Mom, you may want to skip this one...

As I was waiting for the caulk to dry, I decided to run into town and get some things we needed, like paper towels and hot sauce. My truck rattled along in the usual way and I sang along with Tom Petty: "I'm not afraid of you running away, I get the feeling you won't". About two miles before my exit I accellerated and got into the left lane to get around an oversized vehicle - something hidden under a huge blue tarp. Around 70 the shaking got worse and I thought that one of my tires must be wearing unevenly. Then the vibrations got much, much worse and I was fighting to keep control of the wheel. I braked and the truck pulled to the left into the grass center median. The brakes weren't slowing the truck and I thought to myself: This is how it ends. I steered away from the oncoming lanes, or perhaps just fishtailed back onto the right lanes and then back into the median and the process repeated. All the swerving gave the brakes a chance to work and I ended up on the left shoulder going the appropriate way. I let out the sort of whoop I reserve for shooting rapids, one that says that was fun, but I'm a damn lucky man.

I got out to survey the damage: the tread of right rear tire was shredded but somehow it was holding air, left rear had chunks of tread missing, there were all kinds of lines hanging down and the whole affair smelled like antifreeze. I cut out one of the rear coolant lines to keep it from dragging; the return line was obviously misisng but nowhere to be seen. I took it around to the side of the truck that was not being buffeted by passing tractor-trailers and started to fashion it into a "U" shape. A driver going the other direction stopped and asked if I was alright and needed any help. I assured him that I was OK. He responded to his wife, "Honey, get OnStar Emergency Services on the phone".
"Oh I'm fine, I don't need those guys."
"Actually, I have to call to cancel them."
He'd heard about me on his scanner and had assumed that I was in a lot more trouble than I appeared to be. He could have been right, but as it was I waved him off letting him know that I didn't need any help changing the tire and that the one with the missing chunks would probably make it to town. Some of the broken lines were to carry freon to the rear air, but they weren't causing problems. I took my "U" shaped piece of metal I bridged one coolant line to the other so I wouldn't lose any more antifreeze. I keep a couple of hose clamps in the back of my truck for just such an occurence. I also had an orange reflective triangle and set it up so I could change the tire as safely as I could. Changing tires is easy and I packed up all the gear, waited for a break in traffic and started to drive to mile to town.

About half a mile from town my temperature gauge was in the red and I pulled over. I scrounged up all the half full antifreeze jugs and drinking water containers and dumped them all in the coolant overflow tank. If I was going to wait for this thing to cool down enough to add water properly, it wouldn't have been on the side of the road. I nursed the truck into the Walmart parking lot, the needle flirting with overheating all the way. The nearby gas station had a spigot and I dumped some more in the overflow tank and went to the nearby Taco Bell to let the whole system cool down. One Ultimate Chalupa later, the radiator was cool enough to add water and I was able to drive it the rest of the way across the parking lot to the Walmart Express Tire center. I got them started changing the two garbage ones and then called my brother to let him know I would be back late. After telling him this story is when I started losing the cool focus that let me make all the repairs and get back to town. I started shaking a bit and very nearly threw up in the paint aisle.

Luckily, the Express Tire Center took almost an hour and a half and so by the time I had to drive home I was feeling fine. Mostly fine. I saw my tire tracks in and out and in and out of the median and five hundred yards away saw my missing coolant line sticking up out of the ground.

Here's a picture of what I assume caused the problem: the right rear tire. The heat of the day caused the tread to delaminate and caused me to lose control. The shaking pushed me into the median and probably jarred the lines loose. I don't know what could have caused the left rear to get torn up, but I'm sure that my two new tires will hold up much better. I may never know, as I feel that it's time to sell this truck and get something with airbags.