A "different" way to jump start!

[Crossthreaded]

After reading your list of your boot I remembered I too have fuses (no bulbs as car all LED) a torch and fire ext also, what are we like. The last time I actually broke down on my bike or in the car was over 20 years ago, so motors are a lot more reliable now if you keep the service regime up to date, and that's why IMO SEAT/CUPRA give you another 12 months free breakdown with your dealer service.

My new Skoda Scala has LED dip headlights but halogen main beams, which I thought a bit strange? the rest seem to be normal bulbs but mostly of the capless variety which is why I keep spares in the car as They seem to be less common on the likes of Halford's etc shelves.

I hadn't had a breakdown for many years until the Ibiza turbo wastegate actuator rod froze up and dumped her into Limp. Luckily still in warranty so covered and a new turbo was duly fitted FOC to me - did take them more than a week to get the turbo though! Then, just a couple of years later - so well out of warranty - the gearbox -final drive bearings - thing happened, most inconveniently on the M6/M5, and a new box had to be fitted. I did get a third off both the price of the box itself and the labour cost which was quite nice but still a big wad of cash to be parting with for a car with under 30,000 miles on it's clock! No amount of tools in bags would have helped with that! So I keep my breakdown subscription running.

 

[tracktoy]

Thought I'd just mention that in beside the spare wheel I have a length of steel rod which is just the right diameter to slide into a wheel stud hole in the hub, It's about 8 inches long? When changing a wheel I put this into one of the holes in the hub where a wheel retaining bolt would fit and move the hub flange round until it's at 12 o'clock. Then I lift the wheel with one hole at 12 o'clock and slip it over the rod, thread the other bolts onto their holes just finger tight and pull the rod out of the hole so I can fit the last bolt. It makes fitting a wheel, when you're old and not so strong any more, much easier.

Yes I forgot about those as well, very useful if like me you change wheels a lot

 

[Crossthreaded]

Yes I forgot about those as well, very useful if like me you change wheels a lot

View attachment 48928

I was just about to order a set of these when I realized I have several lengths of steel rod of different diameters and one of them turns out to be an absolutely perfect sliding fit in the wheel bolt holes. (It's probably an imperial size because I've had those lengths of rod "forever") It's not threaded but is a good sliding fit. I did wonder if it might fall out too easily being as it's not threaded, so cut a suitable length and tried it - seemed ok. I first used it "in anger" when I removed all the Scala's wheels about 9 months after I bought her so I could apply anti-seize to the hubs to stop the alloy wheels corroding in place - which, to my surprise, at not even a year old, they were already starting to do! It worked very well and showed no inclination to fall out on it's own. The wee Panda, although it has steel wheels, is not going to need one, yet - maybe when I'm even older? - because, although steel, the wheels are considerably lighter than the Scala's alloys!