so....after installing my 2pc rotors backwards this afternoon and with no time tomorrow to fix them, I went over to the in-laws (10 minutes from home) to borrow their massive garage tonight.

things go fine....take off the lower bolts the struts to get clearance to access the caliper bracket bolts...take caliper off, switch rotors, put calipers back on, put right side strut bolt back in...put left side strut bolt in...can't find the nut for it, which I had put down directly below with the lug nuts on the garage floor.

Long story short...me, the wife, and parents in law spend an HOUR searching the entire garage looking for the damn nut. look under their cars. look under workbenches. check and doublecheck toolbag, jeans pockets, inside my car and every f-ing inch of the floor. Nowhere to be found.

so....borrow one of their cars to go home, plan to come back tomorrow after swinging by the dealer for a new bolt. No big deal.

As we're walking out of the garage (car still on jackstands) my wife says "hey you have a screw in your tire here.." Sure enough, there is a screw in the tread of my BRAND NEW Blizzak LM22's (500 miles on them, tops...just put them on a couple weeks ago). They're in the thick tread block, so I figure it's not a through puncture. Screw it out. air blasting out.

So now I have a car on jackstands, a flat tire, and a missing nut.

All because I put my rotors on backwards earlier in teh day like a dumbass.

I hate this car. I think it is cursed.

Venting done. Thanks.

 

flat tires always suck, especially on new tires. pretty weird that the nut just up and walked away like that...

 

Reminds me of when I bought my Max back in January. Had 2 punctures in 2 different tires within a month of one another. Yeah, working on cars can be a PITA when things don't go as planned...

 

That sucks.... good thing I didn't take the extra pair of snows off your hands I guess.

 

was the flat tire the one off of the car? If so, I would just get it plugged...you're not going to be doing 70+ with snow tires, are you?

And sucks about the nut. I've had things like that happen like tools falling somewhere in the engine bay and somehow blending in with they're surroundings...it sucks because you just want to get things done and when things like that happen it turns a 20 minute job into an hour and 20 minute job...

Anyway, good luck on finding a nut at the dealer. I've never had any luck with them actually having parts in stock....

 

yeah if it is in the tread you are lucky, you can get that plugged for less than 20 bucks and they shouldnt even have to remove the tire from the rim, i have even autocrossed multiple times on tires with plugs in them with no problems

or for like 60 bucks you could get it patched if it is more than like an inch from the sidewall.

 

DIY plug kits are even cheaper than that, and have worked well for me a number of times. Including once on one of the OE RE92's that held up without any problem whatsoever for over 30,000 miles. Until this thread, I'd kind of forgotten that I'd had to do one on that car.

But I can absolutely understand the topic's title. So would my wife, if she's been anywhere within earshot on a day that goes anything like what you described.


Norm

 

I took the wife's Mazda today and enjoyed it's excellent handling, brakes, and suspension. took the tire to NTB where it was mounted and they patched it for me for free (and some lunch money cash tip)...

As to the nut:
Went 3 places today (including dealer) with no luck. Went to Lowe's and got a non-metric grade 8 nut and bolt that was close in size. Installed it. No problem..put the car down, backed it out of the garage.

Walked over to the back door of the garage to lock it, and happen to look down at a small flowerpot with some little plant in it. What do you know. The nut is sitting right in the middle of the plant.

I have NO idea how it got there. I never even walked over there while working on the car. I must have kicked it and it somehow bounce up there. Very wierd.

Tire fixed. Nut found and re-installed. All is good now.

 

Definitely a frustrating ordeal, we've all had days/weeks/months like that where everything seems to go wrong. Glad you're back up and running.

 

wow what a weekend for you josh! hope all is well with you now

and losing stuff in the garage ftl!! i have lost a few things doing work on my car...one tool that i'm really missing, is my universal joint...$10 mang!

 

Just think...things could be worse...you could be Lance Armstrong and really be missing a nut....

 

gotta admit...that's pretty wacked.....

 

Reminds me of the time I was running my RC car at night after i just put it back together and the wheel fell off when it was being ran down the street. I couldn't find the wheel for an hour too, but the in the morning when there was light I found it . Very stressful time when looking for something like that.

 

talk about getting pwn3d!

 

Oh no you didn't!

 

Wow, that's really friggin weird... I say punish your car/tire (go ebraking).