Willie, the Jeep, and his Mojo - got it back.

 This is a blog about Willie, the Jeep and his Mojo! This is the way Willie looked just before we hooked him up to head home.  ( I know some of the pictures I've posted before, but bare with me...)

This is the way he looked about 25 miles south of the US border. The whole part of the towing package that was attached to the Jeep broke off. (metal fatigue and many miles of horrid Mexican roads and topes took their toll.) It and the lights are under the Jeep. Still hooked up to the tow bar. Luckily Willie ran over the mess instead of taking off in a different direction. 

We were really lucky. A very nice man driving by stopped and helped take the mess out from under Willie and unattached it from the tow bar. If not for him we would probably still be there standing there staring at it.  He was a mechanic and had tools that made the job easier. 

So I drove the Jeep and Bill the RV across the border to Amado AZ. While there we asked a mechanic we knew if he had a welder who could weld or replace the part that went on the Jeep. Yes, he did. He did and he also gave Bill Covid. When it was time to leave Amado Bill was sick with Covid so our son came down to pick us up and drive the RV towing the Jeep home. Bill hooked up the Jeep to the RV. All the way home our son complained about the way Jeep felt being towed. 

Well after we were home a while and Bill was feeling a little better he went to look at the welding job...no wonder it felt terrible to tow it. One side of the thingies the bar hooked into were over an inch offset.

The Jeep crabbed all the way home. Tires were worn also. The badly welded side.

The good side.

For years we have known a great welder here in Vegas. Luckily I found his phone number and he isn't far from where we live. So over we went to see if he could fix it. Bill and Rick looking at what had to be done. They were taking a picture of what needed to be done. 

Rick cutting off all the bad stuff. 

Measuring to make sure all he did was lined up the way it should have been. 

He worked his magic and all was well. 

Back at Rick's shop another day to have the bar put on that the lights were attached to. 

No idea what we are looking at here.

Building the bar. 

And there it is. Perfect. Did I mention Rick is a great welder. And he can figure anything out. 

TA DA!

The trip home from AZ really messed with Willie. He was really out of alignment! So here he is getting that fixed. While up on rack the worker noticed a huge piece of metal in one of the tires. So all tires replaced that day too. The front ones had been somewhat damaged in the drag home any way. 

Bill has been feeling somewhat better the last week or so - more about that another time, keep fingers crossed for him.) So here he is painting the new hitch part and light bar and bumper. 

Sure looks better painted. 

One more coat. 

After a few trips to Lowes and Walmart to buy tools and washers and nuts etc. he started to put the lights on. One a day. 

So Willie has his Mojo back. And Bill is so much happier. 

The red on the front of the grill is a reflection of Bill's shirt. Gasoline here is now well over $5.20 a gallon.