Urgent/Sad - Broke in Riverside

[fjefman]

And we are off. Belt came in, is installed and I’m back to having a fully functioning vehicle again.


Certain a big shout out to the team at Raceway Ford here in Riverside CA. They sourced the belt quickly and even let me borrow a mechanic and 1/2 drive to assist with the install. Great people and make me proud to be part of the Ford Family.

Lessons learned.

1. Don’t drive cross country with a (likely) 12 year old belt in your vehicle
2. Carry a spare belt JIC and have the tools to install it.
3 Be thankful when you break down a 5 miles from a cord dealer and not 1/2 way between Vegas and LA.
4. This forum is great

And sadly, the most painful lesson was this- don’t forget to put away your Fiamma Awning when you drive away from the side of the road in a rage because the tow truck didn’t show up after 4.5hrs. Forgetting that can pull the awning off the vehicle and cause many hundreds of dollars of repairs. :-(

Thanks for all of the replies to this thread. I’m starting my journey again now….

[Twoxentrix]

^^^^^^^ The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly ^^^^^^^^
Bittersweet experience for sure!

[E-350]

Happy you can move on and I hope you can fix your awning!

[marret]

Happy you were able to get it resolved and move on. Excellent for the Ford dealer.

I had my belts changed along with tensioners, fan clutch, radiator hoses, etc. a year ago. I carry extra belts, my van uses two, and a few other things...starter, fuel pump, etc. Truthfully, until today I only had an extra alternator belt. This experience made me get the second belt. Not carrying an extra alternator, yet.