I once got a flat on my old Ford Ranger on a Chicago suburbs freeway. I was struggling to get the tire off when one of those State highway helper trucks showed up. He pulled out his lug wrench and couldn't get the lug nut to turn. We went back to my X lug wrench so we could both get on it - it wouldn't budge. So then we got future Mrs. Velo out of the cab so she could stand on the lug wrench while helper guy and I both pushed and pulled on the wrench and it finally broke free. It bent my lug wrench but we got that damned thing. I had a word after that with the shop that air wrenched my aluminum wheels on that thing.
This reminds me of one of those old family stories that gets told and retold, that happened a VERY long time ago, so long ago that Interstate highways hadn't been invented and the Pontiac brand hadn't gone to Car Heaven.
My late FIL bought a used Pontiac after having always been a "Ford man", right before going on a long family vacation. Always one to be prepared, he took it into the local tire shop to have the tires balanced and rotated just before leaving.
While passing through the midst of the Great American West, aka Middle of Nowhere, he got a flat tire. After quite some time of trying to get the lug nuts off, thoroughly cussing out the local tire shop and his GD impact wrench, and bending the lug wrench into an unusable shape, he saw the first vehicle since pulling off rapidly approaching in the distance. He stepped into the middle of the highway to force the driver to stop.
Driver rolls down the window, says "Can I help you sir? My wife is in labor and I'm racing her to the hospital", motioning to the passenger who is obviously in great distress.
FIL: "I have a flat, need to borrow your lug wrench because I bent mine all to hell."
Driver: "Here it is, keep it I need to go." Looks over at the Pontiac, then up at my FIL.
"You do know sir, that Pontiacs have reverse threads?"
