In my previous post I mentioned that I had thought the J.A. Pierce mag wheels
on my TR4-A were of the bolt on variety, but that I had found out that they
were knock-off instead. I found this out the hard way unfortunately, and this
is the story of what happened.
When I drove to Birmingham to look at the car, I had reserved at the U-Haul
there an auto-transport - after verifying that my truck was capable of pulling
it. I looked at the car and made the deal with the seller (a great guy who is
into Studebakers), then went to pick up my trailer. However, the people at the
U-Haul center refused to rent me the auto-transport, claiming that my truck
wasn't capable of pulling it with a car on it. While I was arguing with the one
rep about this, another one rented the only remaining one on the lot to someone
else! So, after making it VERY clear that I was doing it under protest (and
taking out their Safe-Tow insurance), I rented a dolly and went back to pick up
the car.
While loading the TR on the dolly, I noticed that the 'spinner' was missing off
the right rear wheel, but thought it of no concequence since I (and the seller)
were under the impression that these were bolt-on wheels. In all fairness, I
do not recall seeing any part of the spindle showing on that rim to clue any of
us to the fact that it was a knock off wheel.
I'm quite sure that all of you know what happened now. I made it from
Birmingham, AL to about 50 miles from my home in Arkansas(distance traveled 356
miles) before that wheel came off. As it came off, it tore the fiberglass rear
fender off. fortunately, that was the extent of the damage to the TR, but now I
am stuck with trying to locate a replacement fiberglass fender and a matching
knock-off wheel. So, can anyone help me? I'd like to have some concrete
information when I deal with the U-Haul insurance adjuster.
thanks in advance!
Raymond L. Hatfield
'65 TR4-A CTC53742LO
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