What a good time this was. However, just like the other Drift events, travels to this one was no smooth ride.
The Power Cruise originated in Australia with a very large number of people showing off their vehicles is a variety of ways - drifting, car show, short drag races, and burnout competitions. In addition, those who wouldn't normally have the opportunity to drive on a race course are able to during the events (with a specific set of rules, of course).
For once, we finally left at a decent time. We weren't scrambling. We didn't do any last minute changes that made the car unpredictable. The drive down there however, was a different story.
After about 4 hours of driving, we noticed a loud ticking sound coming from under the motor. Tried to find it, and without success, we decided to continue and hope we found the situation. We trucked onto Nacgadoches, TX and stopped for gas. The ticking noise was louder and only occurred under low rpm situations. So, we looked and looked...checked piping, heat shields...everything looked bolted on securely still. The next possibility was the transmission. Out of curiosity, Axle pulled the inspection plate from under the transmission. After some looking, we finally discovered that a flywheel bolt had come out completely and was being thrown around. He pushed it out of the way, and we fired it up. Still the ticking, but it wasn't as loud. Thinking it might be that one still hitting, we had 5 more left to go and kept trucking. 5 miles later...rev. Gas and rev. I've completely lost my torque converter. Axle pulled the inspection plate off again, and we found the same bolt still there and an additional bolt. Without any other parts hanging out, we only assumed the remaining were sheared off. However, with how the Allison transmissions are designed, there was no way of telling without pulling the transmission.
After some thought, we said why not. We started to pull parts apart and researched what the bolt size was to turn the crank pulley. With these Allison transmissions, you pull the starter, and that leaves a hole for the flywheel bolts. You then turn the crank and pull/install the bolts one at a time through the starter. Our plan was to make sure every hole had one.
Problem 1: We didn't have the correct socket to turn the crank.
Problem 2: Even if we found a solution for the crank, we didn't have flywheel bolts.
It was now 9:30pm, and we were hot... Pulled along the side of the road between Nacgadoches and Lufkin, we located an O'Reilly's that closed at 10:00pm. We pulled out the drift car, and Axle and Lindsey drove to the O'Reilly's to be greeted with a few guys that were of no help. They appeared ready to go home, didn't have the parts, didn't offer any help, and referred them to the Advanced Auto down the street. Unfortunately, they had closed at 9pm. So at this moment...we were stuck.
Scrambling to find out how we would make it to Houston, I was able to get of the shop guys to bring a truck down. The truck had a water pump leak and bad U-joints, so I was scared if we would make it there and back. However...we've made it this far, let's go. He arrived around 8am. We unhooked the trailer, pulled my truck forward with a tow strap, and hooked the "backup" tow pig onto the trailer. Called the wrecker and they brought out a flat bed. I have to admit. Watching my truck with a 7"ish lift on a flatbed was interesting. We went on to the nearest GMC dealership and dropped off the truck.
Then on to Houston. I leave out some of the other details...but in a nutshell, I couldn't find a rental to get my guy back home. He couldn't stay the entire time, so as a last resort and only option....we rented the smallest Uhaul I could find. It was quite entertaining to rent a Uhaul just as transportation. But that's what needed to be done. We finally arrived to MSR Houston approximately 3-4pm and tried to finish out the rest of the day. By that time, several of the driver's were done and out with car issues. It was a bummer, but we made it safe. Next >>>> The drifting.
Bryan Lin
CEO, The Motorsports Authority, Inc. | MSAStore.com | BCRacingDirect.com
After about 4 hours of driving, we noticed a loud ticking sound coming from under the motor. Tried to find it, and without success, we decided to continue and hope we found the situation. We trucked onto Nacgadoches, TX and stopped for gas. The ticking noise was louder and only occurred under low rpm situations. So, we looked and looked...checked piping, heat shields...everything looked bolted on securely still. The next possibility was the transmission. Out of curiosity, Axle pulled the inspection plate from under the transmission. After some looking, we finally discovered that a flywheel bolt had come out completely and was being thrown around. He pushed it out of the way, and we fired it up. Still the ticking, but it wasn't as loud. Thinking it might be that one still hitting, we had 5 more left to go and kept trucking. 5 miles later...rev. Gas and rev. I've completely lost my torque converter. Axle pulled the inspection plate off again, and we found the same bolt still there and an additional bolt. Without any other parts hanging out, we only assumed the remaining were sheared off. However, with how the Allison transmissions are designed, there was no way of telling without pulling the transmission.
After some thought, we said why not. We started to pull parts apart and researched what the bolt size was to turn the crank pulley. With these Allison transmissions, you pull the starter, and that leaves a hole for the flywheel bolts. You then turn the crank and pull/install the bolts one at a time through the starter. Our plan was to make sure every hole had one.
Problem 1: We didn't have the correct socket to turn the crank.
Problem 2: Even if we found a solution for the crank, we didn't have flywheel bolts.
It was now 9:30pm, and we were hot... Pulled along the side of the road between Nacgadoches and Lufkin, we located an O'Reilly's that closed at 10:00pm. We pulled out the drift car, and Axle and Lindsey drove to the O'Reilly's to be greeted with a few guys that were of no help. They appeared ready to go home, didn't have the parts, didn't offer any help, and referred them to the Advanced Auto down the street. Unfortunately, they had closed at 9pm. So at this moment...we were stuck.
Scrambling to find out how we would make it to Houston, I was able to get of the shop guys to bring a truck down. The truck had a water pump leak and bad U-joints, so I was scared if we would make it there and back. However...we've made it this far, let's go. He arrived around 8am. We unhooked the trailer, pulled my truck forward with a tow strap, and hooked the "backup" tow pig onto the trailer. Called the wrecker and they brought out a flat bed. I have to admit. Watching my truck with a 7"ish lift on a flatbed was interesting. We went on to the nearest GMC dealership and dropped off the truck.
Then on to Houston. I leave out some of the other details...but in a nutshell, I couldn't find a rental to get my guy back home. He couldn't stay the entire time, so as a last resort and only option....we rented the smallest Uhaul I could find. It was quite entertaining to rent a Uhaul just as transportation. But that's what needed to be done. We finally arrived to MSR Houston approximately 3-4pm and tried to finish out the rest of the day. By that time, several of the driver's were done and out with car issues. It was a bummer, but we made it safe. Next >>>> The drifting.
Bryan Lin
CEO, The Motorsports Authority, Inc. | MSAStore.com | BCRacingDirect.com
