Date:         Wed, 28 Sep 94 13:45:16 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Stuart Redford <scr@hpvcpnpi.vcd.hp.com>
Subject:      Re: stranded

> 
> yup. to begin with, there ain't an awful lot to chuckle about in the west
> texas desert in the first place. 
> 
	HA!

> before you go on a trip, get a GOOD lug wrench and TRY IT OUT! that is, take
> at least one wheel OFF the car with it. test it out. and make SURE that you
> can loosen and tighten ALL the lugs on ALL the wheels. and, if you can do it,
> NEVER EVER let those idiots at tire stores or anywhere use an impact wrench
> on your lug nuts.   otherwise, you will be sadder but wiser, like Mike and
> me. :(
> 
	Yeah. I've spent many hours (minutes?) trying to convince camper-wana-
	bees (both VW hardware campers and generic campers) to try out their
	tools before they need them. This was also a strong message we tried
	to send when I was in the bicycling biz..
	
	Despite my suspicion this'll generate some religious-like discussion,
	I always put a dab of moly grease on lugs. This is a habit I developed
	existing in the frozen, salty climes of upstate-NY. I've never had a 
	problem changing wheels (and have never lost a nut (as in lug-).

	I don't bother trying to tell the tire clowns how to tighten stuff.
	I just readjust at home afterwards. This is not as difficult for me
	as I've got a Snap-On 600ft/lb tork thing for those real ugly numbers.

	I retighten using the same wrench I'll have to use in the shit
	when I get a flat.

	Spare tires? I got a flat (sidewall nail) while in Zion. If I hadn't
	had a spare I might've been in deep shit. I'm not sure that liquid
	spare tire woulda helped.
	
	The bolt I hate is that unit in the spare tire rack.

	I contemplated going spareless for a while. I wanted to use the 
	spare tire rack space in my '91 for a gray h2o sump tank. I thought
	it might not be risky when running near population centers especially
	with a cellular. But, I'd never go "blue highway" without one.

	Sure, those weeny-wheels seem dopey. But, I'm glad my econobox
	Escort doesn't have a full size taking space. And we all know that
	VW couldn't even consider aweeny-wheel for the camper.


	scr