Sigh! Murphy's Law - Why always ME???

As many know we live in a very rural area. As such flat tires are many. We get an extraordinary amount, and my theory is the carpenters building houses in the area just throw their nail bags in their pickups and drive down the gravel roads. The nails vibrate out of their bags and land on the road. What nails don't get picked up by cars get cast off to the sides. BUT, when they re-grade the gravel roads they drag up the nails out of the borrow ditch to get material to re-crown the road and we get the nails all over again.

Three years ago I started keeping track of just how many flats we get. We're averaging over 3+ flats per month / per vehicle. That's almost one flat per week! It's THAT bad! Not to mention, you can only repair a tubeless tire so many times before it just becomes a swiss cheese and it useless. Needless to say we got through tires like a kid goes through candy.

So this year I decided to do something I always used to do in my younger years and get a 2nd set of tires and wheels for my daily commute car. This way, I'm not always at the tire shop getting tires fixed (I don't fix them myself, one of the few repairs I don't do). My daily commute car is a '15 Subie Outback (gotta' have that AWD where we live!)

So,I went out and bought a brand new set of tires and rims the other day. I ordered them from the tire place and went to pick them up when they were ready. Pretty nice tires and rims actually (about $1,300 worth). I'd had them mounted and balanced before I picked them up. (I also had the pressure monitoring sensors installed as well).

Took the old tires and rims off and started putting the new ones on. It's BLAZING HOT outside, but no matter. Everything was working out perfect. Man, these are SWEEeeeeet!

Okay, so I'm mounting up tire #4. I've got 4 of the 5 lug loosely threaded on. On goes nut number 5 of 5. It's a little hard going on, but nothing major. I figured it was just dirt. So I took it off and inspected it. Looked okay so I put it back on again. Still a little tight, but not so tight as to be cross threaded. Backed it in and out a couple times just to make sure it wasn't. Nope, it's on there straight. So I put a socket on it and gave it a full turn to tighten. Nope, there's definitely something wrong here!

I went to take the nut off and got about a half a turn before it jammed up solid. It wasn't even tight yet!! Couldn't get it with my ratchet, so I broke out a breaker bar. Not budging. So I stood on the breaker bar. Still not budging. Okay, "cheater" time! I got about a 6' length of rigid pipe and put it over the breaker bar. NOW let's see you defy me, nut!! Instantly...PINGGGGgggg! Breaker bar goes slack. Did I get it??? Breaker bar falls to the ground, lug nut inside the socket.......along with a 1" long section of my lug stud! DAMMIT!! Broke off the lug bolt/stud, right at the brake rotor! WHY ME?? The last nut...on the last rim...the very last one...and it's BUSTED!! Unbelievable!

Brand new set of tires and rims, I'm all geeked. Then I bust a lug stud! Unreal!

So now, I'm getting ready to take the wheel off, take the brake caliper and brake caliper bracket off, pull the brake rotor and press out the old stud on the hub (essentially take the whole back wheel assembly apart) and press in the new one into the hub, just so I can put my dang lug nut on my new wheel.

(shaking head!)

Wish me luck (so I don't bust somethin' else!)!

ETA - I swear, Murphy must share my last name!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
..PINGGGGgggg! Breaker bar goes slack. Did I get it??? Breaker bar falls to the ground, lug nut inside the socket.......along with a 1" long section of my lug stud! DAMMIT!! Broke off the lug bolt/stud, right at the brake rotor! WHY ME?? The last nut...on the last rim...the very last one...and it's BUSTED!! Unbelievable!

in the back of your head you had to be thinking that lug stud breaking was a likely possibility.

that sucks

can you run one through on that car without taking off the spindle?

its not winter yet so you can roll with a missing one for a time

3 flats a month sucks man

i couldnt deal with that

do you still get as many in the winter with snow and ice on the ground?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk
Are the flats from actual nails, or just sharp rocks?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I think I'd have lost my cool with that after a month.

I'd've gone to my shed - taking neither food nor water - and not emerged until after completion of some sort of over-complex probing, nail-attracting magnetic-array.

In fact, I'm so distractible that I might just go ahead and do that...

It's going to be a long September.

Maybe you should start leaving "surprises" at suspect construction sites for their supervisors--or perhaps their vehicles--so they'll think about refining their best practices.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I always put a drop of marvel mystery oil on the threads, they always seem to have a bit of rust on them. I found marvel mystery oil pretty much eats through anything.
Good luck.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


I was just reading a thread about vegan wool and it degenerated into the usual silliness and I wanted to ask, can you wrap your tires in vegans? It kinda solves two problems at once.

originally posted by: DictionaryOfExcuses
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I think I'd have lost my cool with that after a month.

I'd've gone to my shed - taking neither food nor water - and not emerged until after completion of some sort of over-complex probing, nail-attracting magnetic-array.

In fact, I'm so distractible that I might just go ahead and do that...

It's going to be a long September.

I was thinking the exact same thing!

In the end it would probably have been larger than the vehicle itself with more computing power than the local chamber of commerce.

And it would probably still not work effectively.

-dex

Update - Well, I busted a 2nd lug stud taking the wheel off, and then busted one of the bolts holding the brake caliper bracket on. The brake caliper bracket bolt really worried me because I thought I was going to have to drill that one out and tap it. But, as it turned out, there was just enough of the broken bolt hanging out of the bracket to get on it with some vice grips and twist it out. As for the lug studs, I think it's got something to do with the lug nuts they gave me with the new tires and rims. I think when they chromed the nuts they got some excess chrome in the threads. The lug nuts would loosen up to finger tight on the way out, and then about half way they'd bind up and no amount of wrenching on them would get it off. They'd eventually bust when I put the breakover bar and the cheater on it.

As much as I'd like to say it was even worse luck, I don't think it was. I think it was actually GOOD luck that I broke the 1st one, because if I hadn't I wouldn't have found the 2nd one (until I had a flat, and then broke it...which would have sucked even worse). Fortunately NAPA had a 2nd lug stud in the correct size, and I replaced both of the caliper bracket bolts not just the one I busted. I figured the other one was probably over stressed and ready to break as well. The ordeal meant another trip to NAPA, but it's all back together now and runs like a top!

YAY!! (Boy, that was a buttload of work...all to just put one lug nut on!!)

a reply to: TinySickTears

No, you have to take off the wheel, brake caliper, caliper bracket (which is always a bitch) and then the brake rotor. You actually have to jack the rotor off. Only then can you get to the hub where the lug studs are pressed in. Then you have to drive out the old lug studs and press new ones into the hub. A hydraulic press would have been nice, but I'd have had to pull the axle for that. I just improvised a way to drive them out with an air chisel, and then used a stack of washers to press the new ones back in by using a flat straight through lug nut (I bought special just for this). I just put the stud in from behind and then put the stack of washers on the other side of the hub and used an air impact wrench to suck the lug nut down onto the washers and press the stud in from behind.

As for the flats, no, we don't have nearly as many in winter because, as you note, the nails are frozen into the road. Spring and fall is the worst, when the rains tear up the roads and then they re-grade them...which pushes all the nails right back up into the road surface.

I've actually approached the County several times about correcting this. It's a real problem! I've given them solutions on how to correct it and they claim they're working on it...we'll see I guess.

a reply to: RumpleStiltskin

Yes, most of them are nails and screws.

Oddly though, I did have one flat this year from a sharp rock. Funny you would mention that, because that's the first time in my life I've ever had a rock hole a tire.

a reply to: Tarzan the apeman.

Yeah, I put some PB Blaster and some anti-seize on them before putting them on this last time. I'm actually going to back out the nuts on all the rest of the wheels and shoot some in there before re-tightening just in case any other lug nuts have the same idea!

Good suggestion.

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

Well, the trade off is living in the city.

I'll take the flats! Peace and quiet is worth a lot!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

bummer it wasnt easy.

good trick with the washers.

years ago when i was doing more work on cars i remember doing that at least once to put a pulley back on.

ford required a special tool to drive it on but a bolt with washers worked just fine. drive it on like you did.

how do you mean you had to use a jack to get the rotor off? i cant figure out what you mean

Nvm

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

It's not just you, it's all of us! I try to look at it through rose colored glasses and think about all the things that could have gone wrong... but didn't! Minor inconveniences in the big scheme of things aren't that bad!

For your amusement:

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

The ordeal meant another trip to NAPA, but it's all back together now and runs like a top!

As far out in BFE as you are that must have cost about $20.00 in gas for the round-trip. Talk about adding insult to injury...

No, you have to take off the wheel, brake caliper, caliper bracket (which is always a bitch) and then the brake rotor. You actually have to jack the rotor off. Only then can you get to the hub where the lug studs are pressed in. Then you have to drive out the old lug studs and press new ones into the hub. A hydraulic press would have been nice, but I'd have had to pull the axle for that. I just improvised a way to drive them out with an air chisel, and then used a stack of washers to press the new ones back in by using a flat straight through lug nut (I bought special just for this). I just put the stud in from behind and then put the stack of washers on the other side of the hub and used an air impact wrench to suck the lug nut down onto the washers and press the stud in from behind

I haven't checked, but that procedure sounds like a good topic for an Instructable. I'm sure there are a lot of DIY folks on the Internets, like me, that would over-think this and take 3 days to do something that took you only a few hours.


-dex

a reply to: TinySickTears

The brake rotor (drum) has two 8mm threaded holes on opposite sides of the axle. (I didn't know this at first). If you thread (2) 8mm bolts into these holes, they thread through the brake rotor and push on the axle hub. They will break the rust and corrosion away from the hub / rotor connection.

In my case, I had a broken bolt on the caliper mounting bracket. I didn't remove the caliper from the mounting bracket, I just took the whole assembly off as one. (that was my plan anyway...until i broke the bolt). After I broke the bolt I had no choice but to take the assembly off. My hope was I could break the rotor free enough to clear the (broken) caliper bracket bolt and remove the caliper, and then the rotor. It worked.

I was able to push the caliper assembly in far enough (once the rotor was loose) to clear the broken bolt on the caliper assembly. Then I could remove the caliper, and I used bungee cords so it wouldn't hang by the brake line (bad ju-ju). After that I ran the 8mm bolts in against the hub to jack the rotor off the hub flange. The only 8mm bolts I had were giant phillips heads. i put an industrial phillips screw driver on one and it just laughed at me! No way. Okay, plan 'B".

I grabbed the heads of the phillips bolts with a serious vice grip and twisted them in. Low and behold the rotor started coming off. Wow!! What a great design!! I got the rotor free and was able to maneuver the brake assembly (with mounting bracket) off the rotor (even with the broken bolt). Then I pulled the rotor and was ready to drive out the lug studs.

It's a bitch of a job, but I'm glad it's done. Replaced two studs, and got the new (cool) wheel on with race car precision.

I put anti-seize on those new caliper bracket bolts. I'll check them again in about a week after the brakes have been good and hot.

All in all, successful day. Just sad it took that much work, and disassembly of the back end of the Subie to get one single lug nut back on, but I guess that's ......

.... my buddy, Murphy!!!

a reply to: DexterRiley

Yes, it was about 20 miles, hence the delay in my posts.

But, I got it done!

I wasn't going to give up.

Oh, and it rained too, but I had thought to keep the back end of my car in the garage (just to keep out of the glaring sun).

All's well that end's well I guess!

Thanks!