Thread: So what goes BANG in the night?

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I had been in Hearst Ontario, dropped off another load of building material at the property my wife and I own. Had been heading east back for about 2 1/2 hr. toward Cochrane Ontario, and would have hung a right and headed south, had I got that far. Instead, with about 25 miles to go to Cochrane, I'm tootin along at 65 mph, without any warning, there's a terrific BANG. The steering wheel gets yanked from my hands and I'm heading stage left. Before I can react, I'm over the center line, and have crossed the left lane and hit the gravel shoulder. No sooner had I got there, and there was a reversed course for the right side of the road. By now, I've pounced on the steering wheel with a death grip, and trying to not to get to far off the beaten path, I managed to get the whole works travelling in the general direction that the road was pointing at. With just a light tap on the brakes, it got real interesting all over again, we're going stage left again Clyde. With a few light bunts on the steering wheel to keep some sort of control, I just let it coasting along, while listening to a real loud grinding noise. A quick look at the side mirror showed a real impressive spark show, that was as long as the truck and trailer. By now I'm down to about 30 mph or so, and with just small inputs to the steering, I could keep it in my lane, but it was still like herding an old sow with a stick. Had to keep giving it a little tap on one side and then the other. The weight of the trailer had pushed the truck along for quite a distance before coming to a stop. There was a fairly wide paved shoulder that worked out ok, was able to keep the collapsed suspension on the pavement, while the right side that was still ok, was resting on the gravel shoulder. Between the smell of burning rubber and hot metal, it didn't take long to realise I better be checking for a fire. I'm surprised I could get out as quick as I did, considering my butt was clamped onto the seat upholstery as tight as it was. No fire, didn't even poop in my bloomers!! Since it was midnight, no sense in hitchhiking to town for help, would be no one open anyway. Camped out on the front seat until morning. Stuck out my thumb, and the first vehicle to come along, stopped and gave me ride into town. Even recommended the repair garage to use, and which hotel to stay at. Turned out to be excellent advise. $1288.00 dollars and two days later I was back on the road. Ouch! I will have to say the guys at the garage did bend over backward to help, even if they did get intimate with my wallet. Sniper