I had an interesting parking brake incident this
morning. In fact that
whole damn morning was more interesting than I
needed.
Earlier this morning, I loaded my propane tanks into
the Terra which
needed some miles to check out my tranny fluid
change, the coolant
fluid change, the bright lights kit, the MAD diode
addition on the
alternator, and went "up the hill" to get the tanks
filled. Got up
there OK, but sitting in front of the propane
filling station, the
Scout wouldn't start. Looked at the fuel pressure
gauge and it said 0.
So, sitting there interfering with their business, I
get under the
Scout and change out the Holley fuel pump. Only
trouble is that I got
down OK, under OK, but getting back up was proving
next to impossible.
Coarse sand on black top was letting my feet slip
out from under me as
I tried to get some leverage to get up. Finally took
off my sweat shirt
and swept an area large enough to get enough
traction to get back up.
New pump worked great, so came home to check fluid
levels.
I'm up on my nearly level apron in front of my shop
and following
accepted protocol, I run the tranny through all the
gears, put it into
N, put on the parking brake, and get up on my milk
carton to check the
tranny fluid level. I, of all the people who have
ever driven a truck
ought to know how worthless our parking brakes are
in keeping our
trucks from rolling backwards. So, I'm up on the
milk carton, leaning
over trying to get that damn dip stick back into its
hole, and I feel
something moving. The Scout is backing down the hill
with me soon
holding on to the heater stub with one hand and my
other hand dragging
the concrete trying to stop the truck, scared to let
go because of
maybe being pulled under the front wheel. Wanda, who
had come out to
ask me a question is screaming in her most helpful
way, but fortunately
for me a friend of my son was there in the yard and
ran and put on the
brake. I was fine except the skin on my fingers of
the concrete
dragging hand is pretty much gone. A lot of blood
but not much real
damage.
Who knows better than I that Scout parking brakes
are useless,
especially on backwards grades? No one, but knowing
it best still
doesn't count for too much when it comes to being
stupid.