I also asked them to swap the good tyre we had on a Merc rim onto the spare. This turned out to be a problem. They called me and said they can't remove the spare as it is seized in place. I went up there and the manager told me it is a common problem with 405s and that they had soaked it it lubricant and spent a good deal of time trying to shift the bloody thing. I asked if it was worth me taking a hammer to it or whether we'd have to cut it free. He said most likely it would have to be cut and a new holder bought and fitted. Bugger!
Ah well I brought it home and thought I may as well have a go. I wasn't gonna make it any worse(er ok yeah I might well have done). I gathered the tools I thought I would be needing for a start:
I lay under the car and started looking for a jacking point at the back. Didn't have much luck, then decided that as she isn't exactly slammed, I would in fact have a fair bit of room to work without putting her on axel stands. So I started fiddling with the wheel holding bracket and found that although very rusty, it seemed fairly free moving, there just wasn't enough clearance at the back end of the wheel to release the catch. With the precision of a machine I applied just the right amount of pressure to the wheel to shove it forward a bit. Then with a little bit more fiddling I released the catch and lifted the spare out!
With a smug grin on my face I stuck the wheel in the boot with the other one and drove back to the garage. They were a little surprised and very curious to know how I'd got the thing off. Anyway I brought both wheels in for them and they quickly put the good tyre on the spare in 5 minutes. The chap asked if I'd like it refitted to the car and I gladly accepted, however after watching him struggle for a couple of minutes I went and reattached the clip.
Then I went back in and the guy asked how I was paying so I said the magic word "cash". I also asked if they would charge to dispose of the old tyre and Merc rim, and if so then I would keep them. The manager then piped up asking what I intended to do with them, so I said I'd find someone to get rid of the for free. He mumbled something about nobody doing that and then went to answer the phone. I asked what I owed them and the bloke serving said call it a fiver as I did half the work myself. Gladly I handed over the cash and asked if he would ditch the old wheel and tyre for that as well, to which he said "yeah go on then".
So our tyre problems are now sorted:
Boot sans useless wheel with good tyre on it: -
Finally I attended to the vital task of applying appropriate lubrication where required: -
I should also mention that I asked the garage to check the exhaust out for us and see if the interesting noises that come from it were due to perished rubbers or similar. Apparently the fixings are all sound and the noises are internal. We have two options: replace the exhaust system or live with the knocking noises. Hmm tough call...
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