Almost had a "Ron White moment" today with the GTX...

[moparedtn]

Some of y'all I'm sure are familiar with comedian Ron White.
He used to tell the story of taking the family mini-van to "Sears, the Trusted Name in Automotive Service" - and having tires put on.
As the family left later on...well, I'll let him say it:
(CAUTION: LANGUAGE - hey, it's Ron White, you know?)


Now, the reason I bring that clip up is today I have the GTX out for a Friday stroll, running errands, having lunch with the wife, etc.
(It's important for y'all to remember here that it hasn't been very long since the GTX was in the body shop, getting all manner of little stuff taken care of for like 3 weeks)
I come back to the car after doing some biz at the Murphy's, open the door and climb inside, and go to close the door....
which promptly tries to come off the car....
(Remember the punch line to Ron White's story here...)
I do a quick diagnosis and determine that the pin in the lower hinge is BARELY in at all and has, in fact, almost totally fallen out.
(I know what you're thinking here and yes, the body shop had the door off when working on the car.)
If not for the top hinge hanging on for dear life, the door would have completed it's gravity-proving mission.

Almost, Ron. Almost....I can see it now:
"The door fell off...
THE DOOR FELL OFF.
THE DOOR FELL THE F%^& OFF!"
I managed to get the door closed properly with me in the car (no mean feat there!) and got her back to the garage, where with the help of the floor jack and a hammer, I was able to correct things.

Y'all been wondering why I haven't been singing the praises of said body shop since I got the GTX back?
Yeah, add this one to the list of stuff I've had to fix since getting her back.
'Nuff said.

 

[Budnicks]

that sucks

good you caught it too

have fun

(I love Ron White's comedy too, a bonus)

 

[moparedtn]

that sucks
good you caught it too
have fun
(I love Ron White's comedy too, a bonus)

Yeah, I did a quick (and probably spastic-looking) maneuver to grab it before things got weird.
Oh, almost forgot...the pin "staked" back in place pretty firmly with some judicious work with the hammer, so I think it was just them not finishing the task - sort of like the other things I've fixed of theirs.
They did 95% of the job just fine - but just like my own guys at work, getting them to finish that last 5% can be a mofo….

 

[Lefty71]

Ron White used to hunt deer with that van too!

 

[Hey-O]

You're lucky the door didn't smack the hell out of the body!!

 

[moparedtn]

You're lucky the door didn't smack the hell out of the body!!

TOTALLY agree there, my friend.
That precise thought crossed my mind at the time and prevented me from doing what probably comes instinctively - namely, taking another swing at it the first time the door didn't latch.
The misaligned latch probably prevented that from happening, hitting quite bluntly the striker before the point where the door would normally have been pulled-to enough to engage the latch.
Whew...

 

[moparsaver]

Thank god you caught it...just in the nick of time!

 

[yella71]

That's just f,ing perfect...

 

[moparedtn]

That's just f,ing perfect...

Kinda what I thought at that moment, yeah...