I personally confirmed just now that the weather is warming up nicely.
Trundling happily along Al Sufouh Road the car started to pull to the right, followed by the rumbling sound of a flattening tyre.
I tried to make it to my local tyre and battery emporium but the car was having none of it.
Shade? Not a hope.
Getting the over-tightened nuts off the wheel was the main struggle - I wish workshops didn't use mechanical spanners that turn the nuts too far.
Jumping up and down on the wheel brace eventually got them loosened but I was dripping by the time I'd done that.
After another few minutes changing the wheel in the full sun I looked as though I'd been swimming.
Repairs at the emporium took a few minutes and now everything's back to normal - except my body temperature.
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5 comments:
Yeesh, I can empathise.
In August one year, we walked out of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel with our friend, who was a swimming instructor at the Health Club, only to find that her VW Touareg had a flat tyre.
We offered to change it for her. We got the flat off, and then set up the electric tire pump to pump up the space saver which took at least half an hour before it was anywhere near hard enough to use. (Really crappy pump!)
Within 2 minutes of starting, we were dripping buckets and it didn't stop. Our friend went back into the JBH and grabbed some towels for us to use!
We had yet to buy our own vehicle in Dubai and this episode was a great eye opener for us. We were then determined to buy a vehicle with a full spare tyre and that was one reason (of many) why we ended up choosing the Honda MRV!
I agree about the space saver spare, another of the so-called 'advances' in technology I had a rant about the other day.
I'd never buy a car with one. I'd pay extra for the correct size spare if necessary - especially in Oz where you can drive hundreds of km between service stations. The space-saver just isn't going to make it.
The space-saving spare is a brilliant idea right up to the moment you need to use it.
Suppose you get a puncture on the way to the Hotel de Posh. You remove luggage, extract spare, change wheel...
...and where are you supposed to put the gigantic wheel you just unbolted? It clearly won't go into the space vacated by the spare, and the rest of the car is full of luggage and/or people in posh frocks.
Yes, Mr Goat, it was designed not for the car buyers but for the manufacturers. They can, and do, claim more boot/trunk space, less weight, better mileage.
Bloody useless for the paying public though. The design only works if you never need to use it.
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