The past three days I’ve had Ghost over at my place while L went to the big city for some family stuff. She was due to return this afternoon, and this afternoon I duly received a text saying she was ten minutes out and would meet me in the wash to pick up Ghost.
Ten minutes came and went. Ten more minutes came and went. I had bread in the oven and couldn’t wait in the wash any longer. Went back to the cabin, and found I’d missed a phone call from L.
Called her right back, of course. She had a flat tire on her big truck. In the wash. With her 90+-year-old mother in the shotgun seat.
Well, I jumped in the Jeep and ran out there, of course, sorry as hell I’d missed the call. Got the spare unshipped but actually bent my 4-way wrench trying to break the lug nuts loose. Some kid got over-enthusiastic with an air wrench. Put the stock wrench on one and stood on it, and it finally – suddenly and unexpectedly – broke loose, giving my still-healing shoulder the worst shot in three days. I was suddenly a feeble old man.
So she called Neighbor D. While he was coming I got the other five nuts broke loose, so I guess I could have finished without help, but it was sure nice to have help horsing the new tire on to the lugs.
Between us we got her on her way, and I met her elsewhere to turn over custody of Ghost – who of course went without a backward glance, the ingrate.
But things would have gone smoother if I’d carried my phone, and would have been much more difficult if she hadn’t carried hers.
Which is why a vehicle owner is obligated to carry a “cheater bar” to provide a means for accomplishing the tire changing task. Might not be necessary for a Corolla unless one is a 110 lb treadmill-loving female, but de rigueur for trucks, vans and SUVs.
When I was younger I used to care enough to check my lug nuts after the car had been to the tire shop to ensure that I could actually get them off if I needed to. Lately I haven’t bothered.
That’s partly old age showing, but partly because after all these years I’ve found a rare tire shop that I actually trust.
You are a good man, Joel. Risking life and limb for your neighbors like that was a good and noble thing. I’m glad you managed not to take a tumble on that shoulder again. What Norman said is spot on, scrounge a 4 foot length of iron pipe that will fit over the end of the tire iron and keep it in the jeep the way I do with our SUV. Who knows the life you save may be your own.
Yeah, cheater pipes were another topic that came up through my long night of coulda-shoulda-woulda.
They probably aren’t out in your neck of the woods, but here in East Central Florida, Tires Plus is consistently good about torquing the lugs to manufacturer’s specs, using preset torque wrenches. And once the tech is done, they have another tech go around with the wrench and verify he got all of them. Some anti-seize on the bolt threads every tire replacement helps make sure they don’t rust into place. It doesn’t hurt to call out the proper lug torque right after the tech has grabbed the wrench to make sure he’s working from the same playbook…