But, business before pleasure.
After passing over a deep gutter crossing at Forbes yesterday, the Tadpole immediately began making a very loud scraping sound. The Prop thought that the tow bar must have broken off!
However, a brief inspection revealed that the bolt and plate which holds in place the frame that retains the spare tyre under the rear floor had disappeared. This had allowed the frame to bounce out and, under the weight of the spare wheel, to scrape on the road.
Not as bad as the Prop had supposed but nevertheless measures had to be taken to prevent a recurrence.
More in hope than expectation we took the Tadpole to the local Dubbo Toyota Service/Spare Parts dealer. The Prop asked the man at the service desk whether he had in stock a spare wheel retaining plate and bolt for a 1987 Toyota Hi-Ace. Not unexpectedly the man at the service desk said "No".
He suggested instead that I could go to the shop next door and buy a nylon cable tie, passs it through the bolt hole and around the retaining frame and Bob's your uncle!
The alacrity with which this solution was offered caused the Prop to wonder whether or not the loss of the spare wheel retaining plate and bolt from Toyotas is a common problem - such that service dealers would be wise to hold adequate supplies of the necessary parts?
In any case, the Prop is not convinced that a nylon cable tie is likely to be a durable solution.
Time will tell.
Off to the zoo then.
Not much to report.
Very good zoo through which you can cycle or walk or even drive through in your own car and stop more or less wherever you like to inspect the numerous animals, many of which are endangered and form part of the zoo's international captive breeding programme.
2 comments:
Was it a genuine Toyota cable tie? Wouldn’t trust it otherwise.
Genuine K-Mart cable tie but fully approved by the Toyota Service Desk man at Dubbo. Fingers crossed.
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