Driven by a Pepboys Mechanic

[SwampSurvivor]

Had to go to pepboys to pick up some open end lugnuts.

Noticed this in the parking lot and brought up the backwards (and lose) donut to the cashier. He informed me that it was driven by a mechanic and has been like that for months!?

The donut has some camber to it because it is loose. There's no taper on the back side of the wheel. It also isn't held into the hub bore correctly when backwards.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

You should buy some tires and have him mount them for you so he can afford a good wheel and tire

You would think with all the take offs, he'd have a tire; back in the 70's when I was a mechanic I was always mounting a set of used tires for my Buick. Many orphaned J78-15's got burnt off during the weekend of misspent youth.
Spin'n is Win'n

 

[StevieC]

Some mechanics drive the worst cars. My dad is like this. Won't drive anything unsafe but also drives beaters in poor condition because he can fix them. I had to buy him the Caravan from our work fleet off lease because I wanted him to have something a little more respectable and newer.

 

[69GTX]

At least when he goes to sell the car, the can say it was "mechanic owned and maintained."

 

[ls1mike]

I was going to say. I have known some Mechanics who will drive junk or just keep stuff running. Guess they get tired of working on stuff.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Driving junk is one thing. Driving something with the wheel mounted backwards is something else.

 

[Nick1994]

It's all about the stance man!

But that rust though

I've never seen it that bad on a car

Maybe I've been putting my wheels on wrong on my Cherokee this whole time!

 

[LoneRanger]

I thought you weren't supposed to mount a donut spare on a driven axle/differential? Supposed to swap to a non driven wheel and put the non driven full size good one where the flat was. I could be mistaken though.

 

[IndyIan]

I can't say I'd want that guy working on my car...

 

[Kira]

I have to conclude you thought the cashier would see the irony of a mismounted spare.

No way do I think you were ratting the Jeep owner out in any way.

A car would have to be on its roof and on fire for me to point it out to a Pep Boys cashier.

They're friendly and all but are no steps above a McDonald's cashier.

Just wonderin'

 

[Mr Nice]

Some ASE Certified mechanics are lazy .

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Some ASE Certified mechanics are lazy .


Too lazy to spin the wheel around before they put it on the hub?

 

[Crispysea]

Maybe he thought rotating it meant turning it inside out?

 

[02SE]

Plenty of hacks out there calling themselves "Mechanics".

Do your due diligence.

 

[funflyer]

At least he's smart enough to have it on the back so when it BLOWS...

 

[Dorian]

Maybe we should make some BITOG business cards that we can handout to those in need of some "education"?
I really am not surprised by this, though. I have always heard that mechanics have the worst cars. My dad has driven some of the worst cars on the road. He could fix all of them, but just doesn't feel the need.

 

[Propflux01]

Well, think about it for a sec... mechanic works 8-12 hours 5-6days a week on cars . The last think he wants to do on his time off is Work on another car!

 

[Silk]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
Well, think about it for a sec... mechanic works 8-12 hours 5-6days a week on cars . The last think he wants to do on his time off is Work on another car!


Exactly, I've spent 47 years in this game, probably because I don't work much on cars at home...and certainly not for other people, apart from my kids. I seldom buy a car or motorcycle that is running, they are much cheaper if some expert can't get them going...I act dumb and let them tell me all about it. I fix them so they are roadworthy, but stuff that bothers other people doesn't concern me at all, I worry about the not so obvious stuff.

I have worked as a motorcycle mechanic, but I don't like to as motorcycles are my passion...working on them all day, I don't want to touch my own bikes when I get home.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Propflux01
Well, think about it for a sec... mechanic works 8-12 hours 5-6days a week on cars . The last think he wants to do on his time off is Work on another car!


It would have taken the same amount of time to put the donut on correctly.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
Originally Posted By: Propflux01
Well, think about it for a sec... mechanic works 8-12 hours 5-6days a week on cars . The last think he wants to do on his time off is Work on another car!


It would have taken the same amount of time to put the donut on correctly.

I assume its not the right donut and wouldn't fit that way, so he just flipped it... Who knows, there might actually be a flattish surface area to clamp it to the drum?