pre- trip report

On 10 Oct 2006 06:15:19 -0700, "Charlie Choc"
wrote:


Joe McIntosh wrote:
Heading out in a few minutes for two weeks in Western N.C. for a little
fishing, Hope to join my mentor Jeff Miller for a couple of lessons before
he ends his two week trip.

Have a good time, Joe. Right now I'm stuck in Moriarty, NM, with a flat
tire and cross threaded lug nut. Hopefully the guys at Larry's can get
it off and I'll continue on my way home from my 8 week journey.

And just a follow-up to this, to all that might have an interest: this
is why I _never_ let tire folks start the lug nuts with pneumatics. If
they don't have a 4-way to spin 'em down, I'll hand them mine. I don't
mind them torque'ing with one, but no starting them with it - it'll
cross-thread before they know it, and there's a good chance they won't
even know it, even they were the type who would fix it if they knew it
had crossed.

And another aside - always carry something besides the dog-leg,
pot-metal-socket-wrench-crap, or other pseudotool that comes with most
cars - either a good 4-way or a breaker bar and appropriately-sized
_real_ socket. If it is crossed, at least you can twist/snap off the
lug with real tools.

TC,
R

On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:56:15 -0400, "Tim J."
wrote:

typed:
On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 15:15:53 -0400, "Tim J."
wrote:

typed:
On Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:49:11 -0400, "Tim J."
wrote:

Joe McIntosh typed:
snip
...call 910 262 7761-you have to be close to get wife's cell
phone.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, Joe, but someone could be
standing side-by-side with you and it would make no difference.
These new-fangled cell phone devices ain't walkie-talkies, ya know!
;-)

I hate to be the one to tell _you_ this, but some kinda are, or at
least work for the end-user in much the same way. And depending on
the carrier and type of phone, it's possible to have better luck
across the country than standing next to each other. There are
spots (both in and out of urban areas) where, for example, a
particular Cingular customer can get service, but a Nextel/Cellular
South/whoever customer can't and vice-versa. And if there aren't
any towers in the area, nobody is talking to anybody...

So, basically, in Joe's context of someone having to be nearby to
call his wife's cell phone, what I said is correct then, right? Or
are you saying some cell phones are phone-to-phone direct, which is
what Joe implied?

Some can be "phone-to-phone," (well, most commonly, it's more
(internal) tower to (internal) tower, like Nextel, but see below)
some can't, but IAC, some areas (although the number is dwindling and
coverage areas and system-sharing agreements are increasing) are
serviced with limited towers, all of the "local" carriers. I can
think of a number of rural or just semi-rural areas that are now, or
in some cases, less than 2 years ago were, in just such a
circumstance. So, if you aren't using the same carrier AND in same
general area, getting through is or was hit-or-miss. All I was
pointing out was that from an end-user perspective, and under certain
circumstances, "cellular" might seem very much like "walkie-talkies."

I didn't know Nextel had direct phone-to-phone capabilities on some of their
phones, even without network access. That's pretty cool.

I'm not just talking about ACTUAL "walkie-talkie" (meaning true
unit-to-unit, although there are those types) communications. In the
case of Nextel specifically, I'm talking about such as what Nextel
_calls_ "walkie-talkie." Depending on what service you have, it _will_
matter where you and the other person are.

But forgetting Nextel for the moment, there are other things that
_could_ make it at least appear, from the end-user perspective, that
range is a factor. It's not that big a deal, really. I just happened
to see your post and offered my experience - as always, YMMV.

TC,
R

wrote:

Unless there's something unusual about the hub with the flat, just snap
off the lug (it can be done with a 4-way wrench, or certainly, an
appropriate socket, straight/"breaker" bar, and if need be, a cheater
pipe (simply a length of pipe that will fit over the breaker bar and not
bend, ala chain-link fence top-rail of something). Then simply remove
the rest of lug nuts, the wheel and tire, and knock the stub of the lug
out from the front. If you can't knock the stub out, you can remount
the fixed tire using the remaining 4 or 5 nuts and be carefully on your
way to a larger repair facility.

Nothing unusual, other than the nut was cross threaded. They had
already tried all that you suggested and ended up getting it off with a
torch. They replaced all the bolts and I was on my way before noon
local time. Thanks for the call, BTW, the cell coverage is poor around
there and I didn't get the voicemail message until they were almost
done.
--
Charlie...

Jonathan Cook wrote:
Charlie Choc wrote:

Have a good time, Joe. Right now I'm stuck in Moriarty, NM, with a flat

I really like that area. Nice country.

It wasn't pretty last night being out in all the rain. g I had driven
through the storm just west of ABQ and then it hit me again while I was
stuck at the rest are on the other side. At least it didn't hail the
2nd time, there was 2 or more inches of hail on the ground when I went
through it the 1st time.
--
Charlie...

On 10 Oct 2006 17:30:15 -0700, "Charlie Choc"
wrote:


wrote:

Unless there's something unusual about the hub with the flat, just snap
off the lug (it can be done with a 4-way wrench, or certainly, an
appropriate socket, straight/"breaker" bar, and if need be, a cheater
pipe (simply a length of pipe that will fit over the breaker bar and not
bend, ala chain-link fence top-rail of something). Then simply remove
the rest of lug nuts, the wheel and tire, and knock the stub of the lug
out from the front. If you can't knock the stub out, you can remount
the fixed tire using the remaining 4 or 5 nuts and be carefully on your
way to a larger repair facility.

Nothing unusual, other than the nut was cross threaded. They had
already tried all that you suggested and ended up getting it off with a
torch. They replaced all the bolts and I was on my way before noon
local time. Thanks for the call, BTW, the cell coverage is poor around
there and I didn't get the voicemail message until they were almost
done.

Kinda figured you were set to run, but a small part of me had a vision
of you getting an old-fashioned "canuter valve and bavet flange"
treatment...

Anyway, glad to hear that you, and if you're hauling the trailernator,
are back on the road. If you are taking, or should to take a fancy to
take, a southerly route and care to swing through NO/the coast, give a
shout...

TC,
R

wrote in message
news
On 10 Oct 2006 06:15:19 -0700, "Charlie Choc"
wrote:

And another aside - always carry something besides the dog-leg,
pot-metal-socket-wrench-crap, or other pseudotool that comes with most
cars - either a good 4-way or a breaker bar and appropriately-sized
_real_ socket. If it is crossed, at least you can twist/snap off the
lug with real tools.

The best way I know to snap a crossthreaded lug, or urge one along, if you
don't have the appropriate cheater bar, is to put the 4-way on, then put the
car in gear, and roll forward (or backward, depending on the thread) slowly.
The 4-way (even an L-shaped lugnut tool) will catch against the ground, and
twist the lug.

Just be sure the frozen lug is the FIRST lug you remove....

--riverman

riverman typed:
wrote in message
news
On 10 Oct 2006 06:15:19 -0700, "Charlie Choc"
wrote:

And another aside - always carry something besides the dog-leg,
pot-metal-socket-wrench-crap, or other pseudotool that comes with
most cars - either a good 4-way or a breaker bar and
appropriately-sized _real_ socket. If it is crossed, at least you
can twist/snap off the lug with real tools.

The best way I know to snap a crossthreaded lug, or urge one along,
if you don't have the appropriate cheater bar, is to put the 4-way
on, then put the car in gear, and roll forward (or backward,
depending on the thread) slowly. The 4-way (even an L-shaped lugnut
tool) will catch against the ground, and twist the lug.

Just be sure the frozen lug is the FIRST lug you remove....

Now *that's* a great visual!
--
TL,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

riverman wrote:

Just be sure the frozen lug is the FIRST lug you remove....

Actually, the 2nd set of wrecker guys sort of wanted me to take off all
the lugs and then drive around and see if the frozen one would break
off - after they had chisled as much as they could - but they wouldn't
really come right out and recommend it. I chose to have it towed to a
shop instead, and I'm glad I did.
--
Charlie...

On 11 Oct 2006 17:48:12 -0700, "Charlie Choc"
wrote:


riverman wrote:

Just be sure the frozen lug is the FIRST lug you remove....

Actually, the 2nd set of wrecker guys sort of wanted me to take off all
the lugs and then drive around and see if the frozen one would break
off - after they had chisled as much as they could - but they wouldn't
really come right out and recommend it. I chose to have it towed to a
shop instead, and I'm glad I did.

Chiseled!? Um, it sure sounds like there was some definite chiseling
going on...if it ever happens again, get a _good_ 4-way and put the
appropriate end on the crossed lug nut and then, there are two ways to
snap off the stud: 1. put the "grab" ends at a slight angle (so it's not
quite parallel to the ground) and see if it will turn. If it will _at
all_ you need to _tighten_ it to twist off the stud (just like twisting
off a bolt by over-tightening it), but if it's so cross-threaded it
won't turn, give it a quick, hard "snatch-and-jerk," pulling one end and
pushing the other. If you have no luck, or know you aren't up to doing
it that way, try method 2: put the 4-way on with the "grab" ends as
close to up and down as you can. Sit parallel to the car, and put a
foot on the lower bar and grab the upper, and see if that will let you
turn it. If not, try the quick, hard snap method. Normal
passenger-vehicle studs aren't don't have that much tensile strength, so
generally, you can twist off/snap off the lug nut easier than you can
cold-chisel it off.

HTH,
R

wrote:

Chiseled!? Um, it sure sounds like there was some definite chiseling
going on...if it ever happens again, get a _good_ 4-way and put the
appropriate end on the crossed lug nut and then,

Hmm. Stuck in a rest area and I'm supposed to go 'get' a good lug
wrench? g The nut was damaged, either by the folks who cross threaded
it or by the 1st tow truck driver, and a socket wouldn't grip well
enough to break it loose - and they tried plenty of different ones. All
good roff advice considered, I'll still call AAA if it happens again.
;-) As it was, I still would have had to drive on the spare (not a full
sized one on my wife's Jeep GC) until I found a place to get a new tire
the next day, so I was probably at least as well off in the long run
not getting it changed myself. There was a tire place (JR's) close to
the repair place (Larry's), and I was able to get a good used tire
pretty cheap, so it all worked out.
--
Charlie...