Here Are Your Fourth of July Travel Horror Stories

Photo: Dodge

“Not so much a travel story, as my old Neon always had a habit of breaking down right before Fourth of July weekend.

“I think it was 2004, I’d only had my Neon a year and was still fairly green when it came to doing my own car repairs. I was supposed to drive to Cincy that weekend to visit my friend, get under-age drunk and watch fireworks from my friend’s friend’s sweet condo on Mt. Adams.

“My rear brakes had been making noise and vibrating, so they needed changing before the 2.5 hour drive. I’d bought a drum brake kit but hadn’t got one with the extra hardware (because I was young and poor). So of course, I snapped a spring while trying to remove the drum shoes. None of the local parts stores had them in stock, and no one would let me drive their car or take me to one that did, so I had to cancel my trip and wait for parts to arrive after the holiday weekend. Huge bummer.

“The year after, I was driving home in late May and heard a weird tapping noise. Then, suddenly, the car lurched and died. Turns out the noise was my lose timing belt due to a failed tensioner. Bent eight valves and started trying to fix it myself. To get around, I bought a beater Dodge Dynasty for $150. Things went slowly on the fixing, and also because I decided since I had the motor apart, why not upgrade everything?

“By the week before the 4th, my Neon was still in pieces, and I’d blown up the transmission in the Dynasty (literally broke in half and caught fire), so I was without wheels and had made plans. So I towed the car a garage with several boxes of parts, but since I had meticulously labeled everything, they had it back together in a day. Got it back just in time to cruise through our town’s 4th of July festivities, with my new-and-improved Neon, with many more horsepower and the ability to do 2nd gear wheel spin even with the crappy three-speed auto.

“Oh, to be young and dumb again.”

We like your ambition here, but this does sound like a nightmare Fourth of July tradition you might not want to repeat in a hurry.

Suggested by: dbeach84