Re: Screwed Myself Again

[Jim Rojas <jrojas@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

JoeRaisin 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.  Well, I knew it had a slow
> leak and I was keeping up with it.  It 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.  Don'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.  Only took about two hours of hunting around but I
> found a junked 2001 Sierra that had everything I needed.  Worth 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.  I give them a
> call and tell them I need a tire change - won't cost a me penny.  They
> 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.  Hell, 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.  I kick and pull but it's not
> moving down at all.  So I feel around, trying to figure out the problem
> but can't seem to find where things have gone wrong.  I realize that the
> 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.  I feel around for several minutes and realize the half inch
> is a little too small.  What was I thinking!  Auto makers love the
> 9/16th. takes a few minutes of blindly feeling around to realized the
> 9/16th ain't gonna make it either.  The 5/8 was a perfect fit.  so I
> commence to unbolting the entire mechanism (and I made sure that's what
> I was unbolting).  At 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.  The
> 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.  I beat on it with a hammer...
> nope.  I crank on it with pliers, several different types of pliers in
> fact, including vice grips... nope.  I 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.  I 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?  Wouldn't have done any good to rain before that as I was under
> 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.  When 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."  Then 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.  One 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.  So I put it on top of my ladder rack (which
> has other ladders on it, the ones that won't fit in the bed).  Those
> 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.  I stop there all the time.  In fact I was planning to stop
> there in any event as I had to pee like a friggin racehorse.  Where I
> had pulled over was on a highway through the woods but this time of year
> there's no cover.  I would have had to trek about a quarter mile through
> the remaining snow and over a ridge to avoid getting arrested for
> indecent exposure.  I 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.  I 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.  What ATM?  I 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.  Less than a mile later
> 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...

We all had days like this...it is what makes life so damn interesting.

--
Jim Rojas
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