In a message dated 12/4/03 7:44:56 PM, dbeierl@attglobal.net writes:

<< Until it stress-cracks at the inside corners >>

Well, after all, they were designed for the rarity of a flat tire a happy
motorist might suffer and not for a vehicle maintenance regimen.  I had one
split, too, but I assigned that to the 3 foot long cheater I had slipped over it's
handle.

I was once at a business concern which had a fleet of trucks and the garage
to maintain them.  When one of the employee's went to leave, he found a flat
tire on his American whatever car.  He tired to change the tire with the lug
wrench from the car only to give up in frustration.  He then got a 4-way from one
of the service bays only to find it was too big to fit into the lug nut
counterbores of his mag wheels.  Since I was parked near him and wanting to spare
him the hassle of dragging out an air hose and an impact wrench, I gave him the
van's lug wrench to try.  All the kibitzer's watching this show laughed
derisively when I handed it to him.  They shut up real fast as they watched him
spin off those lug nuts with no problem.  Before I could put away the lug wrench,
everyone in the peanut gallery wanted to take a closer look at "that thing".

George