Everything was carefully planned out; the half inch socket, extension bar, and a couple different sockets were in the trunk along with an old mechanic's quilt to help keep the car clean. Linda and I were headed to Rochester to pick up a set of winter tires all mounted and ready to go that I had found on Craig's List. All the paraphernalia was insurance just in case the wheels didn't fit our car. Did you know that sometimes even the best of our planning is for nought? That's right!
After dropping Linda off at my mother's so they could visit, I headed the rest of the way into the city to meet the gentleman selling the tires, arriving without incident. There was a nice private parking lot at his place of business, and he even had a floor jack he let me borrow so I could mount one of the tires to make sure the clearances were OK. It was just about then that I realized that the sockets I had chosen only fit a short way over the lug nuts. Steve, the seller of said tires, checked through his not inconsiderable supply of tools for the correct socket, to no avail. So I eyeballed the clearances as best I could and took a leap of faith handing over the cash in exchange for the tires and rims. The lug nuts puzzled me, however.
I was anxious to make sure everything fit, so as soon as we got home I dragged the floor jack out into the driveway, jacked up the car and began to work on the lug nuts which resolutely refused to budge, mainly because I couldn't get a socket on them. I ended up hammering the socket onto each lug nut, wrenching it loose, then having to drive the lug nut out of the socket with a hammer and punch. They were pretty well buggered up by the end of it all. I've never seen anything like this, so I called the Ford garage to ask what size the lug nuts actually were. Turns out I had the right sockets, but to save money, Ford in their infinite wisdom fitted a thin tin sleeve over the actual lug nuts, and in the process of removing them, the sleeve would often separate from the core leaving an off size core. The thin walled lugs often swell when tightened down. Ford knows this, but chooses to do nothing about it. All because actually chroming the steel was deemed too expensive. The mechanic with whom I talked said he had called Ford on numerous occasions to complain about this, but never heard back. I guess they save their money for the recall on the steering mechanism bolts that tend to rust through, as ours did.
A trip to Auto Zone and thirty five dollars later, I have a set of lug nuts that should solve the problem. I'm just thankful I didn't find out about this issue by having a flat tire out on the road, only to discover there was no way I could get the lug nuts off.
A new Fusion like ours probably goes in the neighborhood of twenty five thousand dollars. That's just a guess, but it's close enough for my purposes. If I paid thirty five dollars for decent lug nuts, Ford can probably get them for less than a third of that. So for ten dollars they mount crappy lug nuts on a twenty five thousand dollar car; it doesn't make sense. For me, it's a minor irritation; but I remember all too well the Challenger space craft that exploded mid-launch, killing all on board, victim of a failed thirty-five cent O ring. Millions of dollars and five lives for thirty-five cents. Shortcuts are rarely the best option.
I am grateful that God spared no expense and cut no corners when he provided our salvation through Jesus' death on the cross. Jesus was given plenty of opportunity to take salvation shortcuts. In the wilderness, the devil told him he could gain all the kingdoms of the world if he would only bow down and worship him. As he hung on the cross, the religious leaders said they would believe if he came down and saved himself. But he knew the depth of our sin and the price it was necessary to pay to break its power over us, and he didn't flinch. There is nothing cheap or chintzy about salvation. We were bought at a price, the precious blood of Christ. Our salvation is top shelf, all the way!
No comments:
Post a Comment