... Yes, we were in SERIOUS trouble!

If you're reading this entry, you should already know that our last episode ended with the Jeep failing to get into gear/park/neutral/reverse, plus we could not start and could not move except to roll slowly backwards into the travel lane of the local mini-mall...

So, that's where we start Today.

The Jeep emergency brake was set and throughout the rest of this tale the periodic motorcycles, cars, RVs and semis would meander around us (please add appropriate sound effects at your local location).

Doug realized that the automatic transmission was simply not responding to the floor-mounted shift lever, as a matter of fact, the lever acted like it was simply rocking back and forth (or is it to-and-fro).

Doug thought, "$3,500 for a new transmission plus a tow from the middle of next-to-nowhere-on-our-trip-back-to-civilization (you may not see another hyphen in the remainder of this tome) to someone's local auto-fixit (I lied) shop." With the outward calm of Burt Reynolds in his role starring in Deliverance, Doug explained that we might "be lucky" (unlike Ned Beatty in the same movie)

Please click the play button for appropriate background music - turn up your sound!


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Well, the console has two, different sized, spline bolts, unlike us, who had no spline tools. Luckily (the universe does provide) there was the Hill City Hardware store in the mini-mall (there's another one of them hyphens). 

A quick trip to the store and Doug came out with an assortment of sizes of spline wrenches as well as a store employee who had the same infectious smile as the fellow from the tire repair shop from earlier in the day!

The console came apart and the employee's boss/store owner came out to join us. Well, this unsung hero "had a friend" that "knew something" (banjo duel starts in Doug's head about now). And, as it turns out, the friend led the owner (by phone) under the car to where he found the transmission shift actuator cable had slipped off a small ball on the actuator arm.

Easy! However, the actual problem on the 100,000+ mile Jeep was that the nylon bushing that was supposed to grab the ball was worn out and the arm kept  slipping out. Gorilla Tape to the rescue. (Avid readers of our e-mails may recall that Gorilla Tape is the best thing in the world and has replaced Duct Tape in the tool kits of everyone {except Doug}).

A couple of strips of Tape and the assembly stayed together. We offered to buy the fellows dinner/beer/flowers but were refused. All we got was two big continuous grins and the explanation that "that was what you do for people." (The banjo stopped.)

We didn't even get their names - but if you are ever anywhere around Hill City, South Dakota let us tell you that you can feel at ease stopping at the Hill City Hardware store.

We turned around to go back to Rapid City, where the closest Jeep dealership was. Made calls to order a new actuator cable and ended talking to a service man that assured us to just "bring it in and they'd fix it permanently" (the banjos playing, yet...?).

Once again, we met some of the most earnest and genuine people on earth. The grins were there, waiting in the early morning and Doug was shown the fix for the problem that was a great improvement over the original design. The estimate was about an hour's labor - GO FOR IT!

Did I mention the funny clunking I've been getting from the front of the Jeep? Or, the little shimmy that my dealer back home just can't seem to find - nor can any tire dealership East of the Mississipp? Well, Les (my pal with the fix), came out and said, "I want you to see something." Les proceeds to stick a crow bar in the underpinnings of the Jeep, gives a little tug and the front tire clunks up and down - he demonstrated the other side and had the same result. Seems the upper and lower ball joints, as well as the tie rod ball joints and the steering damper (which was leaking) all had trouble. At 100,000+ miles - that's okay and to be expected. And, since the morning was shot and they had free coffee and Wi-Fi, we said - fix it.

A few hours later, we pulled out, grinning with a tight front-end. We were relieved and perfectly happy to have the repairs done by these good folks... So, our hats are off to Liberty Jeep in Rapid City, South Dakota - especially to Les, who has the knowledge and expertise to see a job done right.

Well, we got back on the road, drove to Custer City through all the motorcycles and found our new campground about 1/2 mile from the Crazy Horse Monument... and that will be posted tomorrow.

Pheeeewwww.