That time a long haul driver told me my air bag setup was garbage

I was at a Love's in Amarillo last month and this old driver named Hank watched me air up my helper bags. He said my compressor was undersized and I'd burn it out pulling a heavy trailer through the mountains. Six weeks later and sure enough, the compressor died on I-40 near Flagstaff. Should have listened to him. Anyone else had a random stranger give you solid advice that you ignored?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan29d ago

Six weeks exactly, wow! That's wild how precise his prediction was. I had something similar happen with a tire guy at a Flying J in Oklahoma who warned me my trailer tires were mismatched. He said the different tread patterns would cause heat buildup and blow one out. I brushed him off because they were practically new. Sure enough, two months later a tire blew on 95 in Georgia at 2 in the morning. Scared the life out of me. That old Hank really knew his stuff about compressors and load ratings, you gotta give him credit. Sometimes these random truck stop strangers have seen so many rigs fail they can spot problems from a mile away.

mark_ward29d ago

Man I used to be one of those people who thought truck stop mechanics were just trying to upsell you or scare you into spending money you didn't have. But after having a similar thing happen with a old timer at a Love's in Ohio who told me my serpentine belt had a tiny crack starting on the inside edge I couldn't even see, I changed my tune completely. He was dead right about it snapping within a week and it would have taken out my alternator and water pump if I'd kept driving. Now I listen to every single one of those guys because they've eyeballed literally thousands of rigs and know exactly what's about to let go.

the_drew29d ago

Right? It's like these guys have some kind of sixth sense for when your rig is about to crap out on you. But at the same time, I've also had a guy at a Petro in Texas try to convince me my transmission fluid was "burned" and needed a full flush for $400. He was real insistent about it too. Turns out it was just dark from being a tiny bit old, and the truck ran fine for another 50,000 miles. So it's a TOTAL coin flip whether they're a genuine wizard like Hank or just trying to scare you into a sale. Makes you REALLY appreciate the ones who turn out to be right, because the fakes make you look paranoid.