No longer COJ

The big BBTOJ delivered today.  I gently chided the driver that the "object" had been out for delivery since 0423AM.  The driver said he didn't get to work until after nine.   He confirmed by checking the tag on the package.

In the end it really didn't matter.  I had the choice of spending ~$80 to have it delivered "tomorrow" (that's > 2x days in a rental car), or ~$60 for 2nd day delivery (~ 2 days rental car) or I could just suck up the inconvenience of not having a car ($0).  

Anyway, the drive shaft arrived today and is now re-installed.  The car is now a lot smoother to drive.  There was a bit of a scare as one diff bolt turned up missing.  These are close tolerance bolts not available at the local hardware store.  I enlisted the SCS crew to help find the missing bolt, with the "failure is not an option" speech.  The SCSon finally located the errant bolt... it was stuck to the magnet on the backside of the "trouble light".  Dang,,,   That's exactly why I invoked young eyes in the search.

The initial test drive went smooth, but I declined to take it out on the freeway as I had neglected to firmly torque a drive wheel.

That was a quarter-kilo-buck well spent.  I don't mind spending money to solve problems, and this seems to be $$$ well spent.  The new drive shaft has grease-able and has replaceable U-joints.  But quite frankly, I do not ever expect to have to service either.  The car is already at ~220kmi,  If it (and I) last another 100K, will it still be my problem?

I think not. (but I hope so!)

In the short run, the car is off the jacks and I again have wheels beside the 10-speed.  Woot, life is good! I wish you as well!