We crossed the Florida border at about 2:00 a.m. As we rolled within 100 miles of home, we reminded each other that with our AAA Plus membership, we get 100 miles of free towing. We were home free. Little did we know we had just jinxed ourselves.
With Georgia in our rear view mirror, and less than 100 miles to …
So you start the trip with a truck, add a Spitfire, then have the British car loan the truck some electrical parts. The truck fails, and you have to hope the Spit runs, so that you can finish the journey home.
Epic.
And that's what you get when take parts that have been infected with Lucas and put them on something else. No doubt that cause the mechanical failure of the driveshaft. 
I assume that you swapped the headlights back over?
Why did AAA not pick up the tow?
When you said you planned for AAA tow, I wonder if they might reject it because the design purpose of the truck along with the logo on the door make the vehicle look "commercial" and not cover by your "residential" policy.
If not that, the mention of F-350 now makes this a "medium duty truck" not a run of the mill car/truck your policy may be intended to cover.
Also, this was possibly not just the tow of one vehicle but the tow of a second vehicle as well (Spitfire) which may have been reason enough to reject.
Just one more thing 
I assume that you swapped the headlights back over?
Nice Tuna Nice
Great read!!!! Thanks for sharing.
Yes, the headlights were swapped back over. And I'm not totally sure why AAA turned them away. I assumed it was because it was a tow vehicle itself. I'll ask Tim when he pops back into the office.
Very nice. It will be funny. In a few weeks...
Everyone will take something different out of this story. I'm guessing the fuel tank didn't have much fuel in it and didn't drop gasoline all over the place. That could have added a much worse twist to this story. And yeah, trucks like that don't coast very far, even downhill.
Holy crap, I just realized - the crew on "How I Met Your Mother" is right. Note to self, remember this.
If it makes you feel better, I lost two of my three driveshaft bolts at the last rallycross and only discovered it when I left the venue only to get a massive vibration at 20mph. Had to jury-rig it and limp 60 miles through the 80mph mountain highways (going ~40mph with trucks trying to run over me) to a friend's houses where he had a couple of the bolts I needed...
Not that I believe in luck/karma/jinxing/etc., but, in my experience, celebrating "we're almost home" generally =
I'm pretty sure the Spitfire transferred some sort of karmic debt to the truck when you did the headlight swap. The good news is that you've thrown off the demons that were present in the Spitfire (as evidenced by it's trouble free drive the rest of the way) so now it should fine for years. It's the price you pay.
noddaz wrote: Very nice. It will be funny. In a few weeks...
Nope, I just laughed out loud at several of these posts. It's funny now.
And about those headlights... Rennie tipped the toolbox over in the dead-tired, dead-of-night fumbling that followed the driveshaft explosion, and some of the headlight mounting hardware went into the pitch-black, gasoline-soaked scrub on the roadside (because OF COURSE the tank was full--gas is cheaper in Georgia!).
So they duct-taped one of the headlamps back into the Spit.
Margie
Oh, and I think the official reason stated for not giving the ramp truck a tow was "no". Bolstered by the fact that they did, indeed, send a ramp truck to tow the ramp truck. Apparently "ramp truck" is not an industry recognized term. Or middle-of-the-night dispatchers just don't listen.
Margie
Marjorie Suddard wrote: So they duct-taped one of the headlamps back into the Spit. Margie
No wonder they worked when re-paired with Lucas.
Or the car was rewarding the lights for the job they did on the truck.
BTW, next time, remember bailing twine or wire. That way you can do an engine rebuild on the side of the road.
Real men would have at least thought about pulling the ramp truck with the spit. Or died trying. Just saying. No Truck Left Behind.
And by the way, hope that no one send you a bill for the EPA clean-up on the gas spill.
NOHOME wrote: Real men would have at least thought about pulling the ramp truck with the spit. Or died trying. Just saying. No Truck Left Behind.
Been there, done that. Sorry, Volkswagen Rabbit and four-puck race clutch. You didn't deserve to tow a motorhome. 
Actually, Tim wanted to tow the truck to the next exit with the Spit. Rennie said no.
They're good friends because they take turns being the rational one.
Margie
Marjorie Suddard wrote: Actually, Tim wanted to tow the truck to the next exit with the Spit. Rennie said no. They're good friends because they take turns being the rational one. Margie
I'm sitting in my office laughing out loud at that idea.
Buying a 40 year old ramp truck that has not moved in 20, and expecting to drive it home- yea, ok, one of the two is rational. But adding a SBC to carry back in said risky truck? No- there are no rational people in this decision anymore. Especially when you consider that someone had the bright idea to DRIVE the SBC that has not moved for how long? Just to finish the crazy journey.
If it were a restored SBC, maybe there was some rational thoughts going on.
But not the package that these to goofballs put together. 
This just in: I've been poking around the Spitfire, and there's absolutely no chance that the tailights were working for their drive home. 
The taillight harness is burned up and the fuse is blown.
The headlights work fine, though. They didn't even notice the lack of taillights–4:30 a.m. will do that to you.
Hmm, okay, I will give you that, Alfadriver. Let me amend that to "they take turns being the more rational one." Because, yeah, I'm not sure full rationality is ever achieved when Tim and Rennie are together.
Margie
Marjorie Suddard wrote: Actually, Tim wanted to tow the truck to the next exit with the Spit. Rennie said no. They're good friends because they take turns being the rational one. Margie
This cracked me up. I have a friend like that. Unfortunately there are, um, gaps in coverage.
Tom Suddard wrote: This just in: I've been poking around the Spitfire, and there's absolutely no chance that the tailights were working for their drive home.
Hard to claim they were driving so fast that nobody caught up to them. It is a Spitfire, afterall.
(and thankfully, it did not turn into an accident with someone approaching that didn't see them, whew. Easy to overlook, as one expects the lights to work more reliably than the front)
Marjorie Suddard wrote: Hmm, okay, I will give you that, Alfadriver. Let me amend that to "they take turns being the more rational one." Because, yeah, I'm not sure full rationality is ever achieved when Tim and Rennie are together. Margie
Really, this is one of the best stories.
IMHO, David and JG should sit down with Rennie and Tim to translate the story. While I really like Tim's writing, the thought of those two putting together this epic story is very inviting. Like I'm laughing at what they will write already.
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