Over the winter I found out that I needed to replace my spare tire holder. Naturally, I found that out the hard way.
I happened to have a flat tire this winter. I was able to lower my spare tire, which is held by a chain underneath the bed of my pickup. After replacing the flat with my spare, everything seemed (sort of) dandy. I eventually opted to replace all tires as they were nearing the need for replacement anyways. That, and I was never really satisfied with the tires I had to begin with.
After replacing the tires, the shop informed me that they were unable to lift my spare tire back into place. I had waited for a couple of hours longer than they had quoted me, and was in a hurry to leave. Fast forward another six months, and my spare tire was still in the bed of the truck. You never really appreciate how efficient a spare tire holder is until you don’t have a functioning one anymore.
I have made a few trips with my bed full – including the spare tire – since this incident. None of these trips were enjoyable; every time I reminded myself that I just needed to pony up the $100 for the replacement holder and be done with it. The problem is, in the grand scheme of things, my inconvenience seemed worth it. I mean, that $100 could pay for a lot of groceries, or gasoline, bills, raised beds, etc. It seemed foolish to spend it on a simple tire holder.
Then I came to the realization that by not spending the money I was actually wasting money. I had taken a trip to the landfill as we’re finally getting to the point of cleaning up our excess building supplies. They charged me an extra half a hard of debris ($11) because the spare tire was occupying the bed of my truck. And no, I would not leave it at home because that would be the time I would need it with my luck.
Efficiency is just as good as money, because without one it’s really hard to have the other. Therefore, I spent the money and bought the spare tire holder. Replacing it took a whole ten minutes as it is held into place by two bolts. The bed of my truck is now happily empty; I am pleased to have the spare tire back in it’s correct position, and tomorrow when I pick up material for raised beds I’ll know that I was THAT much more efficient in doing so.