Nub seems to be a rather disrespectful name for someone who is a double leg amputee, but Nub Wysong was a fixture in the community where I grew up.
He made hand controls for my 1966 pick up truck and for many other people in Fort Wayne, Indiana. When he wasn't doing hand controls, he worked at the local transmission repair shop as a bench technician.
My hand controls were made with a screwdriver handle for the gas and a long rod going to the pedal. A bicycle handle operated the brake and a muffler clamp kept the whole contraption fastened to the steering column. The brake rod was bolted onto the brake pedal, but the gas rod was drilled through and held on with a safety pin under the gas pedal. I always made sure I had an extra safety pin in case it broke, which did happen more than once.
The best part about driving a 1966 Ford one ton pick up truck was the fuel filler was just behind the driver door. Because we lived on a farm, I just had to drive up to our tanks, reach out the window and take off the gas cap, fill up and go.
Nub normally charged $60.00, but he liked us and it was a work truck so he only charged $40.00.
I doubt if he ever head of product liability insurance, lawyers, and engineering standards for hand controls, but then those were different days.
Last week I talked to a mobility equipment dealer who was going to raise his price for hand controls from $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 in order to cover his insurance costs.
Times---as they keep telling me---have changed.
KB
