Well what a lovely Valentines Day Carly and myself have just experienced 
We have been in Wales for the past week and decided to go fro a nice walk in the hills to see some waterfalls. It was about 30 miles from the cottage we were staying in so we packed the car up and set off on our way.
We found the track leading up to the car park where our walk would begin and duly set off up into the forest. About a mile or so up the track during a momentary lapse of concentration there was an almightly bang and the Dag-Dag did a cracking impression of kit from knight rider by leaping up on two wheels and swerving towards the ravine on the opposite side of the track.
Obviously this was something of a shock so once I'd got him back on all four wheels I thought it best to check the Dag-Dag for possible damage. Carly leapt out and surveyed the nearside front wheel while I wandered around the back to survey the nearside rear. In unison we both announced that wheel is ****ed. Now that presented something of a problem so I crawled up the hill on my two dead wheels to the car park so we could decide on a course of action.
I duly unpacked the spare wheel and got it fitted on the front so at least we would have some mobility only to find it had a rather large bulge in the sidewall and wouldn't hold more than 25psi.
We were miles from civilisation and had no phone signal so calling the RAC proved to be something of a challenge.
Luckily for us a family had just returned to their car and seeing our predicament kindly offered me a lift out of the forest in a hope of finding a phone. Having located a payphone in the next village I duly phoned the RAC who advised me they wouldn't repair the vehicle as two damaged wheels is classed as an accident I could expect a tow truck to arrive within the hour to take us all the way home. Mmm, I thought, it will interesting to see if a flat bed will fit up that track
While I was waiting I thought it best to walk back up the hill into the forest to tell Carly the bad/good news as she wasn't going to be pleased about cutting short our holiday even by one night. When I got back to the car and explained the situation Carly's mood become somewhat dark as I had predicted. Not good but luckily I had got her Valentines present in the boot so was able to use that to raise her spirits.
We waited for just over an hour and sure enough a 6.5tonne flat bed came winding up the track with an extremely helpful gentleman behind the wheel. While loading the car onto the truck we realised that the damage was a bit worse than just the two rims as the front wheels weren't pointing in the same direction, doh. Now came the next problem. The RAC had contracted the truck to pick us up, take us back to the cottage to get our belongings and take us home. This would have been fine had it not been for the fact that the cottage was down a half mile farm track that the flatbed was never going to get down.
We decided the best option was to return to the garage in Barmouth where the truck had come from and contact the RAC to determine the best course of action. Things took a turn for the better on our arrival at the garage as the RAC agreed that as the truck couldn't get to the cottage then they would allow the recovery to take place the following day at no extra charge. This just left the small problem of getting to the cottage from Barmouth which was a 40 mile journey.
This is where the garage came to the rescue and said we could hire a car from them for the night to allow us to collect our belongings and then return in the morning to go home. Unfortunately after much searching they couldn't find anything until someone remembered there was a car left on site we could use.
It was a stunning 5 door 1993 Rover Metro Nightfire Special complete with manual choke.
Now we weren't in a position to complain nor did we want to as this was a godsend in our current predicament. After a complimentary cup of tea at the garage we duly set of in the metro back to the cottage.
It was an interesting drive and it took some getting used to a car that had less power than Carly's hairdryer but we made the 40 mile trip in just over an hour. All is well I hear you cry.....
Not quite, after negotiating our way down the farm track back to the cottage it was then that we realised the cottage keys were still in the Dag-Dag
It was about the same time we realised we still had the keys to the Dag-Dag as well so all was not quite lost.
Back into the Metro and back off to Barmouth we went. Carly was complaining of being rather hungry at this point so after retrieving the cottage keys and dropping off the Dag-Dag keys we went for a lovely Valentines meal of pie and chips with a side of order of bread and butter in the Dolphin Fish Bar in Barmouth. After which we completed the final 40 mile leg back to the cottage for a much needed glass of wine.
On the whole a different way to spend Valentines Day....
We went back to the garage in the morning to complete the recovery home.
I didn't get any pics of the front wheel but it was considerably worse than the rear one:
As you can see the front wheels don't sit quite right:
On the plus side as the Dag-Dag is now off the road I have got my S2 back for the weekend
So onto the main reason for this thread, aside from giving everyone the opportunity to mock my driving, I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who helped out. It goes to show there are still helpful, friendly people in the motor trade who will go beyond what's necessary to help out.
Gareth at the RAC
Mr Bradbury and all the staff at Bradbury's Garage
and as always to Jason and the lads at the Lion Garage for sorting me out yet again
Ben
We have been in Wales for the past week and decided to go fro a nice walk in the hills to see some waterfalls. It was about 30 miles from the cottage we were staying in so we packed the car up and set off on our way.
We found the track leading up to the car park where our walk would begin and duly set off up into the forest. About a mile or so up the track during a momentary lapse of concentration there was an almightly bang and the Dag-Dag did a cracking impression of kit from knight rider by leaping up on two wheels and swerving towards the ravine on the opposite side of the track.
Obviously this was something of a shock so once I'd got him back on all four wheels I thought it best to check the Dag-Dag for possible damage. Carly leapt out and surveyed the nearside front wheel while I wandered around the back to survey the nearside rear. In unison we both announced that wheel is ****ed. Now that presented something of a problem so I crawled up the hill on my two dead wheels to the car park so we could decide on a course of action.
I duly unpacked the spare wheel and got it fitted on the front so at least we would have some mobility only to find it had a rather large bulge in the sidewall and wouldn't hold more than 25psi.
We were miles from civilisation and had no phone signal so calling the RAC proved to be something of a challenge. Luckily for us a family had just returned to their car and seeing our predicament kindly offered me a lift out of the forest in a hope of finding a phone. Having located a payphone in the next village I duly phoned the RAC who advised me they wouldn't repair the vehicle as two damaged wheels is classed as an accident I could expect a tow truck to arrive within the hour to take us all the way home. Mmm, I thought, it will interesting to see if a flat bed will fit up that track
While I was waiting I thought it best to walk back up the hill into the forest to tell Carly the bad/good news as she wasn't going to be pleased about cutting short our holiday even by one night. When I got back to the car and explained the situation Carly's mood become somewhat dark as I had predicted. Not good but luckily I had got her Valentines present in the boot so was able to use that to raise her spirits.
We waited for just over an hour and sure enough a 6.5tonne flat bed came winding up the track with an extremely helpful gentleman behind the wheel. While loading the car onto the truck we realised that the damage was a bit worse than just the two rims as the front wheels weren't pointing in the same direction, doh. Now came the next problem. The RAC had contracted the truck to pick us up, take us back to the cottage to get our belongings and take us home. This would have been fine had it not been for the fact that the cottage was down a half mile farm track that the flatbed was never going to get down.
We decided the best option was to return to the garage in Barmouth where the truck had come from and contact the RAC to determine the best course of action. Things took a turn for the better on our arrival at the garage as the RAC agreed that as the truck couldn't get to the cottage then they would allow the recovery to take place the following day at no extra charge. This just left the small problem of getting to the cottage from Barmouth which was a 40 mile journey.
This is where the garage came to the rescue and said we could hire a car from them for the night to allow us to collect our belongings and then return in the morning to go home. Unfortunately after much searching they couldn't find anything until someone remembered there was a car left on site we could use.
It was a stunning 5 door 1993 Rover Metro Nightfire Special complete with manual choke.
Now we weren't in a position to complain nor did we want to as this was a godsend in our current predicament. After a complimentary cup of tea at the garage we duly set of in the metro back to the cottage.
It was an interesting drive and it took some getting used to a car that had less power than Carly's hairdryer but we made the 40 mile trip in just over an hour. All is well I hear you cry.....
Not quite, after negotiating our way down the farm track back to the cottage it was then that we realised the cottage keys were still in the Dag-Dag
It was about the same time we realised we still had the keys to the Dag-Dag as well so all was not quite lost.Back into the Metro and back off to Barmouth we went. Carly was complaining of being rather hungry at this point so after retrieving the cottage keys and dropping off the Dag-Dag keys we went for a lovely Valentines meal of pie and chips with a side of order of bread and butter in the Dolphin Fish Bar in Barmouth. After which we completed the final 40 mile leg back to the cottage for a much needed glass of wine.
On the whole a different way to spend Valentines Day....
We went back to the garage in the morning to complete the recovery home.
I didn't get any pics of the front wheel but it was considerably worse than the rear one:
As you can see the front wheels don't sit quite right:
On the plus side as the Dag-Dag is now off the road I have got my S2 back for the weekend
So onto the main reason for this thread, aside from giving everyone the opportunity to mock my driving, I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who helped out. It goes to show there are still helpful, friendly people in the motor trade who will go beyond what's necessary to help out.
Gareth at the RAC
Mr Bradbury and all the staff at Bradbury's Garage
and as always to Jason and the lads at the Lion Garage for sorting me out yet again
Ben
truely a St valentines day massacre!
)
on i'm going to put them on my Avant and see if I like them this weekend.
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