Can someone please tell me the point of the road box? The kind that you keep in your car/truck for a breakdown. If you breakdown, what are you going to be fixing on the side of the road with no parts? Other than jumper cables, tow strap, or emergency kit for winter, and maybe a 6 in 1 screwdriver, why have anything else? I'm not bashing, I just really want to know. I wanted to start a thread on the topic, but i'll just ask here.
Here's a good reason, a little story:
One time, I was driving alone in my 75 Chevrolet 1 ton south on the 395 (toward Bishop) through mammoth area in the dead of winter and I entered the pass just as the sun was setting. I was driving through the night to surprise my family.
Not long after the sun had set, my headlights, markers, dash lights, etc. started to flicker. It did this for a few miles then, all of a sudden they went considerably dim. The alternator stopped charging. Not wanting my engine to stall, I pulled over, grabbed my 4 D cell Mag Lite, and popped the hood to see if the belt had broke. It had not, it just threw the alternator belt, but I couldn't get it back on by hand, so I grabbed a 9/16" wrench and reset the belt. But while I was doing so, I discovered that the shaft on the alt wasn't turning. ...so that's why... The shaft had frozen.
I was about 40 miles away from where my phone signal dropped out with 180 miles before the next place I could go and there weren't many motorists on the road at this point and it was getting colder. I needed the alternator to work. Luckily, I had my tools. : )
With a pair of Channelocks, I was able to break the shaft free, but with the bearings toast, it had about 1/2 of play side to side. Then I put belt back on at a relatively low tension so it wouldn't shear the shaft. I drove that way for a while then the same thing happened again, and again, and again. It happened every 20 miles or so, and it would happen faster if I coasted as the alternator became hotter. Finally, it locked up and the belt broke. Now what?
Being that I hadn't seen a single motorist in nearly an hour, I switched the headlights off, took the Mag Lite and placed it on my dash, and I drove with the flashlight in one hand and the wheel in the other, all the lights off and the flashlight as my headlight all the way down from just before Mono Lake. I only turned on the headlights/running lights whenever I saw headlights coming.
When I arrived in Bishop it was almost 8pm (or was it 9). Luckily, an auto parts place was open and had my alternator in stock. A quick parking lot change of the alternator and belt, and I was on my way with 400 miles left to go. This was just one of many roadside fixes I have need a decent tool selection to get me out of a jam.
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