Tires Suck

I've had flat tires before, and I've had this happen twice to me, also.

I know how to change a tire, but I'm typically not in the best attire when it happens. Both of those guys were Godsends.

I'm glad you made him take the money. I've had to make the other guys take it as well.

Anyway, learn how to operate your jack stupid, and always buy the warranty when you buy a tire. If it goes flat, they'll give you a new one for 10 bucks.

 

Great story. I wish I were able to accomplish what you did when your tire gave out on you.

I once was driving on the Hardy Toll Road near the airport and had a tire go out on me. Sounded like a loud pop and then sparks began flying everywhere. It was hell walking to the next exit and catching a ride to Greenspoint Mall seeking someone to pick my car up and replace the tire.

Again, great story.

 

Omega,

That story sounds a lot like the one that I had last fall when I had to go to my first class meeting for one of my MBA classes. I was fortunate enough to meet a lady who actually let me *borrow* her cadillac to drive the 30 miles to get to class and not be late. If the search was up, I would pull that thread. I will see if I can find it and post the link later; it really was an amazing story.

I have only changed one tire myself in my lifetime and it took me like over an hour.

My father, of course, makes fun of me about this, saying it should only take like 15 minutes but some people are not mechanically inclined.

I have had some problems with flats recently, but fortunately, I have had the good fortune of being in good with the maintenance guys at work and they come over to fill the tire up with air. I then go to a place down the street to get the tire fixed.

But in your situation, you didn't have that option, so you were SOL until your benefactor showed up.

 

Okay, it took like 30 minutes, lol, but I found that thread.

Read this thread, Omega, it is a story a lot like yours:

 

I don't mean to be condescending, but c'mon ya'll: Learn to change a friggin' tire.

Step one:
-- Take that jack that came with your car out of the trunk.

Step two:
-- Throw that POS away.

Step three:
-- Drive to Sears.

Step four:
-- Go into Sears.

Step five:
-- Purchase a Craftsman hydraulic jack.

In all seriousness, the jacks that come with cars are pure and absolute crap: they're hard to work and they're NOT safe. I've got my Mustang and a company car: Ford Focus. I've got hydraulic jacks in both of them. It make the change a million times easier than it already is. A hydraulic jack is also easy to use, reliable, and SAFE.

Buy a small flashlight so you can see in the dark. Loosen the lugs, put the jack under the axle or on the chassis near the wheel to be changed, jack it up, change the tire and hand-tighten the lugs, lower the jack and torque down the lugs.

Easier than your sister.

 

Great and inspiring story, Omega...

I never had any trouble changing tires on the old Saturn, even with the jack that came with it. Don't know if I had bad tires or what, but I got enough practice at it that I had it down to an art form. The only trouble was that time when I got the blowout on the Southwest Freeway. It was in a place where there's not really enough shoulder to safely pull over and change a tire. Then can you imagine trying to get back up to highway speed on that crowded freeway? I just had to drive on the thing until I found an exit - the first one I found just went onto 610, which wouldn't have helped, so I had to wait until the next one. By that point I had shredded the tire, bent the rim, and torn up a bit of the car. Still not sure what I should have done in that situation.

Now that I have a truck, the tires are a lot harder to change. I found that out a couple of years ago in Big Bend... I had my husband with me, but we still had to accept help from somebody else (at least we were on a road that other people use). Those things are not easy. I'm afraid it's going to happen next when I'm out by myself. Not sure I could manage the weight of it, even if I remembered how to do it, which I don't right now.

 

Come on Lynus, you make it sound like having a car slip off a jack and fall down on you isn't fun.

I was lucky, my dad sat me down before he'd let me drive a car by myself and made sure I knew how to change a tire. I could do it in fifteen minutes, but I'd rather take my time and make sure I'm not going to screw up. Takes me about an half hour. Pit crews in Nascar do it in what, 45 seconds flat?

 

Yeah, but don't Nascar crews have electric jacks and things to take the bolts out?


Anyway, here's my tire story...

a few weeks ago, my friend was driving through the city (i was in the passenger seat, two others were in the back), and a medium sized rock fell off the back of a truck that was in front of us. Anyway, the car drove over the rock, and the front left tire blew out.

So we pull into a multi-level car park (we were going to, anyway), and change the tire. I took the manual out, and instructed my friends on how to change the tire. The only problem we had was that on one of the bolts, there was a super bolt (lock bolt, or something it was called). It took a lot of effort to get it off, but it came. Long story short, everything worked out okay.

Mmm, kinda boring...

 

You did exactly the right thing. Never choose a rim over your life. And good for you, btw. Nearly every woman I've ever known, from my mom to any past girlfriend, refuses to learn how to change a tire. For the life of me, I cannot understand why. Cars play such an integral role in our lives that I cannot understand why someone would be unwilling to learn to do something as simple as changing a tire. Good for you for knowing how.

Practice. The two of you ought to go out in the driveway and simply practice it a couple of times. And they do sell hydraulic jacks for trucks....I simply cannot say it enough: hydraulic jacks are SO much better than the ones that come with your vehicle. They're heavy, but that's a small price to pay, imo, as a hydraulic jack doesn't require nearly the strength to operate as a standard jack. A Craftsman model has a lifetime warranty, as well. Assuming you've got the space either in your truck or in one of those truck bed box things, get one.

You don't really have to worry about the car falling on you as you don't get under the car to change a tire, but that doesn't mean you can't get injured. The most important thing to remember is to loosen the lugs before you jack up the vehicle and to torque down the lugs after you lower the vehicle.

 

Yeah, you can leave it on, but I wouldn't do it for long. Those things are meant for an emergency, not everyday driving. They're simply not made for it.

In short, get your tire fixed/replaced as soon as possible.

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[soapbox]The importance of tires is highly underrated and too often overlooked. The only thing keeping you in control of a couple thousand pounds of steel flying down the road are a few square inches of rubber on the pavement. Check the pressure. Get them rotated. Get them balanced. Take care of the damn things.
[/soapbox]

 

45 seconds? More like 14 seconds these days.