A few years ago I owned a Mercedes CLK55 AMG, a very rare car these days. It was used as a commuter with a daily round trip of 120 miles. Its 5439cc V8 engine gave me 342 horses. It was one of my favourite cars ever to own. I drove it for seven years when after 200k miles, it unfortunately succumb to a rusty floorpan that was not cost effective to fix. I will in time post more about this car in the ownership section of this web site.
My daily commute to Cambridgeshire was generally no different to any other day. Whilst on the dual carriageway heading towards the Black Cat roundabout, I heard a noise like a repetitive beat.
As a car enthusiast, I opened both front windows (the rears do not open as it’s a coupe) to investigate the source. The noise sounded like it was coming from the driver’s side rear then it stopped. Strange. There was nowhere to pull over and check and as the noise had ceased, I thought maybe I had caught something in my wheel and it had now cleared. I continued driving.
As I was progressing along the single line part of the A428 driving at it’s 60mph legal limit, just passing a town called Eltisley, the noise appeared again but louder. This needed investigating! Luckily I knew a McDonalds restaurant was up ahead in a mile or two that had a car park where I could safely pull over and check. I entered the car park and when negotiating the bends, the noise become louder again. I got out and nothing was obvious. I checked the tyres and it became obvious that the rear offside tyre had blown out but was still on its rim.
I was shocked, but pleasantly surprised with the stability of this Mercedes when travelling at speeds of up to 70mph. Maybe I was lucky it was a rear blowout and not a front tyre. I was carrying a space saver in the boot and I was self employed – paid by the day, and soon to be running late, I decide to change the wheel myself and continue to my workplace.
I had an AA membership, but as I was not a lone female and did not have children with me, I would have (through experience) been priortized lower down for the breakdown attendance. Coupled with the easy skill of changing a wheel, I decided to sort it out myself and get to the office.
Now this is where times have changed – you do not see many drivers changing their wheel on the roadside anymore. There is of a course an element of danger involved and is not recommended by the motoring services or the Police forces.
A high percentage of cars do not even have a spare wheel, space saver or jack – maybe just the can of mousse and an air pump if you are lucky.
Being mindful of getting my office trousers dirty, I jacked up the offending side of the car and changed the wheel for the space saver. If I had being carrying a can of mousse, it would been rendered useless due to the shredded sidewall of the tyre.
Space saver safely fitted, I continued my commute conscious of the 55mph maximum recommended speed for the temporary wheel.
I was just an hour late for work, which I made up the time later in the week. I was pleased with three choices that I had made that day – driving a Mercedes that had solidity at speed, carrying a spare wheel and jack, and the satisfaction of solving a first world problem.
