grrrrrr

Because it is finally Spring, I knew I had to get the winter tires off.  People who drive on dirt roads are foolish if they swap tires before mud season is completely over.  That would not be me.

I also believed that I needed an alignment.  When I drove to NJ the steering wheel shimmied at 65 mph and the car drifted to the right.  People who drive on dirt roads (or on route 12 through the Brookfield Gulf) are more likely to need an alignment than our paved-road neighbors.

My mechanic in Montpelier does a first-class job on everything, but he doesn't do alignments.  I called a local mechanic in Randolph and found that they did it.  So I took the tire swap and the alignment there.

"Please be sure to balance the tires." "If your summer tires are on rims they don't need to be balanced." "Yes they do.  I live on a dirt road and drive on dirt roads every day.  If you don't balance the tires you will see me and the car again on Monday."  Later, the mechanic said "Gee, three of those tires needed balancing."  Well, they weren't going to balance themselves sitting in the shed all winter.

Then we got to the alignment.  My car went on the machine and someone with a "check engine light" drove in, followed by someone with a close-to-destroyed left rear tire, having driven on a flat tire for about a mile and a half.  So my car sat and sat and sat.  Then the printer that  prints the alignment results wouldn't print.  The mechanic fussed with that until I finally said "Do you need the printout to know the car is aligned?" "No.  The instruments tell me it is.  The printout is for you." "Don't let the desire for perfection interfere with good enough.  I've been here two hours and I need to get home".  It was 3:30, I had to leave for Burlington at 5:45 and still had the back half of the yard to mow.

So he took the car for its required spin around the block and said "The TPS light is still on." "Of course it is.  The winter tires are 16" and are not TPS. The summer tires are 17" and they are TPS."  "That will take some time and I have to put it back on the lift."  "Nope, don't do it.  I need to get home."

At least the alignment is done, and the trip to Burlington proved it was worth it. But my mechanic knew about the TPS last year without me telling him.  That's why I drive 15 miles north of work to get the car taken care of, instead of 6 miles into Randolph.  I hope that TPS light isn't important.

Update: On the way home I squirrelled around on the dirt road, so I got out my tire pressure gauge. They didn't check the pressure in the rear tires. It's supposed to be 32 psi. It was 15. The TPS light is off now.