Gaskets and Axles and Bearings, Oh My!

How I navigated through four states and a ridiculous amount of mechanical issues

It was 11 am. We had set our alarm for 6:30 that morning so we could hit the road earlier in the day than usual. We were sitting in the the parking lot after eating breakfast at IHOP. The kids were in the car. My girlfriend, Annie, and I were sitting in the RV trailer having a rare moment to ourselves. “I can’t handle the stress of another day of breakdowns,” I said, my voice cracking into tears. “We are sitting right next door to a car dealership. I am going to walk over and see what trucks they have in our price range,” I said.

Her much-beloved and sexy, souped-up black Toyota 4Runner, “Black Beauty,” had been giving us trouble for the previous two months. First, we took it in for nearly $2000 of work to get it “road ready. ” Then, a few days later, when we finally got on the road, we blew a head gasket. The car got towed back to the shop and we got dropped off at the campground we’d left earlier that morning. Two and a half weeks and $3500 later, on our second attempt to leave town, we had a check engine light come on again. I’ll spare you the rest of the saga, but suffice it to say that we have not gone more than 3 days of traveling without a mechanical issue — and we will not be returning to that first mechanic…