While this was on the tow vehicle and not the trailer it is still a rather humorious tale of my stupidity and in my effort to help fill the void of the great story teller Ira here is my tale of woe.
It just ain't been a good week. 3 days of not speaking to ol what's her name after being instructed to shut the f*%*() up ( so I did ). Went to pack the bearing on my new aluminum 4x7 trailer and they were junk so I completely replaced everything last night. ( yes this part is relivent later in the story)
Well 8 miles from home the little low tire light comes on on the new Dodge truck. I stopped at an intersection and yep it was a little low but still appeared ok to continue so I did about 6 more miles I turned onto a little used new blacktop county road and thought it would be a great opportunity to recheck.
It was obvious it was time to tire wrestle.
Now this is a new truck and I start to look for the jack and onboard tools to complete a tire change. Looked behind the seat and there was what appeared a removable panel after 4 minutes I decided it was time to resort to the vehicle instruction manual. Looked under several topics in the index nothing on tire changing or flat tires or 10 other topics I could think of. I finally found the section "General information" where I learned about tire rotation and the "TPMS" system (tire pressure monitoring system) all I want to know is where in the Hell did they hide the jack!
45 pages later there is a section on "Jack Location" Well here we go !
Remove plastic panel under passenger seat. So I grabbed the panel and pulled the front released I tugged and tugged on the rear it will not let go. WTF well the instruction say to pull front loose and SLIDE THE PANEL FORWARD ! Duh! There it is, so now simply remove the thumb bolt that holds the packet in place. OK , I would like to get my hands on the
" a hole" that tightened this thumb screw with a 3 foot screwdriver. Well finally wedged lug wrench between the ears and got it loose.
Jack is in place and tire is off the ground lugs are loose and ready but I need to get the spare out. Well it ain't the 1st under bed spare I have used so I inserted the 4 part extention in the appropriate hole and attempted to lower the spare. It slips like a oversized socket on a nut. Assuming I am not in the lift mechanism I spend 20 more minutes attempting to insert the extention tool. Deciding it has mud or rocks in it I decide to give it a love tap with an extra ball mount in the bed. Nope still slips. 10 more minutes of failed attempts to insert the extention and no luck. Patients are starting to get a bit thin. I was a professional mechanic for 10+ years and changing a tire is about as formidable a task as making toast in the toaster, What should be a 8 minute aggrivation has slowly become a night mare. Setting in the cab for a moment to keep from beating the truck to death with the extra ball mount I started to think a bit more clearly. So finally realizing if I turn the extention over and insert the bell shaped square end in the hole the lug wrench / drive handle combo will fit on the little square end I have been trying to insert in the lift drive for the last 1/2 hour. So why not try and guess what it fit 1st try.
Unfortunatly ............................
The little end I have been abusing will no longer insert into the little square hole in the lug wrench to act as a winder handle. Rooting around in the truck cross box looking for the channel locks ( remember the bearing change that is where the channel locks are they are still on the trailer from last night)I finally find a very small pair of pliers. I used them to reform the end so it will fit the handle. Tire is dropped and changed without further incident. What a lovely way to start the day arriving at work muddy and dirt covered. Oh well I can say I know how to change a tire on my new truck now
), thanks! BTDT that kinda thing a time or 3 
Mark (& Cindi) 
