Still no rise so he screwed it down some more - and more. An odd sound
hit his ears, sort of a creaking noise. He looked at the wheel just in
time to see the bolts being pulled down through the nuts - he said he
had time to think "now that's strange!" when Whammo the top half of
the wheel took off, his ears were ringing, and talcum powder was
fogging the inside of the van. The wheel half went out through the
roof of the van (sheet metal!), sailed clear over the concourse, and
landed on the other side with a clangor, fortunately missing
everything over there. The service line gauge was broken - it always
read zero despite whatever the line pressure was . . .
FWIW airing up a tire is hazardous - cages are used in tire shops, and
with hot brakes it is very dangerous to get in line with the axle
until everything has cooled off.


there's a series of photos floating around the net of a guy who was on
the wrong side of an overinflated tire. It wasn't a pretty sight.