flat tire fiasco
after i worked out, i got in my car and drove away. or i tried to drive away. i heard that familiar buzz of a tire rim against the pavement. damn. i pulled into an illegal parking spot (is there any other kind in lincoln park?) and set forth on changing it. yes, i am a woman who knows how to change a tire. of course, when you meet lug nuts that won't budge, nothing you know can make them move. so, i threw the spare back into the trunk, locked the doors and went in search of a strong human who would be willing to loosen my nuts.
first i went to simon's, a car detailing place i've taken my to before. i told the 18 year old boy behind the counter that i had jumped up and down on the crow bar and nothing moved. he seemed impressed and went off to try and see if anyone was available. as i was waiting, a blond 20-something said, "i'm impressed that you know how to change a tire." well, if you can't get lugs off, then what's the point of knowing? the guy came back and said that everyone was booked up and couldn't come help me. he suggested that i go next door to saabtech.
i go next door to saabtech. there is a 40-something guy behind the counter, up to his wrists in recipts. i stand there for about a minute before he says, without looking up, "be with you in a minute." fine. so i stand around, listening to some uber-thin woman on her cell phone. the guy got back on the phone to this person who was looking for something. then i hear, "can i help you?" the guy is still on the phone, but evidently the other person has put him on hold. i tell him that i'm looking for someone who can take my lug nuts off. he immediately says, "no, i can't." you can't? i ask. then he starts ticking off reasons as to why he can't possibly spend 5 minutes taking off my lug nuts, one of them being, "we only work on saabs." now, how does this asshole know i don't have a saab? i ask him for any other suggested places and he says, "try one of the car detailing places. i'm sure you can find a mexican who would be happy to take your lug nuts off for $5." i shit you not, he said this. i resist the urge to punch him in the face and i leave.
i walk down the street farther and i stop in to White Glove Car Wash. i walk into the back of the shop, where the desk is and i give the guy my schpeal, trying not to cry from the way i had been treated at the saab shop. he said to bring the car over and they'd take my tire off. and not only did they take my tire off, they put the new one on. i gave him $5. it was all i had.
so, simon's gave it their best shot, saabtech are assholes, and White Glove rocks.
first i went to simon's, a car detailing place i've taken my to before. i told the 18 year old boy behind the counter that i had jumped up and down on the crow bar and nothing moved. he seemed impressed and went off to try and see if anyone was available. as i was waiting, a blond 20-something said, "i'm impressed that you know how to change a tire." well, if you can't get lugs off, then what's the point of knowing? the guy came back and said that everyone was booked up and couldn't come help me. he suggested that i go next door to saabtech.
i go next door to saabtech. there is a 40-something guy behind the counter, up to his wrists in recipts. i stand there for about a minute before he says, without looking up, "be with you in a minute." fine. so i stand around, listening to some uber-thin woman on her cell phone. the guy got back on the phone to this person who was looking for something. then i hear, "can i help you?" the guy is still on the phone, but evidently the other person has put him on hold. i tell him that i'm looking for someone who can take my lug nuts off. he immediately says, "no, i can't." you can't? i ask. then he starts ticking off reasons as to why he can't possibly spend 5 minutes taking off my lug nuts, one of them being, "we only work on saabs." now, how does this asshole know i don't have a saab? i ask him for any other suggested places and he says, "try one of the car detailing places. i'm sure you can find a mexican who would be happy to take your lug nuts off for $5." i shit you not, he said this. i resist the urge to punch him in the face and i leave.
i walk down the street farther and i stop in to White Glove Car Wash. i walk into the back of the shop, where the desk is and i give the guy my schpeal, trying not to cry from the way i had been treated at the saab shop. he said to bring the car over and they'd take my tire off. and not only did they take my tire off, they put the new one on. i gave him $5. it was all i had.
so, simon's gave it their best shot, saabtech are assholes, and White Glove rocks.
posted by mikraas at 7:10 PM
1 Comments:
What I do, for loosening stubborn nuts, is this:
I have a pretty large (22mm) regular open-end/box-end wrench that I never use for anything else (it came in my giant wrench set) and I put the lug wrench on, then put the box end of the wrench over the end of the handle of the lug wrench, so that the angle of it points up slightly, and then use that to add more leverage to it. Adding a foot of leverage to the lug wrench equates to almost doubling the force to remove it.
Alternatively, if you've got the L style lug wrench, just keep an old piece of pipe that's 3-4 feet long in the trunk (for infrequent use, even plastic PVC pipe from home depot will work - costing you about 2 dollars), that you can slide over the lug wrench. Also allows you to be sure you've got your lug nuts good and tight when you put the new wheel on. :)
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