Picture this . . . It was Wednesday morning about 0830. I am in the driveway looking at a nail in the rear passenger side tire of my F350. Good size nail from the looks of it, bout 2.5" long bent at where the rubber meets the road. I have my can of fix-a-flat for large tires in one hand reading the directions. Step 1, vigorously shake can for approx. 30 seconds. OK, easy enough. Step 2, if possible remove foreign object from tire, we'll get to that in a second. Step 3, fasten hose end of fix-a-flat to valve stem, hold can upright and depress on trigger. Back to Step 2, nail is about 4" long and it's a pain in the butt to pull out with bare-hands. Once nail is out, you'da thought I had a 3" gash in my tire, there was so much air leaking out. Quickly move to Step 3, I fasten hose to valve stem, hold can upright and dpress trigger. . . Nothing . . . nothing comes out of the darn can. Not even a squirt. I now have a tire that is deflating in my drive-way. Jumping back to the beginning, my Son is in his car-seat ready for me to take him to day-care before I go to the office. My tire is deflating before my eyes. Undo the can, throw it in the back of the truck, kiss the wife and I am on my way to the nearest service station.

There happens to be a Firestone station near-by and I pull in. They tell me to pull into a bay and a guy will be there around 0900 to fix it. Not a problem, tire's gonna get fixed. I call my boss to tell him I'm gonna be late, guy shows up and starts to fix my tire. Gets 7 of the 8 lug nuts off when he tells me I have the wrong Lug key for my premium wheels. My Son loves the inside of the store by the way, we had a blast running around as he excitedly says, "daddy look at these tires," to every tire in the shop. It was actually pretty fun, who'da thought. So anyway, the repairman tells me, I might be able to get it off, but it could destroy the lock lug. I tell him, do what it takes, do I need to sign anything or will my vocal consent do? He gets his special tool and in no time has the lug off. Fixes the tire and puts it back on with 7 of 8 lugs.

So I am on my way to the stealership to get some new locking lugs and a correct key or any combination therof. Get there and the service manager is off for the day, but I am told that I will be taken care of anyway. I speak to the #2 in charge, explain the situation and she looks at the mechanic and says, how about we take the old locking lugs off and just put regular lugs on it, a look in my direction and says, "how will that work for you?" I tell her, "No I need you to replace every locking lug with new ones and give me a key that works for them all, just like I thought I had when I bought the truck." And, "Since I am due a tire rotation, you can throw it in for the serious inconvenience I'da been in if I was in any other place than 2 miles away from a service station, cause then I'da been really mad." She looks at me in total amazement. She stutters for a second, "Oh . . . OK, since we'll already have the tires off, why not."

To make a long story (I was there with my 2 yr old for about 2 hours) short, I went to work satisfied. I guess when you don't give an inch when dealing with some people you can actually get what you want.

I'm done ranting, just wanted to let you guys know, that if you haven't checked the keys on your locking lugs, you should.

 

Somebody's looking out for you, David.... < Big Orn pointing upward and smiling >

That can of Fix-a-Flat might have blown up in your hands; You might have had a flat in the middle of nowhere...it goes on and on....

Glad you got it done right, though.

 

Wow I read the whole thing. Good for you. I'am glad you made out on that one..
Its better to have the tire done right anyways the fixer goo is a mess.

 

yea that fix a flat is a joke if it works it will hold but sometimes it will make the tire out of balence and then when the shop takes the tire off the rim it is a mess and can blow up in their face (if they make a spark on the rim) not good stuff.

 

Always leave the foreign object in the tire until you get to the tire repair shop. It is the only thing holding in the air. Fix-a-flat is good on rental cars and emergency situations. My cousin who works at discount tire mentioned something about the product and rim corrosion. Don't know any more.

 

Yeah, you're absolutely right about leaving it in. Never woulda pulled it if the can wouldn't said to. I was just looking for a quick fix until I took my Son to day-care, then I was going to get it fixed. I hate putting the spare tire on anything. Never have, never will. I have usually (once) used fix a flat, just until I can take immediately to the shop. Then I will tell them I put it in, cause there are many dangers. Sometimes the tire can't be repaired, according to the guy at the shop yesterday, cause some have a petroleum base. Something like that.