Pound Sand, Sucky Motor Club

[bainsidhe]

I'm just curious, what would happen if you went to tow a car that had an electronic odometer with no owner or keys in sight and you just...refused the tow? On the grounds you wouldn't get paid anyway, I mean?

[Argabarga]

Refuse the call, don't get paid

Do the call, might get paid

End result, refuse to pay us enough times and we just don't renew your contract.

[eltf177]

I'll say one thing about this thread, I've heard some good ideas here and I'm going to look into a better jack and lug wrench to carry with me.

Boy, it seems you can't win with this bunch Argabarga. Sounds like this is the time to "fire the customer"!

[dalesys]

... I AM NOT A CRoCKPOT!

Oh? Steams all day, posts well-done story on CS...

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Oh? Steams all day, posts well-done story on CS...

Just add vegetables?

*ducks and runs*

[dalesys]

Just add vegetables?

Those are his perps.

[protege]

Far too many are indeed put on too tight and strip when you try and take them off. A little grease on the threads, and for that matter, a little bit on the inside of the wheel where it mates to the axle won't hurt, aside from stuck lugs, wheels stuck to the axles/rotors by corrosion are also a pain.

I ran into some of that when I still had my little Tercel. Heat from the rear brakes would cause the wheel to 'fuse' onto the brake drum. After several instances of having to pull a wheel and finding it stuck, I carried a small sledgehammer to tap the back of the wheel with. Usually, it came right off. Annoying, but doable. Eventually I smeared some copper grease all over the brake drum's face...and no more problem.

The breaker bar is a great idea too, the longer the handle, the more force you can transfer to that stubborn nut. Just make sure you get one from a trusted brand made out of tool steel, that way it won't bend or break when you have to use it.

If you can't find a breaker bar, a length of steel pipe slipped over the wrench handle makes a great "cheater" bar.

[Antares]

I had to use the services of one of your brethren yesterday.

I was out chasing ships for photography and pulled into a parking lot along the river because I saw one approaching. In my hurry, (ships don't stop for you to take pictures of them) I didn't go through my normal shutdown sequence and left the keys hanging in the ignition. *smart*

I shot my pictures and then realized what I had done. Fortunately, my phone was in my coat pocket so I called my motor club.

The woman asks me where I'm at. I give her the city and she asks for a a street name. Well, that's a problem. I'm in a parking lot at the intersection of two streets, neither of which have a street sign.

What is near me? Uh...I'm in the parking lot of a park. There is closed book store across the street. To the north of me is a house, then a beach. I tell her I am at the north end of town on the street that runs along the river. I can toss a tennis ball in the river if I want. There is a beach to the north of me. I am at the point where the street running north turns west. There is a closed bookstore across the street.

She says she has me on Broadway. Well, I don't know. I am parked in a parking lot on the river and there are no street signs on the corner. I text mikoyan because I know he's on the river somewhere and I'm 90 minutes from home. Just in case there are problems I figure I'll beg a ride from him.

She give me an arrival of "Between now and 35 minutes." Okay, it is in the mid 40s, but the sun is out and I have my coat on so I'll live. I let mikoyan know that I should be good to go. I just have to wait for the truck.

30 minutes later, there is no sign of the truck so I walk back to the river...about 100-150 feet...turn around and see a two truck a block away creeping slowly down the street. Literally, I walked to the river and turned around and came back. I wave and hear the rumble of the diesel as he starts towards me.

He says he's glad he saw me because they had me on Broadway which is two blocks to the west. I apologize and tell him that I didn't know exactly what street I was on due to the lack of street signs and I was from out of town. He was pretty cool about it.

He had some trouble getting his inflatable tool in the door, but once he finally got that in he had the door open in a jiffy. We chatted for a couple of minutes and he told me he was 16 miles away when the call came in. I thanked him and gave him $5 for helping me out. I don't know if it was appropriate to give him anything or if that was cheap or not. But I wanted to give him something because I really appreciated him helping me out with my stupidity.

[Gilhelmi]

I can think of ONE, reason and ONLY ONE reason to call someone in to change a tire.

If you have a handicap that prevents you. You know those money making spots (the handicap spot that you tow from because lazy does not qualify )

If you are not handicapped and can not change a tire, then blame Yourself, your Parents, your High School drivers ed instructor, and then blame Yourself again for not figuring it out.

[Aethian]

Wow...kinda mean.

I've called for help ever since the time my geo slipped and I almost got crunched between car and pavement. I don't want to take the chance again. Specially since my car now is a lot heavier.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I've only had to use the services of AAA or a tow truck a handful of times. Twice for flats and once for a wreck.

The first flat came when I accidentally clipped the curb of the median across the intersection. Blew out my tire. I limped to a turn lane, put the blinkers on, then called home so I could get the number for AAA. (This was my first year driving, so I didn't yet have that stuff memorized.) A guy who works for VDOT (Virginia Dept. of Transportation) happened by and he helped me get my donut on so I could get home, and from there, I followed Dad to the tire center so I could get a new tire.

The other flat happened because I hadn't realized how worn one of my tires was getting, and I didn't do it many favors having to drive through a snowstorm one night. This was in Feb 2011, when I spent nine hours in the car crawling through traffic trying to get home. The way was bumpy because of all the snow accumulating on the roads and all the cars sitting still for many minutes at a time. That bumpy abuse just expedited my tire's going flat, to the point where I made it out of the neighborhood the next day I tried to get to work, and immediately realized I wouldn't make it, so I turned around and limped home. Mom and Dad called AAA for me to swap out for my donut, while I went to work in Mom's car. Came back home that evening and drove to the tire center again to get a new tire.

The tow truck came when I had my car accident. My car wasn't totaled, but it wasn't really drivable. They towed it off, I had to hitch a ride to their garage because no one was picking up at home. I called a cab to get home, called my insurance company, and they had it hauled to a repair shop to get fixed.

[wolfie]

IIf you are not handicapped and can not change a tire, then blame Yourself, your Parents, your High School drivers ed instructor, and then blame Yourself again for not figuring it out.

Hey - whenever I get a flat, I call the professionals to change it. After all, I don't carry a 20 ton bottle jack and a mega-powerful air wrench. Not to mention the fact that I don't have a spare, and even if I did, an 11R22.5 tire at normal inflation pressure has enough stored energy to kill someone if it lets loose.

[Kheldarson]

If you are not handicapped and can not change a tire, then blame Yourself, your Parents, your High School drivers ed instructor, and then blame Yourself again for not figuring it out.

Or changing my tire the one time I had to really really sucked; I'd rather not repeat and I don't have a spare currently anyway so I'll just call for a tow and let pros do it for me.

[mathnerd]

Hey - whenever I get a flat, I call the professionals to change it. After all, I don't carry a 20 ton bottle jack and a mega-powerful air wrench. Not to mention the fact that I don't have a spare, and even if I did, an 11R22.5 tire at normal inflation pressure has enough stored energy to kill someone if it lets loose.

Not quite the same as a normal car tire.

I got to watch a semi tire being changed on one of the ride alongs I went on with my ex-boyfriend. One of the steers went low overnight and when he tried to inflate it during his pretrip, it wouldn't hold air, so he had to have the pros come out and replace it. Actually, he had both steers replaced at the same time.

[Zippity Doo]

Or changing my tire the one time I had to really really sucked; I'd rather not repeat and I don't have a spare currently anyway so I'll just call for a tow and let pros do it for me.

Yes. I technically know how to change a tire, but I'd rather not if I don't have to. It's why AAA exists. It's like saying people who go to restaurants are lazy because they should cook their own food.