It is not everyday that I find myself thinking about tyres.
Actually, given half a chance I doubt I'd dwell upon anything relating to the car that I drive.
But when you happen to drive over a steel nail...
...and it starts to go 'thud-thud-thud-thud-thud'...
...well... it looks like I had no choice.
I Love These Tyres!
No. I really do! Over the course of three years this set of tyres have only suffered punctures twice.
Both times they yielded to heavy duty nails.
To put this into context, those upon a previous car that I owned (that almost literally fell apart after more than a decade of second-hand service) suffered six (6) punctures over the course of a single month.
Those tyres sucked. Its a shame that I don't remember the brand. They were the replacements that I put up with during the last couple of years in that vehicle's lifespan. The car was nice enough though - it simply fell victim to a toxic mix of bad road surfaces and scammy mechanic - I've a better one now.
Well.. fortunately I remember these tyres on this car. They've been serving me for around three years now.
Fulda EcoControl
You can give them a look on the manufacturer's website.
Only one time have they ever let me down.
And I don't blame them.
It was a dark misty early morning...
I was pushing 45kmph in a 35 zone.
The street lamps were off for some reason - pre-dawn...
It had recently rained - silty rain...
and...
My engine had stuttered out... yet again... without me noticing... ¬_¬
and...
A darkly colored (I think it was darker than navy blue) vehicle was stopped in the middle of the misty road because its battery had died... so no lights of any sort... ¬_¬
I saw the vehicle in enough time to stop - but when I eased my foot down on that brake peddle... I was met with resistance!
Over the next half-second I made a number of fateful choices.
To slam my foot down on that non-engine-assisted peddle.
To 'not' swerve in an attempt to avoid the vehicle but potentially lose control in the process.
While simultaneously realizing that the engine had failed me yet again (incidentally, steer clear of Fiat Puntos... the only way they'll run right is if you are a fastidious mechanic or if you build around their engineering.).
A perfect storm. The wheels locked (in part because my experience with 'easing to prevent wheel lock' flew out the window) and while they didn't screech upon the silty surface I knew right then that it was all over. I was now a passenger in my own car.
Fortunately I really wasn't driving fast. My vehicle hit the vehicle in front of me with sufficient force to crack my front bumper and crunch one of the mudguards and headlamps. Ouch.
Fun times... but it could have been so much worse.
Anyway... To Return to the Present!
I love these tyres - but since there is no tyre repair service on a Sunday that I was aware of I needed to get that wheel off and replaced with the dinky wheel.
And I spent the next hour and a half giving the car a good 'colorful talking to' as I struggled with every aspect of the first wheel change I've needed to do in 3 years (The other time I'd been able to simply drive to the tyre repair service). Its been long enough that I spent 5-10 minutes figuring out how to let the car back down off its jack.
And at the end of it I looked just a little worse than this...
Hey... I've grime all over my hands (and, thanks to the hot summer sun, my face and head... I can only wonder what the cashier was thinking as I was forking out the cash for the most expensive pack of cheese I'd ever bought). I'm not going to mess around with the mobile's settings too much before cleaning up! This is the best photo I could take in the circumstances.
Don't worry. I felt 'much' better after some intensive sink hand-and-face cleaning (dish soap works quite well on the hands (use more traditional soaps for the head)), rediscovering my affinity to water in the shower, a good meal and a 3-hour "nap". ^_~
So thats that. If there is any take away from this I'd say 'Research your tyres! They make a heck of a difference - even against odds that no set of tyres should face!
Also, this has been one of those more 'human' postings about my life. A lot of people have a human side to them - even persons you don't typically think of that way!
If you had a good chuckle and would like to share this with your friends then a resteem couldn't hurt.
If you 'didn't' like this then do give my blog a quick look over. My content tends to be a little more serious. _
Sincerely,
