After a day of kayaking we returned home late last night. When I went out to move the van, I had a right rear tire that was flat. I assembled the tools and after trying to jack the van with the I suppose bottle jack that came with the van, found that I wasn't going to get enough height to get the tire off. After rounding up a couple of 4x4 pieces to add height, I was able to get the tire off and the spare put on. Going to the local Discount Tire store, the manager looked at my rims and tires and said he had a deal for me. Because my wife had checked online while I was changing the tires I told the manager I wasn't prepared to spend 4-5oo dollars for a new set and just wanted to get the tire fixed. I was o.k. with the tires on the van but have to admit they are about 4 years old and the rims were probably factory issue in 91. The manager still said he had a deal and took me to the back of the shop and showed me four brand new rims and said he would sell them to me for $75 apiece and would mount them with a set of tires that were standing next to the rims. The tires and rims were off a new truck that the owner wanted to replace with street radials and custom rims. New rims, almost new tires ( the labels were still stuck on the tread) all for a little over $300 and then they gave me a form for a $100 rebate so I am paying a little over $200 for new rubber all the way around and one of my other tires for a spare as the old spare needed to go also. A bad day beginning but good ending.
One thing I am glad for is the lesson learned in my driveway rather than on the road so I am going shoping for another jack, keeping the 4x4 pieces in the van as well and now with new tires, hope I can go another 4 years without a flat. I do have a handy-man jack but because of the rack on the rear of the van could not use it, thus the need for the bottle jack.
Have A Happy 4th
