Learning to be a mechanic!

[ET Manx]

I had an unfortunate, but fortunate incident with the buggy today. Unfortunate in that I lost my steering while driving. Fortunate in that I had just turned into the Lindale American Legion driveway to put the buggy in an Antique Car Show at the Legion's Armed Forces Day Celebration. Also fortunate that I had people around that could help me out & I was close to home & at the end of the day, I just went home & got my trailer & loaded it up.

At least it didn't break when I was flying around curves at 60 or 70 mph or taking my neighborhood kids for a ride around the block!

I found a piece of the hard orange plastic (urethane?) steering coupler on the road, another piece was still attached & the rest is somewhere out there still.

A retired mechanic rigged it so I could steer my way onto the Legion grounds & park. Just made it where I needed to be before it broke again. This guy said I needed to get a rag joint instead of the less flexible hard plastic one I had.

What do y'all have & what do y'all think is best & where do I get one?

If you remember, I have David's Maroon Manx. I was scared to drive it on the trailer when I first got it and never tried it again, so it was really scary driving it on the trailer with no steering!

I appreciate all comments & opinions & I won't get my feelings hurt if you laugh cuz I'm scared of a trailer!

Georganne

[Bryan Porter]

Use a rag joint the old guy was right the red ones are no good.



Quit acting like a girl and drive it on the trailer.

[GregR]

Yup, the stock steering coupler is great. There's a long string over on TheSamba about this as well.
I switched to stock from urethane about a year ago. I don't drive my buggy a lot, but it was very warped and had a small crack near the mounting bolts.
Really glad you weren't driving fast when it went. And just think of your buggy as a fat motorcycle when driving it onto the trailer...you'll be fine!
I imagine Hawkeye or Doug at Qualitat has a stock rag joint coupler so you can still make the Buggy Blast.

[ET Manx]

Thanks Greg & Bryan. I'll call & see if I can get one & put it on this week.

I still can't come to the Buggy Blast though cuz I gots a family wedding to go to in Fulton even though the groom, my nephew, thought I was a burglar & tried to shoot me once!

I had to take my motorcycle to a shop in Houston last week & I loaded it up in the back of my truck so it would be cold & they could do everything I wanted right away. I backed my truck against a retaining wall & drove the motorcycle straight in. I unloaded it the same way. However, I couldn't even watch the shop unload & reload it down their skinny little ramps. The shop owner loaded it. He turned it on, gave it gas & as it was going up the ramp, he jumped into the truck. Wouldn't that scare you too?

Thanks again for your help.

Georganne

[will]

Glad to see this thread. I ordered one of those red urethane couplings when I ordered the steering box, but it didn't fit like I wanted it too. Suppose I'll junk it now.