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Message: My Pre-BRBS saga ... (long)
Changed By: Pedro (Odessa, FL)
Change Date: June 09, 2011 11:08AM
My Pre-BRBS saga ... (long)
Change Date: June 09, 2011 11:08AM
My Pre-BRBS saga ... (long)
... which almost cut our trip short.
Because my wife couldn't accompany me on this adventure, I decided to recruit a new copilot who lives in Tampa, so this trip for me would be 1,000 miles each way (999.8 miles to be exact).
Hence, the special livery on my car:
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4713.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4712.jpg
I left Monday evening to Tampa and overnighted there.
Next morning, with new copilot in tow we left for Atlanta to spend the night there and meet with the Atlanta-Florida Caravan at the Chateau Elan.
But just before we got to Macon Georgia, with my son driving, the car started to develop a weird jiggle.
At first I thought we'd lost a wheel weight, but changing speeds didn't change the jiggle, it just got progressively worse.
We had to reduce speed so that the car wouldn't come apart - it was that bad and the only tolerable speed was 45 to 47 mph.
I now believed that it was a suspension piece that had broken or come loose.
We pulled over and disconnected the trailer so that I could look at the tires/suspension from behind.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so we decided to find a shop with a lift.
On the phone with Christian and Alan who live nearby and we couldn't find one that would be close enough and open so that we could make it there.
Alan graciously offered to send us a tow truck so that we could bring it to his house and put it up on jackstands.
Because the Atlanta-Florida Caravan would leave the next day (Wednesday) at 10:00 AM, we decided to brave it all the way to Atlanta.
If we could reach the Porsche Dealer in time, they may have the parts in stock and could get us on the road in time to hook up with the Caravan.
I called Jim Ellis Porsche to see if they could wait for us (they close at 7:00PM).
No problem was their answer.
We were now in downtown Atlanta, on I-75 and it was 6:30PM.
Traffic was down to 30 mph at which speed my car would literally jump the right rear off the ground on every revolution.
We finally arrived at Jim Ellis Porsche at 7:10PM and Steven Dooley, one of their very competent and customer-oriented Service Advisors was ready for us.
We dropped the car off and he promised that the first tech to arrive next morning at 7:00AM would jump on it.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4575.jpg
All of our stuff had to come out of our trunks and they arranged for us to leave our trailer locked up in their basement parking lot.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4576.jpg
They also gave me a loaner that could take all the cargo
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4577.jpg
My son wanted a Cayenne GTS, but we got a very nicely appointed Audi A4 station wagon.
At 7:30AM I got a call from Steve: "Good news, bad news".
Good news was that it wasn't the suspension. It was a damaged rear tire.
Bad news, neither Jim Ellis nor any other tire dealer in the vicinity (they checked around for me) had a replacement (Kumho ECSTA SPT 255/40/ZR17).
The other "good news - bad news" was that Jim Ellis has the replacement tires (now I need two, because I can't mismatch the rears, not going to 226A0.
).
The bad part was that these are N-rated at a much higher co$t than I was ready for.
So, we said "do it". Install the Contis.
By the time we got to Jim Ellis at 8:15AM, Christian and Alan were already there waiting for us and calling the rest of the caravan to do the same.
I was shown the damaged tire
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4579.jpg
It had a huge bulge right in the center of the tread. That's why I couldn't see any damage when we mover the car slowly forward,
We got our car back at 9:15AM, thanked Steve at Jim Ellis Porsche for all their attention, paid our bill - they gave us a discount - hooked up the trailer, loaded it and hauled a$$ to get to Chateau Elan.
Christian leading, we made it and the Caravan only had to wait about 15 minutes in all.
From that point on it was smooth Boxstering all the way out and back.
Now you know the rest of the story.
PS: Our sincere gratitude to Christian and Alan who went way out of their way to help a stranded BRBS'er. As has been said so many times before: ITS THE PEOPLE!!!!
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro
Because my wife couldn't accompany me on this adventure, I decided to recruit a new copilot who lives in Tampa, so this trip for me would be 1,000 miles each way (999.8 miles to be exact).
Hence, the special livery on my car:
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4713.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4712.jpg
I left Monday evening to Tampa and overnighted there.
Next morning, with new copilot in tow we left for Atlanta to spend the night there and meet with the Atlanta-Florida Caravan at the Chateau Elan.
But just before we got to Macon Georgia, with my son driving, the car started to develop a weird jiggle.
At first I thought we'd lost a wheel weight, but changing speeds didn't change the jiggle, it just got progressively worse.
We had to reduce speed so that the car wouldn't come apart - it was that bad and the only tolerable speed was 45 to 47 mph.
I now believed that it was a suspension piece that had broken or come loose.
We pulled over and disconnected the trailer so that I could look at the tires/suspension from behind.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so we decided to find a shop with a lift.
On the phone with Christian and Alan who live nearby and we couldn't find one that would be close enough and open so that we could make it there.
Alan graciously offered to send us a tow truck so that we could bring it to his house and put it up on jackstands.
Because the Atlanta-Florida Caravan would leave the next day (Wednesday) at 10:00 AM, we decided to brave it all the way to Atlanta.
If we could reach the Porsche Dealer in time, they may have the parts in stock and could get us on the road in time to hook up with the Caravan.
I called Jim Ellis Porsche to see if they could wait for us (they close at 7:00PM).
No problem was their answer.
We were now in downtown Atlanta, on I-75 and it was 6:30PM.
Traffic was down to 30 mph at which speed my car would literally jump the right rear off the ground on every revolution.
We finally arrived at Jim Ellis Porsche at 7:10PM and Steven Dooley, one of their very competent and customer-oriented Service Advisors was ready for us.
We dropped the car off and he promised that the first tech to arrive next morning at 7:00AM would jump on it.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4575.jpg
All of our stuff had to come out of our trunks and they arranged for us to leave our trailer locked up in their basement parking lot.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4576.jpg
They also gave me a loaner that could take all the cargo
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4577.jpg
My son wanted a Cayenne GTS, but we got a very nicely appointed Audi A4 station wagon.
At 7:30AM I got a call from Steve: "Good news, bad news".
Good news was that it wasn't the suspension. It was a damaged rear tire.
Bad news, neither Jim Ellis nor any other tire dealer in the vicinity (they checked around for me) had a replacement (Kumho ECSTA SPT 255/40/ZR17).
The other "good news - bad news" was that Jim Ellis has the replacement tires (now I need two, because I can't mismatch the rears, not going to 226A0.
).
The bad part was that these are N-rated at a much higher co$t than I was ready for.
So, we said "do it". Install the Contis.
By the time we got to Jim Ellis at 8:15AM, Christian and Alan were already there waiting for us and calling the rest of the caravan to do the same.
I was shown the damaged tire
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4579.jpg
It had a huge bulge right in the center of the tread. That's why I couldn't see any damage when we mover the car slowly forward,
We got our car back at 9:15AM, thanked Steve at Jim Ellis Porsche for all their attention, paid our bill - they gave us a discount - hooked up the trailer, loaded it and hauled a$$ to get to Chateau Elan.
Christian leading, we made it and the Caravan only had to wait about 15 minutes in all.
From that point on it was smooth Boxstering all the way out and back.
Now you know the rest of the story.
PS: Our sincere gratitude to Christian and Alan who went way out of their way to help a stranded BRBS'er. As has been said so many times before: ITS THE PEOPLE!!!!
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro
Original Message
Author: Pedro (Odessa, FL)Date: June 09, 2011 09:36AM
My Pre-BRBS saga ... (long)
... which almost cut our trip short.
Because my wife couldn't accompany me on this adventure, I decided to recruit a new copilot who lives in Tampa, so this trip for me would be 1,000 miles each way (999.8 miles to be exact).
Hence, the special livery on my car:
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4713.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4712.jpg
I left Monday evening to Tampa and overnighted there.
Next morning, with new copilot in tow we left for Atlanta to spend the night there and meet with the Atlanta-Florida Caravan at the Chateau Elan.
But just before we got to Macon Georgia, with my son driving, the car started to develop a weird jiggle.
At first I thought we'd lost a wheel weight, but changing speeds didn't change the jiggle, it just got progressively worse.
We had to reduce speed so that the car wouldn't come apart - it was that bad and the only tolerable speed was 45 to 47 mph.
I now believed that it was a suspension piece that had broken or come loose.
We pulled over and disconnected the trailer so that I could look at the tires/suspension from behind.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so we decided to find a shop with a lift.
On the phone with Christian and Alan who live nearby and we couldn't find one that would be close enough and open so that we could make it there.
Alan graciously offered to send us a tow truck so that we could bring it to his house and put it up on jackstands.
Because the Atlanta-Florida Caravan would leave the next day (Wednesday) at 10:00 AM, we decided to brave it all the way to Atlanta.
If we could reach the Porsche Dealer in time, they may have the parts in stock and could get us on the road in time to hook up with the Caravan.
I called Jim Ellis Porsche to see if they could wait for us (they close at 7:00PM).
No problem was their answer.
We were now in downtown Atlanta, on I-75 and it was 6:30PM.
Traffic was down to 30 mph at which speed my car would literally jump the right rear off the ground on every revolution.
We finally arrived at Jim Ellis Porsche at 7:10PM and Steven Dooley, one of their very competent and customer-oriented Service Advisors was ready for us.
We dropped the car off and he promised that the first tech to arrive next morning at 7:00AM would jump on it.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4575.jpg
All of our stuff had to come out of our trunks and they arranged for us to leave our trailer locked up in their basement parking lot.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4576.jpg
They also gave me a loaner that could take all the cargo
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4577.jpg
My son wanted a Cayenne GTS, but we got a very nicely appointed Audi A4 station wagon.
At 7:30AM I got a call from Steve: "Good news, bad news".
Good news was that it wasn't the suspension. It was a damaged rear tire.
Bad news, neither Jim Ellis nor any other tire dealer in the vicinity (they checked around for me) had a replacement (Kumho ECSTA SPT 255/40/ZR17).
The other "good news - bad news" was that Jim Ellis has the replacement tires (now I need two, because I can't mismatch the rears, not going to 226A0.
The bad part was that these are N-rated at a much higher co$t than I was ready for.
So, we said "do it". Install the Contis.
By the time we got to Jim Ellis at 8:15AM, Christian and Alan were already there waiting for us and calling the rest of the caravan to do the same.
I was shown the damaged tire
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4579.jpg
It had a huge bulge right in the center of the tread. That's why I couldn't see any damage when we mover the car slowly forward,
We got our car back at 9:15AM, thanked Steve at Jim Ellis Porsche for all their attention, paid our bill - they gave us a discount - hooked up the trailer, loaded it and hauled a$$ to get to Chateau Elan.
Christian leading, we made it and the Caravan only had to wait about 15 minutes in all.
From that point on it was smooth Boxstering all the way out and back.
Now you know the rest of the story.
PS: Our sincere gratitude to Christian and Alan who went way out of their way to help a stranded BRBS'er. As has been said so many times before: ITS THE PEOPLE!!!!
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro
Because my wife couldn't accompany me on this adventure, I decided to recruit a new copilot who lives in Tampa, so this trip for me would be 1,000 miles each way (999.8 miles to be exact).
Hence, the special livery on my car:
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4713.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4712.jpg
I left Monday evening to Tampa and overnighted there.
Next morning, with new copilot in tow we left for Atlanta to spend the night there and meet with the Atlanta-Florida Caravan at the Chateau Elan.
But just before we got to Macon Georgia, with my son driving, the car started to develop a weird jiggle.
At first I thought we'd lost a wheel weight, but changing speeds didn't change the jiggle, it just got progressively worse.
We had to reduce speed so that the car wouldn't come apart - it was that bad and the only tolerable speed was 45 to 47 mph.
I now believed that it was a suspension piece that had broken or come loose.
We pulled over and disconnected the trailer so that I could look at the tires/suspension from behind.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so we decided to find a shop with a lift.
On the phone with Christian and Alan who live nearby and we couldn't find one that would be close enough and open so that we could make it there.
Alan graciously offered to send us a tow truck so that we could bring it to his house and put it up on jackstands.
Because the Atlanta-Florida Caravan would leave the next day (Wednesday) at 10:00 AM, we decided to brave it all the way to Atlanta.
If we could reach the Porsche Dealer in time, they may have the parts in stock and could get us on the road in time to hook up with the Caravan.
I called Jim Ellis Porsche to see if they could wait for us (they close at 7:00PM).
No problem was their answer.
We were now in downtown Atlanta, on I-75 and it was 6:30PM.
Traffic was down to 30 mph at which speed my car would literally jump the right rear off the ground on every revolution.
We finally arrived at Jim Ellis Porsche at 7:10PM and Steven Dooley, one of their very competent and customer-oriented Service Advisors was ready for us.
We dropped the car off and he promised that the first tech to arrive next morning at 7:00AM would jump on it.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4575.jpg
All of our stuff had to come out of our trunks and they arranged for us to leave our trailer locked up in their basement parking lot.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4576.jpg
They also gave me a loaner that could take all the cargo
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4577.jpg
My son wanted a Cayenne GTS, but we got a very nicely appointed Audi A4 station wagon.
At 7:30AM I got a call from Steve: "Good news, bad news".
Good news was that it wasn't the suspension. It was a damaged rear tire.
Bad news, neither Jim Ellis nor any other tire dealer in the vicinity (they checked around for me) had a replacement (Kumho ECSTA SPT 255/40/ZR17).
The other "good news - bad news" was that Jim Ellis has the replacement tires (now I need two, because I can't mismatch the rears, not going to 226A0.
The bad part was that these are N-rated at a much higher co$t than I was ready for.
So, we said "do it". Install the Contis.
By the time we got to Jim Ellis at 8:15AM, Christian and Alan were already there waiting for us and calling the rest of the caravan to do the same.
I was shown the damaged tire
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ppbon/PICT4579.jpg
It had a huge bulge right in the center of the tread. That's why I couldn't see any damage when we mover the car slowly forward,
We got our car back at 9:15AM, thanked Steve at Jim Ellis Porsche for all their attention, paid our bill - they gave us a discount - hooked up the trailer, loaded it and hauled a$$ to get to Chateau Elan.
Christian leading, we made it and the Caravan only had to wait about 15 minutes in all.
From that point on it was smooth Boxstering all the way out and back.
Now you know the rest of the story.
PS: Our sincere gratitude to Christian and Alan who went way out of their way to help a stranded BRBS'er. As has been said so many times before: ITS THE PEOPLE!!!!
Happy Boxstering,
Pedro