Game run break downs

masco73

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I was on a game run with a friend yesterday( I was just along for the ride) and about 1.5 hours into our trip the muffler breaks in the middle and starts dragging under the car. We pull of the highway and without any tools manage to get it out of there. Well to say the least his van is a rust bucket and in the process a hole was puched into a rusty brake line when the muffler hit it. Thus ending the trip. So, no games were retrieved and between the towing and waiting to get someone to come pick us up we didn't get home until about 1am.

While we were waiting for our ride for many hours, we started wondering if anybody else had war stories about game run breakdowns. Seeing that most of us drive old beaters to go do our runs, I imagine it happens alot. I happen to have a 1992 ford van which I have had up to 3 uprights and other parts in at one time.

Come on people, share your story. It will make my friend feel better.
 
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A broken muffler?!?! You don't need no stinken muffler, man.........

I drove a car for months one time with no muffler on it. And everytime I drove past where it feel off, I would still see it laying in the weeds on the side of the road.

I drove another car one time when the master cyclinder was shot. Everytime I came to a light I pumped the break pedal, and then stepped on the emergency break to stop the car.
 
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This is a good one. I never would've believed this could happen if it hadn't happened to my buddy when he was delivering a game to me. He was on a 4 lane hwy(US 52), and had my Taito Stratovox (I bought from him) strapped to his snowmobile trailer, pulling with his Ford Ranger. He's hauled TONS of games so don't ask me how his straps came loose, and the game fell off the trailer onto the highway. He said he knew when it fell off, and looked into his rearview mirror only to see it sliding down the highway. He quickly pulled over, then saw that the game had slid to the edge of the road, at least out of the way of traffic behind him. He drove up a little way so he could turn around; got back to the game expecting the damn thing to be shattered, glass, monitor, etc. since it had slid down the road at 55mph. Amazingly, the only damage to the game was on the back side, the 2 huge bolt-heads that stick out were worn down to the cabinet's rear door! No scratches other than that! How could it be possible?! When he got it to my place and powered it up the damn thing came on and played perfectly. Front glass nor monitor had any damage at all. Weirdest damn thing that ever happened, let me tell you. I guess it could be called a breakdown because he lost the damn game on the highway and had to load it back up with traffic whizzing by!

Edit: I have since traded the Stratovox for a Tempest(the Tempest was non-working but was an easy fix)
 
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This is a good one. I never would've believed this could happen if it hadn't happened to my buddy when he was delivering a game to me. He was on a 4 lane hwy(US 52), and had my Taito Stratovox (I bought from him) strapped to his snowmobile trailer, pulling with his Ford Ranger. He's hauled TONS of games so don't ask me how his straps came loose, and the game fell off the trailer onto the highway. He said he knew when it fell off, and looked into his rearview mirror only to see it sliding down the highway. He quickly pulled over, then saw that the game had slid to the edge of the road, at least out of the way of traffic behind him. He drove up a little way so he could turn around; got back to the game expecting the damn thing to be shattered, glass, monitor, etc. since it had slid down the road at 55mph. Amazingly, the only damage to the game was on the back side, the 2 huge bolt-heads that stick out were worn down to the cabinet's rear door! No scratches other than that! How could it be possible?! When he got it to my place and powered it up the damn thing came on and played perfectly. Front glass nor monitor had any damage at all. Weirdest damn thing that ever happened, let me tell you. I guess it could be called a breakdown because he lost the damn game on the highway and had to load it back up with traffic whizzing by!

That is the craziest game haul story I have ever heard!!!!!!LOL! Right On!!!
 
This is a good one. I never would've believed this could happen if it hadn't happened to my buddy when he was delivering a game to me. He was on a 4 lane hwy(US 52), and had my Taito Stratovox (I bought from him) strapped to his snowmobile trailer, pulling with his Ford Ranger. He's hauled TONS of games so don't ask me how his straps came loose, and the game fell off the trailer onto the highway. He said he knew when it fell off, and looked into his rearview mirror only to see it sliding down the highway. He quickly pulled over, then saw that the game had slid to the edge of the road, at least out of the way of traffic behind him. He drove up a little way so he could turn around; got back to the game expecting the damn thing to be shattered, glass, monitor, etc. since it had slid down the road at 55mph. Amazingly, the only damage to the game was on the back side, the 2 huge bolt-heads that stick out were worn down to the cabinet's rear door! No scratches other than that! How could it be possible?! When he got it to my place and powered it up the damn thing came on and played perfectly. Front glass nor monitor had any damage at all. Weirdest damn thing that ever happened, let me tell you. I guess it could be called a breakdown because he lost the damn game on the highway and had to load it back up with traffic whizzing by!

Edit: I have since traded the Stratovox for a Tempest(the Tempest was non-working but was an easy fix)


Thats some crazy shit. At that kind of speed I would have thought it would explode into a million pieces.
 
Thats some crazy shit. At that kind of speed I would have thought it would explode into a million pieces.


I did too. Funny thing was those bolts were worn down perfectly flush with the back of the cabinet; and no scratches on the cabinet at all. Even the bottom of the cabinet had no dents or scratches; which you'd think it would've when it hit the highway. The trailer was low, but still, its almost unbelieveable. Super weird to say the least. Its like a higher presence was looking out for the game. Baffling!!
 
I lost a van engine picking up a minty non-working Joust for $100. Engine cost, $4500.

I lost a transmission picking up a working Mario Bros for $250. Transmission, $2500.

You can read about the Mario Bros story here http://www.thebasementarcade.com/roadtrips3.htm .

mariobrostrip3.jpg
 
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I posted this elsewhere but here goes:

I once drove from south Louisiana to Arkansas on a deserted stretch of Interstate in a borrowed truck with a broken gas gauge. On a long stretch of highway, I was pulled over for speeding. After the ticket was written, I found that the truck was out of gas - and I had no idea because the gauge was not working. The reason I didn't know, is because the truck had two tanks and the reserve tank was overfull - so I thought I had whatever was in the main tank, PLUS the reserve. As it turned out, the gauge was broken and the switch that you're supposed to be able to switch from one tank to the other was ALSO broken. So while I had a full tank of gas the whole time, the truck wouldn't use it!

The policeman who wrote me up drove me 20 miles BACK to the nearest gas station where I got a can of gas, and called my seller who was meeting me halfway at a BK. Then I took my can of gas 20 MILES BACK to the truck, put the gas in, and DRIVE 20 MILES BACK TO THE GAS STATION to fill up.

Then I made the rest of the drive. I was 2.5 hours late and almost lost the deal - for what??? A cabaret Tron, and one of the best collector stories of my life. And a ^&%*&^@$ $180 ticket.
 
Hey, it might be a little rusty but it gets the job done!

Update: Brakeline repair $100. Exhaust repair $400 and I'm now back in the hunt!
 

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Hahahaha, great stories guys! The stratovox getting road burn @ 55mph and surviving is a MIRACLE! I've seen what happens when you drop 'em two feet off a tailgate that isn't moving! :p In the hunt, welcome to KLOV and good van story! Soon the addiction will be coursing through your veins, your house will be overflowing in no time... What game did you guys miss out on picking up? Its happened countless times to me, but never lost one in the 10,000's of thousands of miles of arcade hauls I've done. Smoking the shit out of the clutch at ArcadeJunkie's house was a classic, and tore his driveway so bad it looked like a tank drove through there with giant long deep ruts spraying rocks for minutes straight! I've gone out in the morning once when I was heading to pickup a game and my tire was flat, I had to put my spare on to start the day's haul.
 
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