In our last episode, I'd struck unseen debris in the Ford GT, and had suffered what tire engineers call a "rapid deflation." Then I was visited by Jesus, who loaded the GT and myself onto and into his tow truck, respectively. Through it all, I kept getting Jeep Commander flashbacks, from the time I had to have that one flatbedded in for a new starter during summer vacation.
Now we're at Villa Ford, reversing the process and unloading the GT in the service area. Steve Gailey, the service writer my wife spoke with on the phone, informs me that the tires, two of them, are on their way. After about half an hour, the only guy at the dealership this Saturday morning who can work on a GT is finishing up another project. But Danny takes a moment to inform me that jacking the low side up will be a problem--unless I have a set of spacers on hand. Do I?
Then a light goes on. When Karl gave me my preflight check on the car, he casually showed me a bag filled with something he called "GTsavers," prefacing it with, "You won't be needing these, but..." Apparently GTsavers are machined hockey-puck-sized nylon spacers that fit into holes in the underbody jack points, ensuring that jack loads can only go into the chassis at the specified point.
Danny, the mechanic, was thrilled when he saw these babies, and it was clear that without them, he'd have had a hard time. If you have a Ford GT, believe me, you need these. Get them at www.gtsaver.com and carry them in your car. Jay, the guy who sells them, includes a laminated card that shows where the jack points are and lists the lug nut torque.
Two minutes later, and the back of the car was in the air and the offending flat tire was coming off. What we saw inside wasn't pretty.
Oddly, the end the pushed itself through the tire isn't even a little bit sharp. It's more than 5/8" in diameter, and blunt. If must have been bouncing when I hit it, and perfectly wedged itself between tire and road at an angle.
A scary-looking piece was sticking out of the tire. And it explained where all that noise had come from...
That protruding bit had taken a small chunk out of the fender lip. It isn't too visible unless you're looking right at it, but it's there.
In about 30 minutes, the GT had two new rears. From this angle, the one everyone sees, you can't really see the nick.
The P315/40ZR19 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar tires were cheaper than I expected. Even though I was a captive customer, desperate on a Saturday, I paid $349 apiece for them. Tire rack wants $332, so the dealer price with one hour's notice isn't shabby. With mounting, balancing, tire disposal fees and taxes, the grand total came out to $800.01. By the time I got home, it was 1:30pm--about 4 hours late.
So how was YOUR Saturday morning?
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 6,985 miles.
Add a comment