What the lug?

In the world of service, we see some of the craziest things that make us wonder about the world around us. 

A lot of oddities come in the form of tires.

There’s the somewhat common “tumor” that turns your tire into a freak of nature.  It can pop up on the tread from separation or on the sidewall from curb checks, but I tend to think a lot of it is actually from manufacturing defects. 

We had one customer who came in and told us that he was driving on the freeway when he heard a noise that turned into clanking and the he realized the tire blew out.  When we saw the hole in the sidewall we thought it was just another blow out.  When we took the wheel off the car, we heard a noise in the tire.  But when we took the tire off the rim, we were surprised to see a small wrench laying inside.  We gave it to the customer although we wanted to keep it for a trophy.

A lady in a CR-V came in asking for a new set of tires because hers had nails in them.  We asked what happened and she told is that she had gotten a nail in her tire so she put the spare on.  But she’s a real estate agent and she goes to a lot of the new communities sprouting up in the valley.  When she left one community she noticed that her tires were all low.  After the tow truck dropped her Honda, we put it on the rack and found fourteen nails in her tires.

One guy brought in a set of giant rotors from a truck to be turned.  While measuring the second, we found a small mouse lodged between the two surfaces against the fins.  We were grossed out but we did our job and sent them on their way with the rotors.

This group of guys pulled up in a late 90’s civic wondering why the car is overheating.  I went out to look at the car, opened the hood and asked them if they thought the duct tape on the radiator might have something to do with it.  One guy told me that he lost the cap but figured as long as the hole was covered the car would be fine.  I told him to go buy a radiator cap, they’re like $5 in most cases, and some coolant.

Then there was this guy who came in with a 2004 Yukon Denali that had been stolen, stipped of it’s 24’s and dumped.  Fortunatly, they were nice enough to put tires back onto the vehicle.  Unfortunatly, they did not all match and the wheel they put on the driver front didn’t even fit right.  So what did they do?  They bent the studs to get the wheel on, then, bent them over like cotter pins to keep it on.  This guy ws alright though, he saved the stock rims.  Six studs and lugs later, he was on his way.

A gentleman in a ‘99 Cougar was complaining that upon acceleration the charging light would come on.  When we opened the hood we were blown away by the fishy, sulfer smell that his battery was emitting.  While testing the charging system, we were shocked by the acid squirting from the vent tube of the battery.  The owner was sure that a new alternator would solve his problem even though we bench tested the one frm the vehicle and it tested normal.  The alternator was covered under warranty and he didn’t want to pay for any further diagnosis.  When told that the alternator tested fine and would not be warrantied out he took his keys and left…

A lady with a 1992 Ford Thunderbird heard a noise coming from the engine compartment.  She took it to another mechanic and he told her that the alternator was going bad.  She brought it to us and asked us to change her alternator and pulley.  She declined our diag saying that she didn’t need two people to tell her what was wrong.  We installed the alternator as a customer request even though it was functional.  When she came to pick it up, the noise was just the same as when she left it.  She asked why we didn’t find out what was making the noise.  I told her that she didn’t need two mechanics to tell her what was wrong with her car.  She asked if she really needed to replace her alternator, I told her probably not, that’s why we like to test them first.

ALSO: If you are driving down the street at night and everyone keeps flashing their lights at you, it’s because you need to turn them on.