They say that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Free can be expensive .The other day during the heat wave I took my truck over to the local Firestone tire store for an oil change and free tire rotation, free because the truck has Firestone tires. As there was already a vehicle on the lube rack being serviced, I had about an hour wait. So I walked around the corner to the bargain bookstore, which is always a good place to kill some time. I found two books about grand prix racing to add to my collection. And four books on philosophy. Well actually they were collected works of Calvin and Hobbes, but if you used to read that comic strip you know what I mean. $65 later I’m back at the tire store. They no longer give free tire rotations, so add $20 to the $15 oil change. For a hundred bucks I could have done the work myself in my driveway. But at least I did pick up some great reading material.

I bring this up because it reminds me of an incident that occurred a while back. Deb and I were up north in God’s Country and went out to dinner in the truck, which has alloy wheels. At the restaurant we notice that one of the rear tires is going flat. No problem, I’ll change it in the lot before we eat. Take off the lug nuts, jack it up, but I can’t get the wheel off. It has ‘frozen’ onto the brake drum. Bang on it, hit it with a mallet, kick the snot out of it, but it won’t break free. I have to be careful because I don’t want the truck to fall off of the scissor jack onto my leg, which would not be a good thing. I don’t want to drop it down and drive in the lot with the lug nuts loose for fear of stripping the threads on the lugs.

Now it’s starting to rain. Deb comes outside to see what’s taking so long. I explain the problem. She makes a rude comment about my mechanical expertise and calls the AAA motor club. OK, so now we’re inside enjoying a cool libation, while the tow drivers are outside in the rain. A six-foot length of 4X4 applied smartly to the tire and off it comes. They put on the spare and we’re good to go. And the service call was FREE.

It’s rare that I give technical advice, and rarer still that someone would heed it. But may I suggest that if your vehicle has alloy wheels and drum brakes that you apply anti-seize or a similar material where the surfaces meet. In my case the dissimilar metals fused together in less than 6000 miles. And having a motor club or insurance roadside assistance program is a good thing.

Earlier I mentioned grand prix racing. The US Grand Prix in coming to Indy on Sunday September 28. If you are a fan and would like to join some of your fellow CMGC members at the race, let me know. We have several extra tickets this year.