Life, as glorious as it is, with its access to tacos and puppies and orgasms, is still a colossal ass-pain. That’s why I can’t begrudge this guy in St. Louis too much for doing what he did. Sure, driving a car with a roller jack instead of an actual front wheel isn’t exactly safe, but I suspect nobody would do this unless they absolutely had to. I hope.
Here’s a video of the SUV and roller jack combo in action; there’s some salty talk in there, so if you’re connected to the PA system of a large amphitheater, I’d suggest leaving this muted:
The reporting about this video—which has, predictably, gone sort of viral—has focused on how very “St. Louis” it is. I haven’t lived in St. Louis, so I can’t really confirm or deny that, but I have had a broken car and been broke myself at times, and that has led me to do some similarly stupid things, like reverse a car across town to avoid having to pay for a tow.
My guess is something similar is going on here. For what it’s worth, the guy did a decent job stabilizing the brake disc on the jack, and he seems to be driving it with the slow, careful, and determined demeanor of someone who knows they’re doing something stupid and just wants to get it over with.
I mean, he’s not trying to take this on the highway at 60 mph; he’s just slowly and miserably creeping down a residential road.
Based on the damage to the front of that early 2000s Chevy Blazer (I think?), I’m guessing this all started from some kind of wreck, and hopefully our grimly determined jack-driver will manage to get things put back together and wheel on the SUV wherever he’s headed.
Good luck, buddy. Don’t do this again, okay?