Luck...

[Scootabout]

Unlucky is getting a puncture on the way to a wedding, with your octogenarian mother on board.
Very unlucky is finding your breakdown cover ran out in January.
Very very unlucky is not being able to find a tool to fit the wheel nuts.
V v v unlucky is the dealer refusing to help (despite being told he'd supplied the wrong tools 4 years ago )
Fairly lucky is finding someone who suggested a mobile tyre fitter, who attended promptly, plugged the tyre and charged a fair price.
Fairly embarrassing is watching the tyre fitter use a tweezer-like tool of a type you had in your toolkit, to remove the dust caps from the wheel nuts that you thought were too big for your socket.

Don't tell anyone else, OK?

[Wossname]

Hee Hee....!

[Rockburner]

Unlucky is getting a puncture on the way to a wedding, with your octogenarian mother on board.
Very unlucky is finding your breakdown cover ran out in January.
Very very unlucky is not being able to find a tool to fit the wheel nuts.
V v v unlucky is the dealer refusing to help (despite being told he'd supplied the wrong tools 4 years ago )
Fairly lucky is finding someone who suggested a mobile tyre fitter, who attended promptly, plugged the tyre and charged a fair price.
Fairly embarrassing is watching the tyre fitter use a tweezer-like tool of a type you had in your toolkit, to remove the dust caps from the wheel nuts that you thought were too big for your socket.

Don't tell anyone else, OK?

ha ha!


yes, I've been fooled by them in the past too

[DefTrap]

Fairly embarrassing is watching the tyre fitter use a tweezer-like tool of a type you had in your toolkit, to remove the dust caps from the wheel nuts that you thought were too big for your socket.

You too!

When this happened to me (puncture in hire car) I went down exactly the same path. Gleefully found the appropriate tools (unused) in the boot and the adapter/lockNut (still bagged) in the glove compartment - then much head scratching as the socket was too small for the wheelnuts.
In my defence, it was dark and I didn't know 'wheel nut covers' were a thing - who does that?

After an enormous amount of swearing, and at huge personal cost, I grumpily asked a passing bloke in van if he had any better / different tools - and he showed me the error of my ways. but

[Scootabout]

Fairly embarrassing is watching the tyre fitter use a tweezer-like tool of a type you had in your toolkit, to remove the dust caps from the wheel nuts that you thought were too big for your socket.

You too!

When this happened to me (puncture in hire car) I went down exactly the same path. Gleefully found the appropriate tools (unused) in the boot and the adapter/lockNut (still bagged) in the glove compartment - then much head scratching as the socket was too small for the wheelnuts.
In my defence, it was dark and I didn't know 'wheel nut covers' were a thing - who does that?

After an enormous amount of swearing, and at huge personal cost, I grumpily asked a passing bloke in van if he had any better / different tools - and he showed me the error of my ways. but

You've made me feel a lot better

[iansoady]

Many many years ago I worked as an AA patrol. One of the vehicles I used was a CF Bedford with ramps on the back (Romeo 5 as it was known, or more often "The Pig" as that's what it was). Anyway, one day I had a puncture in the n/s front wheel. After what seemed like hours jumping up & down on the wheel brace without the nuts moving at all I had to admit defeat and called in for assistance.

One of the other patrols turned up after a short while and said "You do know that the n/s wheel bolts are left hand thread don't you?".

It took a while to live that one down.

[Scootabout]

Many many years ago I worked as an AA patrol. One of the vehicles I used was a CF Bedford with ramps on the back (Romeo 5 as it was known, or more often "The Pig" as that's what it was). Anyway, one day I had a puncture in the n/s front wheel. After what seemed like hours jumping up & down on the wheel brace without the nuts moving at all I had to admit defeat and called in for assistance.

One of the other patrols turned up after a short while and said "You do know that the n/s wheel bolts are left hand thread don't you?".

It took a while to live that one down.

Flip. Is that so? That would have been another problem, if I'd made the brace fit. And if I'd solved that, the fact that the fitter needed a mallet to get the wheel off would have been another issue. In retrospect, it's lucky I didn't know about the dust covers.

[MrLongbeard]

Many many years ago I worked as an AA patrol. One of the vehicles I used was a CF Bedford with ramps on the back (Romeo 5 as it was known, or more often "The Pig" as that's what it was). Anyway, one day I had a puncture in the n/s front wheel. After what seemed like hours jumping up & down on the wheel brace without the nuts moving at all I had to admit defeat and called in for assistance.

One of the other patrols turned up after a short while and said "You do know that the n/s wheel bolts are left hand thread don't you?".

It took a while to live that one down.

Flip. Is that so? That would have been another problem, if I'd made the brace fit. And if I'd solved that, the fact that the fitter needed a mallet to get the wheel off would have been another issue. In retrospect, it's lucky I didn't know about the dust covers.

I think the pertinent point of his post is "Many many years ago "
Who needs a mallet when you can stand on the wheel brace

[slowsider]

Many many years ago I worked as an AA patrol. One of the vehicles I used was a CF Bedford with ramps on the back (Romeo 5 as it was known, or more often "The Pig" as that's what it was). Anyway, one day I had a puncture in the n/s front wheel. After what seemed like hours jumping up & down on the wheel brace without the nuts moving at all I had to admit defeat and called in for assistance.

One of the other patrols turned up after a short while and said "You do know that the n/s wheel bolts are left hand thread don't you?".

It took a while to live that one down.

Flip. Is that so? That would have been another problem, if I'd made the brace fit. And if I'd solved that, the fact that the fitter needed a mallet to get the wheel off would have been another issue. In retrospect, it's lucky I didn't know about the dust covers.

I think the pertinent point of his post is "Many many years ago "
Who needs a mallet when you can stand on the wheel brace

I've stood on the wheelbrace and had the thing break

And another time, another car, the (steel) wheel/hub interface was corroded, and it needed a clout with a handy rock to release it.

[iansoady]

The wheel brace was perhaps the best engineered bit of the whole vehicle. It was a real pig to drive and had an unnerving tendency to lose all power when trying to make a relatively brisk takeoff - usually onto a roundabout with traffic bearing down. However, it was quite strong as I discovered on another occasion when I was sent to an unfamiliar part of Brum and misjudged its width when passing a parked Moggie Minor. The truck neatly removed its front wing an left it in the road.

The owner wan't awfully pleased when I knocked on his door with the wing in my hand saying "I think this might be yours".

Another bollocking from senior "management".

[The Spin Doctor]

Who needs a mallet when you can stand on the wheel brace

I knew someone who tried to jump on a wheel brace and ended up in a leg brace!