Last night I got a flat tire. Other than the fact that it was 10 or so degrees and dark, it should have been a piece of cake. Five minutes or less, were it not for this ridiculous "locking" lug nut: four of the nuts on the wheel are standard nuts, the fifth requires a special "key". In the dark, and with the little plastic tool pouch frozen stiff, I couldn't find the key right off.
Time passes. I figure out where the key is (in the pouch where it belongs). Insert key into locking nut. Apply wrench to key. Turn. Rather, attempt to turn. It wouldn't budge. Put more of my weight on the wrench. Strip the nut. Much cursing. Leave car overnight on the side of the road. Ride home with wife who works just up the road from where the car was left.
Went back this morning to see if there was any way to get the stupid nut off there. I'm fairly sure a thief, were there wheel thieves in this part of New Hampshire, would have had no problem getting the tire off. After making it worse -- I got a bigger hammer -- I finally had to call a tow truck. For a flat tire. That's what I did with my morning.
(Needless to say, the rest of the locking nuts will be replaced with standard ones very soon. Who in NH worries about wheel thieves?)
