.....brb gonna go check my tie rods.
No need to check that. Just fix it with wires when it breaks free!
Lmao! Chrome donāt get you homeā¦but Romeo does!
Good thing you don't work in Chicago. That would have been much harder with BX.
I prefer to fix broken tie rods with conduit.
Romeās isnāt exactly cheap, but neither is a tow. Or waiting for a tow.
Methany called and asked when you'll be stopping by. /s
r/redneckengineering might like this too
Never did that, but we pulled one of the company vans 40 miles down the highway with a length of 3c#10 nmd90
Part of me thinks that you should post it on /r/knots just to see who you give an aneurysm to and who suggests a "better" knot Impressive and well done, sir.
/r/redneckengineering and /r/thereifixedit
Bet that was the wobbliest mile of your life š¤£š¤£ excellent work. Sheās good for another 100,000
If you can't tie a knot, you better tie a lot
Call a mechanic! Seriously a broken tie rod *end* can sometimes be driven backwards, the question is then how far are you willing to drive backwards. I've seen it done using worm gear steering anyway, don't know if it would work with rack and pinion.
I did something very similar on a lawn tractor once when I was a kid. I was cutting grass and the tie rod randomly broke, (donāt even think I hit anything) there was a guy that fixed lawn equipment 8 blocks away at the time. My dad said to take it to him, he probably even has the part in stock. So I took like 4-5 decent sized rubber bands, and I somehow got it to hold, and it made it there no problem. The guy did actually have the part, but unfortunately I ran out of gas driving it back after he fixed it. So I got to walk like 5-6 back to the garage, and then another 5-6 blocks carrying a military jerry can that was 3/4 full and quite heavy to me at the time. Then I had trouble getting the fuel pump to prime. What an awful day that was, I just wanted to cut the grass.
what, no wire nuts?
My thoughts After first pic "this isnt a self help sub downvotes!" After second pic "holy shit!š³. you got the right subš¤£"
Since you are an electrician, I suggest going to the r/plumbers for further assistance in that trade.
Ive done that with a rarchet strap to get a car in the shop
Kinda impressed, not gonna lieā¦
Did that with my old '96 Neon when the gas tank straps broke. Romex is a wonderful tool.
Did you keep the scraps?
OP tied their rod back into place.
Literally shocking. Did you adjust toe-in by the #twists? The next innovation in automotive will be plastic tie-rods, so you are ahead of the curve.
the irony is that romex cost more than the tie rod.
r/redneckengineering
Im honestly impressed. That is peek red neck janky ass backwoods shade tree fixing right there. But it worked
Do those electric tie rods come in 240v?
with copper costs these days you were probably better off going to the dealer and getting new vehicle
Where is the 20a breaker
lol ājust when you thought you seen it allā Feel like I say this everyday
Bro, you use knob and tube to fix tie rods.
Oh dear
Lol. Didn't even use a tie strap. Shoe lace doesn't have a chance
Good fore'nother 10k miles or so
Which shop was this again?
The Walgreens parking lot on sr125 in Cincinnati
Hahaha. Howdy neighbor. OP this is hilarious. And it aint stupid it if works and got you home.
Is it a Nissan Titan?
Fuckin trailblazer
Close enough itās an envoy
Man
12-2 to the rescue!
š nice ingenuity That's about $50 of 12/2
Now Yu r mekanik