That's right! Leave it to me! I was scouting land yesterday and once we were through, rather than drive an hour an a half back the way we came, I decided to take somewhat of a 'shortcut'.

This whole area is criss-crossed with OLD logging roads and fire lanes. Some of the roads are better than others, some are accessable only by ATV...well, until yesterday.

Anyway, I was going down one of these roads that is on a hill. To my right was a huge incline covered in nice hardwoods, to my left was a 15' - 45' drop down into a ravine. I say 15' - 45' because depending where you are, it could be 15' and then you drive another 100 yards and it's 45'.

There is water running down the middle of the ravine.

I am steadily driving down this 'road' when I come up on a section that is 1/2 washed out. I start out as far right as I can go (even folded the passengers side mirror in). I get up to the wash out, and my left tire starts to slide off into it. I am now sitting on three tires and one frame rail. I put 'er in reverse and just as I take my foot off of the brake, it slides a little more. I touched the gas and the WHOLE FRONT END goes off into the ravine. The front tow hooks dig down into the other side of the ravine, and my rear tires are off of the ground.

At this point, I admitted I was stuck.

We get on the phone and call another buddy. He is in a meeting 2 driving hours away, but jumped at the chance to get out of it, and got on the road. We called another guy (with a Chebby ), and he just happened to be about a block away. There was no way to tell him how to get back to us, so we set out on a two mile hike through shin-deep mud.

I'll shorten this up...we get to him, we get stuck in his truck, my other buddy finally gets there, pulls him out and then they both hook up to me and pull me out.

The damage was done though. My front left tire started clogged up the water flow and it started backing up behind the truck. It seeped into the interior, engine compartment and tranny. It wouldn't even crank. He pulled me back to the main road, we called a tow truck, and now it's at the dealership.

Well, enough about the story, here are the pix...

Interior...


Exterior...you can see the water line, unfortunately, the water line you see is from another hole we went throught. The water was all the way up to my bugshield on the hood. It was less than a 45 degree angle, but not by much.

 

Under the Hood...


Undercarriage Looking From Front to Rear...

 

I guess the couple of good things that come out of this...

1. It's only going to cost me $100.
2. Ford's Emergency Road Service came and got it...Ford pays for the tow up to 35 miles...we were 32.7 miles.
3. My dealership has a service department, detail shop and a body shop. This dealership is on the 'Good List' of shops with my insurance company...the shop basically submits the bill and they pay it...less my deductible.

Keep the comments nice...I am still a little bummed about it.

 

OMG! That sucks Tuff. Hope every thing turns out ok for ya. Will you be paying for the repairs?

 

TUFF..come here so I can slap you...WTF were you thinking? Im gonna cry. That totally sux man. I know you didnt do it on purpose. I hope you get it fixed up and all back to normal soon. Looks like you might as well just replace that carpet instead of trying to clean it.

Good luck buddy. I bet the real Tuff is mad you got his truck all dirty

 

Damn! I'd be crying if I did that to my '04! Glad it didn't go down though. Noticed you already cleaned the stains from the seat...

Hope the damage is minimal and the clean-up goes well.

 

Nature 1, Tuff 0

Thanks for the pics, Tuff, but it hurts to look at them.

I'm glad nothing happened that got you hurt (beyond your pride). Let us know what the dealer says when he tallies the cost to repair...

 

Hey, its just a three hour tour. Do you want to drive Gilligan?

 

Gilligan?? Oh wait I get it! But first TUFF has to learn how to make a radio out of a coconut!

 

I'm crying for you tuff. You need the insurance company to total the truck. Good luck.

 

I'm weeping..............that's a damn shame. I am going to print these pic's and hang them in the garage just to remind myself "NOT" to do anything stupid......

 

well, you now have a good reason for the GF as to why you are getting a 6" lift and new tires.



hope you get the truck back soon.

 

Yeah there is a good reason for the lift, but that sucks!

 

Look in his post, says he's only paying $100

so you want the comments nice, huh tuff?? Ok, i only have one question!!

You drink redbull???

really though, good luck with it all. Unreal to see those pics, hope it all turns out well. IF your ever out there again, snap a few pics of the ravine.

 

Me thinks its time to trade her in on an '05