Feature Editor Craig Perronne said the winner of the "In a Pinch I Used..." contest would include the words "...the intestinal tract of a wild boar to fix...", but alas, his dream was never realized. Instead, we got a few clever repairs, a few old-school reminders, and a bunch extoling the functionality of panty hose.
Here you will find the winner as well as some infotainment ideas that could just come in handy if you're stranded under similar circumstances. Of course, we're just reporting what your fellow four wheelers have done in a temporary situation; we by no means suggest these as a repair for your vehicle.
Winner:
My clutch-cable retainer broke through the firewall on my '86 Isuzu. I used the wire hanger from my dry cleaning, doubled over a few times to make a long V shape. I wedged it between the retainer washer and the base of the master cylinder.
Shawn Nichols Bloomington, IN
Quotables:
"I used a Swiss Army knife to remove a driveshaft."
"[The rim of the spare tire] hit the gas tank [during a landing] and it started leaking gas. By using hose and hose clamps, we ran a new gas line into the emptied windshield-washer tank."
"I broke the ball-and-socket joint on the bracket that attached my accelerator cable and my carb. I used bailing wire to reattach the two and make it back home."
"I used my girlfriend's pantyhose to make a belt that had just blown."
"I used my girlfriend's nylons for an alternator/water pump belt. It lasted 30 miles but they did stretch and dim the lights a little."
"The windshield-wiper motor gears were totally stripped out, and [a storm we were driving through] was so bad, we couldn't see anything without the wipers. I pulled over and took the laces out of my boots, tied one to each wiper arm, and passed one through the driver's window and one through the passenger's, then we alternated pulling the laces, driver's side, passenger's side, driver's side...."
"We didn't have anything to hold up the muffler but a pair of shoe laces...."
"I once used two large nails scavanged from the side of a highway and some bailing wire to hold the fuel pump on in my '66 CJ-5. It leaked a little oil while driving, but it got me home that day."
"We used a ratchet strap to pinch a tire back onto the rim and then filled the tire with air from a CO2 canister. It worked, but every 2 miles we had to air up again."
"After my fuel pump went south, I used an ATV tiedown strap to hold a gas can to the hood. Then, using a strategically placed buckle (you know, the one all '73-'80 GM pickups have), I ran fuel hose to the carb. I had to stop frequently to pressurize the can, but I got back to civilization."
"I smacked my Toyota on a hard dirt ledge and ended up wrecking the splines on my rag joint. I used vice grips to hold the whole thing together."
"I used vice grips, clamped onto the steering column, as a steering wheel."
"I used black pepper to seal a pin-hole leak in the radiator."
"I used a coax cable and duct tape to suspend a fallen gas tank."