1st World Problem.... still sucks

For the love of all things sane, try to make sure that whoever works on your vehicle doesn't tighten your lugnuts with an air wrench. Dumb ... not only could it strip the threads on your vehicle, but it also can make it near-impossible to change a tire on the side of the road should that unfortunate circumstance rear its ugly head.

Helped a colleague one time ... in order to get the lugnut to loosen, I had to put the lug wrench on the nut, put both hands on the fender and jump up and down on the wrench to loosen the nut. That's just a little too tight. Young technicians need to learn quickly that air wrenches are not toys.

 

Why are you trying to stop them from getting pit crew scholarships?

One thing I've learned is that the emergency jacks they put in cars now are absolute shite. They really up the degree of difficulty for a roadside change in the dark.

 

The man had a sense of humor.

 

it didn't have a beat and i couldn't dance to it

 

I got a new lawnmower last year. The first time I tried to take the blades off to sharpen them, it took a power handle and a 6-foot piece of pipe to break them loose.

 

Apparently Discount Tire is notorious for that. They even have a form already made out where you fill in your information and take it to this place they contract to fix the problem. I walked in last March, paper in hand, the first thing they said was, "Broken lug nut stud?"

 

I have a broken fan stand in the back of my car for just such an occasion. It's three-and-a-half to four feet long and made loosening lug nuts really easy.

 

I consider Triple-A roadside service to be one of the most useful things available, and I would never be without it.

Use it once in a year, and it pays for itself. And I've found that it's invariably needed at least once most years -- occasionally even right in your driveway, where they're also happy to come. (This has actually happened twice to different family members because of dead batteries).

 

Every tire shop in my town closes at noon on Saturday, if they're open that day at all. That seems incredibly dumb to me -- especially since, whenever I do get a flat, it's inevitably at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Last time it happened I finally had to remember the one time 30 years ago when my dad taught me how to change a tire. I had limped the car home, and I'd have felt like less of a man to call AAA to come to my driveway for a flat tire.
Took me about 45 minutes to change it, half of which was figuring out how to assemble the spare tire jack and another 10 of which was working off a tight lugnut. I learned that day to always keep a pair of work gloves in my car for emergencies. When it was done I felt like I'd really accomplished something in life.

 

I’ve taken to buying an extra full-sized tire and wheel and putting it in the trunk so that after I change it, I have a full-sized tire on it. Nothing worse than struggling to put a donut on and then realizing you have to do it all over again once you get hone.

 

I just got my new card and I'm now a 50-year member (yes, I'm older than dirt). Triple-A saved my butt more times than I can remember when I was on the road.