1985 F-150 stalled out on the interstate at 2 AM on a Tuesday

I was driving home from a late shift near Columbus, Ohio, when my old Ford just died going 65 mph. Coasted to the shoulder and popped the hood with a flashlight, found the distributor cap cracked in half from heat cycles. Ended up stuffing it with electrical tape and got another 30 miles to a rest stop before I could call a buddy. Anyone else ever limp a truck home with field-fix parts?

2 comments

2 Comments

john4305d ago

Tape and zip ties are basically the holy trinity of roadside fixes, that distributor cap trick is a classic. I've seen guys use a soda can cut up as a heat shield for a fuel line just to get off the highway. Sometimes you gotta get creative when you're stuck at 2 AM with no tow truck in sight.

danielh812d ago

Boy, that soda can trick takes me back. I once patched a split radiator hose with a strip of an old inner tube and two hose clamps, drove forty miles that way. The key is to keep the repair simple and make sure nothing is going to rub through or melt before you reach a real shop. And always carry a roll of that self-fusing silicone tape, it's saved me more times than I can count.