Sunday, January 30, 2011

Rocket Science

So how many people does it take to change a tire?  Well, apparently, it takes two plus a couple hours, many tools and about three chapters of an owner's manual!

Why is removing your spare from under your truck so complicated??  In the 3+ years I've had the truck, we've never gotten the spare out.  Thank goodness I wasn't along some busy road when I needed it.

Here's the story in pictures.

It all started with this....


Then there were more "steps" then we knew about.  So we took turns looking at the manual.  It keep taking us to different places..."if this doesn't work, go to page 592."


The husband thought he would man handle it...


After he threw the truck's equipment aside....


Went to our back-up jacks.  There was a secondary release that wouldn't come loose...


All this work tuckered the dogs out...


Finally! Got the stupid latch released.  This was the cause of all our problems...


Woohoo, the tire is out...


And now it's on....


Too bad it was FLAT!!!

 
Yep, after all that, the spare was flat.  Really good thing I was at the house!  I think I may invest in AAA.

14 comments:

Cedar View Paint Horses said...

Those stupid spare carriages are the WORST. Get an in-bed tire mount kit and throw that spring assembly in the garbage.

Mikey said...

We are like twins. I wish we lived closer! That's par for the course here. Something that should be so simple takes 20 times longer than it should and the spare is always flat!! (or so it seems) We finally broke down and bought an air compressor for the house, since we have so many flat tires around here. I told Wade the other day, had I known how long we'd spend on tires, I wouldn't have this many vehicles!!

The Wife said...

Yep! Our spare is going in the bed of the truck from now on.

It seems all simple tasks turn into a major ordeal around here!

lisa said...

We wouldn't be without it, even though the hubby is mechanical, with the old vehicals the new ones have him stumped sometimes! Glad you were home too!

The Equestrian Vagabond said...

That was your problem. The owner's manual! I can't read one of those to save my life.
AAA is worth its weight in gold!
- The Equestrian Vagabond

BridgeEtta said...

I feel for ya. The easier tire I ever had to change was on my old volkeswagon when I was in school. Nothing dumb about those Germans. Maybe they should be engineering our pickups tire carriers.

Rising Rainbow said...

What were they thinking spares underneath the beds? I can't imagine being on an icky cold wet highway somewhere and having to crawl underneath the truck to get at the spare. Guess I better hope it never comes to that.

Tatersmama said...

Invest in AAA. Just sayin' ;)

Linda said...

Hmm…Had my truck since '03 and never had the spare off. Maybe I should find out WHERE my jack is stored. Maybe I should take the spare off in the garage just for practice and make sure it's got air. All that road grime can really muck up the bolts under there.

Mama Mess said...

LOL! Do what this country gal does and just toss that damn spare in the back of the truck! LOL! Actually...........Black Betty doesn't even have a spare in her.........hmm..........

The Husband is so funny, I can't tell ya how many times I've seen my man lookin like that, using that "rear" power to move somethin'. However my man is like yours and doesn't have a whole lotta "rear" power to use! LOL!

Nicole said...

That's what you get for driving a Chevy... LOL

Tammy Vasa said...

Yuck - mine is under there on my durango. Glad I haven't had to get it. Yes, AAA would get that job!

Shirley said...

Just imagine if you had snow, ice, and mud to deal with in getting your spare out! We keep ours in the truck box.

Reddirt Woman said...

AAA has saved my butt many times in the last 40 years... but then I didn't have the husband to crawl around and get the tire out from under my trucks over the years. I even started paying $75 a year for the 100 mile towing plan because I run up and down the road to Ft. Worth several times a year. I figure they (AAA) can get me either to Norman or to Ft. Worth with 100 mile tow... and I was right.