Question of the Week: What’s The Scariest Noise Your Car (or Truck) Has Ever Made?—WINNER’S UPDATE — Explained
WINNER’S ANNOUNCEMENT:
We’re back to announce the winner for our Question of the Week, where our victor will accept a $25 credit for a hat or T-shirt from the BaT Gear Store and the acclaim of their peers.
Our question this week was: What’s the scariest noise your car (or truck) has ever made?
This week, @SteveIOMTT dominated the thread, and told us about several cacophonous automotive calamities he’s experienced in his life. But it was his first submission that garnered the most likes, and on that basis he is this week’s winner!
Congratulations, Steve. Check your email to claim your prize. Here was his story:
This happened to one of my coworkers: Wayne. We were in field service working for a Fortune 500 company that made gas turbines. Our job was to travel the world keeping customer’s engines running. Sketchy environments abounded; jungles, deserts or oil well platforms to name a few. It was a nomadic life that could be quite hairy at times. Self sufficiency and aplomb was the order of the day; we were on the pointy-end of the spear working without a net. Rules, at best, were suggestions. We were a cross between rocket scientists and carnival workers.
While traveling from Illinois to Missouri on I-55/I-64 driving about 90 mph, Wayne suddenly heard a thumping. He described it as a rapid but dull, muffled sound. He said it was like tapping your chest four or five times per second. He could only tell that it was coming from the left rear.
He let off the gas and the noise died away. Wayne sped back up to 90 and the noise returned. He did this several times and the noise always returned when he resumed his speed. Being a rental, saving the car was low priority.
But being familiar with the area Wayne knew that he would soon be on the ramp to the Eads Bridge. Crossing the Mississippi River; from East St. Louis to St. Louis was tricky as there were no exits and no breakdown lanes. If the car pooped out on the bridge, Wayne would be in a world of hurt.
Slowing and speeding up one more time before the last exit in Illinois, the noise came back. A shadow passed over the car causing Wayne to look up to see an Illinois State police traffic-helicopter traveling with him. The pilot was waving madly indicating Wayne should pull over.
Wayne continued over the bridge.
The noise went away
Here are a few more of your favorites from this week’s nominations. Many were too long to fit in the quoted comment window, and we’ll reprint those here in their entirety.
That is the stuff of nightmares. Glad you walked away, @Dexandsqueak.
“Probably starter noise.
My hands were next to the starter.
Unplug your battery when changing the starter, kids.”
This one from @NextLife was our runner up this week.
So back in the late ‘70s as I was working my way through school, I went to a local frat house Halloween party. When I got to the old country house where the party was taking place, I went inside and I forgot to fully close the trunk on my beautiful English sports car… my Triumph Herald convertible (with TR7 rims). About 2:00 AM as I was leaving (totally zonked) with a new friend, I noticed the trunk lid was open and pushed it closed, hopped in and sped away. About 10 minutes later as we were driving through probably the darkest part of my drive back (a thick woods) an unbelievably loud shrieking started. The girl I was with was totally freaked out – and so was I. I wanted to pull over but my companion said it wasn’t safe. She probably meant me. The high pitched shrieking continued so after about probably only 10 seconds I yanked the wheel over and we skidded to a hard, bumpy stop in the gravel on the side of the road. As we jumped out of the car, the shrieking went to another level – and I finally realized it was coming from the trunk. With as much courage I could muster (I was still hoping for a happy ending to the night), I told the girl to stand back behind me and we both jumped back when I opened the trunk. Nothing happened for about a minute but a car was coming up behind us, providing a bit of illumination even at a distance. We both turned back around quickly to the Herald when we heard a noise and with surprise watched a big fox casually climb out of the trunk.
The light from the approaching car made its dark eyes sparkle and the coppery fur glow. As the fox sauntered into the woods the car approached and slowed… it was a cop. He asked me whether I had a habit of catching foxes at night and what I intended to do with them. I was stumbling through an explanation when my partner throughout this disaster jumped in and vouched for me, relying on a heartfelt “I swear on my Father’s grave, it’s true.” He seemed skeptical but he eventually drove off… after a stern warning underlined with a “And you go right home young man and I mean immediately.” He was muttering all the way back to his cruiser. After his tail lights faded over a hill, my date turned and said “Sorry, my Dad does that all the time.” I looked at her, I looked up at the starry sky, I looked at the woods. I could just barely see the faint reflection of the fox’s eyes and then I looked back at her. A few moments later I could hear the fox in the woods… shrieking as it ran through the night looking for a mate. By the way, there is definitely more space in a Triumph Herald than you would expect. 😉
@BloodyHell wrote:
I stole Dad’s SAAB 900 Turbo SPG
I didn’t know there was a crack in the Power Steering Reservoir.
I didn’t know the epoxy Dad had applied to the reservoir wasn’t holding.
I didn’t know Dad kept a bottle of ATF in the trunk for the whining Power Steering Pump.
I did KNOW hydraulics has “hydro” as the root word, and hydro means water…to a 15 year old.
The sound of that pump freezing up with a reservoir full of water..
The sound of Dad answering the 2am collect call…
The sound of losing any hope for freedom until I turned 16..
…amongst the worst automotive sounds I have had the displeasure to hear. 🤕
This one from @Neptune-Jim was a symphony of automotive horrors in several movements:
August ’73. 2 weeks before college. Friday, just got off work. Start up the Spitfire drive off Ft. Buchanan, jump up the ramp onto Hwy 2. On the expressway and headed for home. “This is going to be great summer night. Only have 2 more weeks to go.” Got it up to 60 mph just cruising and then….. cut off in traffic. “Nope, I’m not going to hit this guy….” Locked up brakes which became a left-handed 180 degree spin to miss this guy. “Crap there’s a 1 foot tall concrete median curb, might be all right…….” Impact of wire rims and right fender slamming into the concrete curb and then cracking of steel A-frame and tie rods shattering and folding inward, becoming crumpled and crushed. The sound of the fender and hood all folding in like a soup can, now changing into the sounds of exploding energy as thousands of shards of windshield glass are shot out and fill the cabin. The small hardtop roof sounds like you ran over a garbage can as it starts creasing down the middle inward pushing into the top of the seats. Then it came. The sound of No Sound. It was that silent stillness that only comes from a 60 mph fully airborne yet still moving friction-less car whose nose-down pirouette flight is lasting only a second and you are there for the ride. Now, as all 4 of your tires have now completed their airborne revolution, gravity returns and slams you back down on the pavement. But fear not, this ride, it isn’t over as you roll from the energy that you just got as the rear of the car and trunk collapse from the 2nd impact of a Buick trying to knock you back into the grassy median and travel lane from whence you just rolled thru. As I rolled into a grinding lurching stop, I raised up my head up and peered out between the top of the dash and the 6″ of clearance to my now flattened roof, I looked out to see something moving away and realized I was watching my spare tire bouncing down the freeway farther and farther away, and I started wondering, just how did I get here?
We’ll wrap it up with this one from @ctap3
“No noise – isn’t that the scariest noise of all?”
That’s it for this week’s Question of the Week! Thanks to everyone who participated and congratulations to our winner, SteveIOMTT. We’ll be back with a new question soon.
ORIGINAL POST:
No tricks—only treats here, and that treat is a new Question of the Week! Comment on this post, and you’ll be automatically entered to win BaT merchandise. Our favorite answer each week gets a $25 hat or t-shirt from the BaT Gear Store.
This Friday—October 31—is Halloween for those celebrating. And as a nod to this spooky day, we’re asking this seasonally-themed question:
What’s the scariest noise your car (or truck) has ever made?
We’ve all heard those spooky automotive noises that make us stop dead in our tracks—the ones that no amount of radio volume could drown out. The kind that had us doing our best bang-whirr-pop impression trying to describe them. Some are scarier than others, but no matter the noise, we want to hear the scariest one you’ve ever heard!
What’s the scariest noise your car (or truck) has ever made?
Tell us all about it in the comments, and give a thumbs-up to any stories that grab your attention. We’ll announce the winner on Monday.
“Loud clunk from drive line on my 96 F-150 4×4 on freeway at 70 MPH; drive line came off front differential and launched the truck into the air like a pole vaulter. Luckily, I was in the far right lane and flew to the right; took out 20 feet of guard rail; landed 30 feet further along sitting on top of the guardrail. Tore off right front wheel and suspension; pushed rear axle off with rear wheels both tires punctured by rear quarter panels, an otherwise beautiful, low mileage truck was a total…”
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Dexandsqueak commented on Question of the Week: What’s The Scariest Noise Your Car (or Truck) Has Ever Made?—WINNER'S UPDATE