You live and you learn, so they say.
Well, sometimes you learn. Other times you are just too stubborn to learn, which is one of the reasons I found myself trying to repair the driver’s side window on our pickup.
It hasn’t worked correctly for a few years but we just kept it rolled up and closed. Then it fell down into the door. No amount of tape would keep it up. But that just meant we drove it with an open window. No big deal in good weather. Another deal entirely in the rain. Rain blew in and on the highway big trucks didn’t just spray your car, they spray you. Since the air conditioner broke also, driving in the summer heat became an ordeal.
So I went to the internet to see if there was anything about repairing a 1999 truck. Amazingly enough there was. There were videos galore and it looked like it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Until I began.
The inside door panel is held on by five screws, two can be removed by using a Phillips head screwdriver. The other three are something called T-25s, I think. They need a special six sided screwdriver. I thought I was in luck because I actually had some of these special screwdrivers from my last disastrous repair project.
So, still not understanding why the company couldn’t use the same screws for everything, I removed them all and carefully scattered them on the truck floorboard so they could easily be lost.
The door panel was still on because you need a special crank removal tool (really the name) to pry off the window crank. After another quick look at the internet I found a guy who said you could use needle nose pliers so I saved a few bucks there.
Again I was in luck because I had several pair of these. I buy a pair and then when it comes time to use them, they have disappeared into the basement. They all surface eventually but never when I need them so I’m always buying another pair.
After a mighty struggle, the crank somehow came off in my hand and, oh joy, the spring was still attached and ready to be put back on, if I ever got the window repaired. But don’t count your chickens until they are hatched, they say.
The panel was off but still attached to the outside door handle by a rod from the inside door opener. Rather than carefully remove it, I messed around and broke a part off the inside handle. Only then did the rod come free of the outside door handle. I put it with the other stuff on the floor.
ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY
I removed the window regulator which is this metal piece with all sorts of angles and a mean looking gear. After a few days I was able to buy a piece for the inside door handle and also a new window regulator.
Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day and I have never fixed anything that quickly either. By now I’m a week into this project and wishing it would just go away. But now not only was the window permanently down but when you were driving you had to open the door by reaching outside for the handle.
Well, sometimes you have to tear down to build up, I told myself. Having torn down just about everything there was, I tried to rebuild.
After many attempts, the window is back up and in place. All I need now is one bolt I seem to have lost. The door panel also is ready to go back on — if I had all the screws.
DEALING WITH BOGUS TRAFFIC TICKET
But now I am busy with another project. I have to convince the city of Chicago that I didn’t park illegally Aug. 11 because neither I nor my car was there. Since they have the wrong license plate on the ticket, I’m not even sure how they got my name. In fact, when I tried to straighten things out on their specially designed website, it refused to believe my last name was Spiers.
This should be a wonderful mess. At least it makes the door look easy in comparison.
It’s always something, they say.
Post time: Nov-11-2021
