Safety 3rd

"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
09/19/2017 at 07:55 • Filed to: None

Safety was accomplished by relocating the third stud.

So last night before I left home on a short 200-mile trip I plugged a hole in Saint Jimmy’s rear left tire. Just one of those gummy string plug deals. Well apparently they sometimes just come right back out of the tire. 15 miles down the road:

Just a flat. No big deal, right?

Lol no. This is the first time I’ve ever pulled a wheel off Saint Jimmy. This is the first time anyone pulled a wheel off Saint Jimmy in a loooooooong time. Every single part of it fought me. But I guess I’m stronger than those studs, cause I broke two of them off.

Of course it was two right next to each other.

So I pulled the wheel off (which required a short swervey loose-nut drive to break it free from the hub) and then the rotor (which required some BFH action. Yeah I went there) and then carefully poinked one of the three remaining studs out, move it over so the best-looking stud was in opposition to the two lesser ones (no missing nuts beside each other) then reassemble and carry on. Oh. At Rome point I removed the caliber and bracket so I could get the rotor off, but didn’t remember because they didn’t fight me at all. Weird.

So yeah. Spare on, everything back together, took about an hour or so and I’m back on the road. 140 miles later (and many stops to make sure everything’s still tight) I’m still running on the three lugs. In my mind it’s still safer cause the spare was easily the best tire of the bunch.

Guess I’ll be ordering new tires today. If I can survive the Icefields Parkway on three lugs then they can wait to get fixed by the shop.

DISCUSSION (11)

pip bip - choose Corrour > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 08:01

sure you’re not in a Citroen?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 09:21

EDIT: I’m blind. That’s the back plate, not the rotor.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 09:29

What did the OSHA inspector’s report say after the visit to the porn shoot?

Safety was accomplished by relocating the third stud.

uofime-2 > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 09:49

I would assume any old parts store will have replacement studs you can use, probably pick up some spares for when the other tires are changed...

TheRealBicycleBuck > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 09:54

If you can’t find replacements, you could always pull one stud from another wheel and relocate it. That would give you two wheels with four studs instead of one with three. That should distribute the load a little better and reduce the risk.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > uofime-2
09/19/2017 at 09:56

Yeah but then I’d have to pull it all apart again. The shop will have them cheaper than I can pick them up.

uofime-2 > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 10:02

dunno what shop you’re going to but they usually mark parts up pretty heavily in my experience

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > TheRealBicycleBuck
09/19/2017 at 10:02

At the side of the road in the dark? Nah. It’s good.

TheRealBicycleBuck > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee
09/19/2017 at 10:25

In the dark? No. Before you drive Icefields Parkway? Yes. In my mind, the risk is too high. Having a wheel fall off in the middle of a national park with limited access to tools and parts and a shop and even a safe place to work on it would be a bad situation.

A ball joint came loose on my truck and I lost steering at speed. I was fortunate to be on a straight road with wide shoulders. Nothing bad happened. If I had been in a turn, lots of bad things could have happened.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > TheRealBicycleBuck
09/19/2017 at 19:10

It’s the rear wheel so loss of control is minimal. I’m also very familiar with the road given that I drive it every other week for work at least as far as the Icefields centre, am very respectful of the corners and drops, and have a better idea of how and where to get help than most do. Plus I was stopping every so often just to check everything was kosher, at least as far the Icefields. By then nothing untoward happened so I wasn’t checking quite so often. The section from Sunwapta Falls up to Tangle hill is the bone-rattler that was likely to break things. But it didn’t.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > uofime-2
09/19/2017 at 19:13

Yeah. Big markup over what they pay which will be barely half what the parts store sells to non-commercial customers.