WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
FEBRUARY 26- MARCH 3, 2020 UCW 25
No access to spare tire
by WALT BRINKER
Walt Brinker, 1966 West Point
graduate, retired US Army infantry
lieutenant colonel and Vietnam
War veteran, retired civilian proj-
ect manager, instructor at FTCC,
and Eastover resident, has pro-
vided well over 2,000 free-of-charge
roadside assists as a hobby. With
experience from these assists he
wrote a book, "Roadside Survival:
Low-Tech Solutions to Automobile
Breakdowns," for the everyday
motorist. He also set up a website,
"roadsidesurvival.com", to help indi-
viduals, driver education teachers,
and law enforcement. This vignette
captures one of his many assists
along with lessons:
On July 11, 2014, as I was
descending from a high level at
the large parking garage at Duke
Medical Center, I spotted an
older Chevrolet pickup with a flat
left rear tire and a family stand-
ing around. The 40-something
year old male driver, whom I'll
call "Willie," looked at my car as
I stopped and rolled down my
right-side window and asked him,
"What do you need?" He replied,
"I need air." Turns out his tire had
gone flat while his family was in
the hospital. He asked if I could
pump up his flat tire, and I agreed
to. I asked him whether he had a
spare tire and would prefer me to
mount it. I showed him the plug
in the pickup's rear bumper, which
would need to be unlocked with his
ignition key and removed in order
to insert the segmented shafts to
engage the spare's lowering mecha-
nism. He showed me his ignition
key, which was missing ¾ inch off
its tip, so it would not unlock the
plug. I asked him how he started
his engine with that key. He replied,
"I have to jimmy it to make it work."
I also offered to use my jack and
other tools to remove his flat tire,
find and plug its leak and reflate it.
Willie replied that one of his chil-
dren had a medical disorder that
likely would cause him to become
upset during such a delay. So I used
my compressor to reinflate Willie's
flat tire. I reminded Willie that he
needed to get his tire fixed right
away, since it soon would be flat
again. Smiles, handshakes, lots of
thank-yous and we departed.
Walt's tips:
• Don't set yourself up to fail, espe-
cially with a family in tow: Bad igni-
tion key that would barely start the
engine and would not permit access
to the spare tire. Cost to replace an
older vehicle's key: $8-$10.
• Without access to the spare tire,
it's just like not having one.
• Stowing a 12-volt compressor
permits re-inflating low and flat
tires with slow leaks — and spare
tires that have gone flat.
It is important to be able to access your spare tire.
WALT BRINKER, Contributing
writer. Comments? Editor@upand-
comingweekly.com.
910- 484-6200.
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