Re: Screwed Myself Again

[Robert Macy <robert.a.macy@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 4, 4:58=A0pm, JoeRaisin <joeraisin2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> And this time, mother nature threw her two cents in as well... the bitch.
>
> About 40 min from home on an hour and half drive, guy pulls next to me
> on a passing lane and points to my tires.
>
> I hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary but I pull over and sure
> enough, the right front is about 2/3 flat. =A0Well, I knew it had a slow
> leak and I was keeping up with it. =A0It was only losing about 10 lbs of
> air over 5-6 weeks if I let it go that long, usually checking and
> topping it off with a pound or two once a week. =A0Don't know if what was
> causing the slow leak was the cause of the flat... Don't care.
>
> I have gotten into the habit of looking at it and I know it was riding
> nice and high when I left the job site.
>
> No problemo... I got a spare and right after I started driving this heap
> I had gone to a junk yard for a jack and tool kit that normally come
> with a 2001 Sierra. =A0Only took about two hours of hunting around but I
> found a junked 2001 Sierra that had everything I needed. =A0Worth the
> time, I figured, as having a flat without a jack is a bitch.
>
> So I flip the seat forward and there's the tools... oh shit, I used the
> jack when I was working on my yard tractor and never put it back.
>
> I suck at this...
>
> Well.... again, no problemo... I got AAA road service. =A0I give them a
> call and tell them I need a tire change - won't cost a me penny. =A0They
> make the arrangements and tell me I will have about an hour wait.
>
> No problemo... that will give me time to crank the spare out from under
> the truck and have it all ready when the guy gets here.
>
> There's a hole in the bumper with a sleeve that directs the long tool
> right to the crank that drops the spare... assuming, of course, that
> one's bumper isn't cocked, which mine is.
>
> Though it took a minute to figure out the problem.
>
> No Problemo... that plastic sleeve isn't hard at all to remove and I
> peer into the hole with my pen light... there's the nut all I gotta do
> is slide that tool right on to it. =A0Hell, it only took about five
> minutes to get it seated.
>
> I crank and crank and crank... the cable is lying on the ground but the
> spare has only dropped about 4-5 inches. =A0I kick and pull but it's not
> moving down at all. =A0So I feel around, trying to figure out the problem
> but can't seem to find where things have gone wrong. =A0I realize that th=
e
> entire mechanism is suspended by two hooks and ONE bolt.
>
> NO Problemo... it's a work truck and I gots tools up the ass (it's the
> safest place to keep them in some of the areas I work in).
>
> I grab a wrench that I think will be right, based on my guestimate when
> I felt it. =A0I feel around for several minutes and realize the half inch
> is a little too small. =A0What was I thinking! =A0Auto makers love the
> 9/16th. takes a few minutes of blindly feeling around to realized the
> 9/16th ain't gonna make it either. =A0The 5/8 was a perfect fit. =A0so I
> commence to unbolting the entire mechanism (and I made sure that's what
> I was unbolting). =A0At a quarter turn at a time it only took... Forever.
>
> I still couldn't get the spare off the damned mechanism, but with the
> whole thing lying on the ground I can see what I'm up against. =A0The
> retractable hook that prevents it from dropping while I'm, driving down
> the road is all corroded from the Michigan road salt and it won't retract=
.
>
> NO PROBLEMO... I gots lots of tools. =A0I beat on it with a hammer...
> nope. =A0I crank on it with pliers, several different types of pliers in
> fact, including vice grips... nope. =A0I beat on it some more with the
> hammer, not that I think the hammer will suddenly work, but I needed a
> bit of therapy about then. =A0I can see how it's supposed to move so in a
> moment of clarity, I grab my mini pry bar and that does the trick.
>
> Did I mention that it started raining right before the mechanism
> dropped? =A0Wouldn't have done any good to rain before that as I was unde=
r
> the truck and would have been somewhat protected.
>
> Tow truck gets there about 5-10 minutes later and the driver says, "Glad
> to see you got the spare off. =A0When I heard the year of the truck I
> thought for sure it would be froze up and I'd have a hell of a time
> getting it down." =A0Then he sees the mechanism sitting there on the
> ground and says, "Oh, I see you did have some trouble."
>
> We change the tire (still raining) but now I got nowhere to put the flat
> tire. =A0One would think that with a full sized truck bed there would be
> room for a tire, but with all the tools, equipment and ladders I carry
> there was no friggin way. =A0So I put it on top of my ladder rack (which
> has other ladders on it, the ones that won't fit in the bed). =A0Those
> damned tires are HEAVY!
>
> I climb on top of the truck and bungy the fucker down.
>
> Did I mention it was raining?
>
> Turns out the spare was low on air itself - about 20 lbs in it and it
> should be 44.
>
> NO FUCKING PROBLEMO... I know I'm only 7 miles from a gas station with
> an air pump. =A0I stop there all the time. =A0In fact I was planning to s=
top
> there in any event as I had to pee like a friggin racehorse. =A0Where I
> had pulled over was on a highway through the woods but this time of year
> there's no cover. =A0I would have had to trek about a quarter mile throug=
h
> the remaining snow and over a ridge to avoid getting arrested for
> indecent exposure. =A0I just KNEW the minute I whipped it out a damned
> female trooper would drive by and get all offended 'cause I wasn't
> slipping that monster to her. =A0I figured I could hold it - but it did
> add a bit of spice to everything else.
>
> It takes a dollar in quarters to activate the air pump and I have no cash=
.
>
> No (sigh) problemo... got the debit card and go inside to use the
> bathroom and the ATM. =A0What ATM? =A0I could have sworn they had an ATM.
> So I buy a vitamin water, I'm pretty thirsty anyway, and get $10 cash
> back, then make change.
>
> I go back out into the rain and fill the tire up to the prescribed 44
> lbs, let the hose snap back and climb in the truck.
>
> I start it up, turn on the wipers and pull away. =A0Less than a mile late=
r
> the wipers start making that annoying noise they make when they are
> being dragged across a dry windshield.
>
> Must of had something to do with the sun coming back out.
>
> I wonder if my Vitamin water will still be sitting on the ice cooler
> next to the air pump next time I'm by there.
>
> Probably not...

Enjoyed the excruciating details, especially the "...did I tell you it
was raining" part!

Ummmm...you should carry some cans of Flat Tire Refill, the one's that
put that gooey, sticky, stinky ooze in the tire for just such
occasion. You could have refilled the low tire, got to a proper repair
facility and probably found the slow leak source, too. I recommend to
all to be sure to have that product in the trunk of your fair lady
friends, else they could become stranded out on some road late at
night rendering them vulnerable, etc.

Plus, since I buy tires at American Tire Co. they have ALWAYS repaired
any slow leak - for free! Don't even put off that slow leak problem
anymore. Even when I bought in California and years later found the
slow leak while in Arizona, the AZ place did it fast. Once when I tore
the side out of a tire, the guy bent the rules to give me a deal. So
now they have my continual business.