# Can You Replace a Flat Tire **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633 "2010-01-04T16:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/1 "2010-01-04T16:57:38Z")
This past weekend, I had a flat and replaced it in sub-freezing temperatures. No fun at all. Fortunately, I knew how to do it. My girlfriend was in the car, and she mentioned that she could do that. I was surprised as she was very "tom-boyish’ as a girl, playing sports and she goes hunting. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/2 "2010-01-04T16:59:00Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/3 "2010-01-04T17:09:23Z")
Yes, did so this past weekend, as a matter of fact, with a little help from a nice passerby. I mean, I would have finished without the passerby, but I think there was less swearing involved this way. (female, and no, this was not the first time I have replaced a flat tire). ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/4 "2010-01-04T17:10:24Z")
Yes, I have done so recently - sometime last October. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/5 "2010-01-04T17:13:17Z")
Yep, did one just two weeks ago, on 93 North in Woburn. Luckily it was on the passenger side, so I wasn’t crouching in traffic while changing it. BTW, blowouts at 65 mph are not fun. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/6 "2010-01-04T17:13:32Z")
FTR, My girlfriend says she would **not** have tried to replace the tire. I left out a word in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/7 "2010-01-04T17:31:02Z")
I could do it. I’ve helped my dad do it when I was a kid. I voted yes, BUT…I’ve got AAA. I’d really just call them. Fuck that shit 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/8 "2010-01-04T17:31:15Z")
Female, I have changed a tire before, but it wasn’t a flat tire. It was switching from summer to winter tires. I still chose the first option, because it’s the same procedure, except for taking all the crud out of the trunk of the car so you can locate the spare tire 😛 Come to think of it, I’ve never actually experienced a flat tire… ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/9 "2010-01-04T17:50:03Z")
I’ve never done it, but I’ve helped enough and had formal instruction (a boss I had when I was about 19 was floored when I told her I had a flat and couldn’t get to work until I got my Dad to change it - she came right over and gave me a lesson!), so I think I could do it. But I’m with **ZipperJJ**. I have AAA and a husband who would certainly take the damn thing off and re-do it just to make sure I did it right even if I did do it on my own, so screw that, I’m making a phone call. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/10 "2010-01-04T17:56:57Z")
FWIW, the first time I replaced a flat tire was with the assistance of my girlfriend at the time, who had had more experience changing tires than I had. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/11 "2010-01-04T17:57:28Z")
I’ve replaced multiiple flat tires. It’s not hard except for really small people. I was frankly shocked a few weeks ago when my ordinarily uber-competent baby sister called me for help because she didn’t know how to change her flat. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been my little sister, as she is sort of…prissy, I guess; she’d worry about getting dirty. Nor would I have been surprised if it had been my wife or my stepdaughter, as they are each five foot nothing (if that) and under a hundred pounds; I can easily imagine either of them being physically overmatched by the task. But my baby sister’s not prissy at all, stands about 5’3, and works out with weights; I figured she’d die before asking for help. She simply didn’t know how to do it. (And, half-seriously, she blamed me.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/12 "2010-01-04T17:58:33Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I could do it. I’ve helped my dad do it when I was a kid. > > I voted yes, BUT…I’ve got AAA. I’d really just call them. Fuck that shit 🙂 You’d call AAA for a FLAT TIRE? Why on Earth would you wait that long? It’s a ten-minute job. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/13 "2010-01-04T17:59:48Z")
I haven’t done it in awhile, but could do it if I needed to. The trick is to loosen the bolts before jacking up the car. Finish removing them once the car is on the jack. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/14 "2010-01-04T18:11:07Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You’d call AAA for a FLAT TIRE? Why on Earth would you wait that long? It’s a ten-minute job. I did that when I got a flat tire while I was in my driveway. I did it because I was busy and I wanted to get some work done. It’s also been years since I’ve had to replace a flat, so I knew that it would take me more than just ten minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/15 "2010-01-04T18:17:06Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I did that when I got a flat tire while I was in my driveway. I did it because I was busy and I wanted to get some work done. It’s also been years since I’ve had to replace a flat, so I knew that it would take me more than just ten minutes. Gotcha. I can see calling AAA under those circumstances, just not when I’m on the road. (Though I might if I were on the highway and didn’t feel safe.) Most of the flats I’ve changed have belonged to female friends or relatives. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/16 "2010-01-04T18:21:55Z")
I can and I have, but the newer car I once tried to take the jack out and couldn’t. I also wonder how the spare comes off since it’s under the car. I know I could get it if I needed to though. I’ve also replaced my tire iron with one of those nice four way irons. I can also remove both tires from my motorcycle. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/17 "2010-01-04T18:26:09Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I voted yes, BUT…I’ve got AAA. I’d really just call them. Fuck that shit 🙂 Same. I could do it. I _have_ done it. But I also have AAA & a cell phone, and know where the nearby Les Schwabs are. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/18 "2010-01-04T18:29:41Z")
In a manufacturing plant where I used to work, I was leaving the plant one day and one of my co-workers had a flat tire on his Chevy S-10 pickup truck. There was about 4 other guys (all of them engineers) and they couldn’t figure out how to get to the spare tire. The guy had bought the pickup second hand and didn’t have a owners manual. Finally someone was leaving the plant and showed us how to drop the spare tire from the underneath the bed. There was a special screw in the license plate. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/19 "2010-01-04T18:55:49Z")
When I was a teenager, before my dad would let me get behind the wheel I had to prove to him that I could change a tire, check the fluids, etc. He actually made me get down on my knees and take the tire off, too. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/20 "2010-01-04T19:04:14Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > You’d call AAA for a FLAT TIRE? Why on Earth would you wait that long? It’s a ten-minute job. As others have pointed out, it’s a ten-minute job if you’ve done it a few times. I have no doubt I could do it, but it’d take me more than ten minutes, because I’d have to remember how to do it all. Also, in defense of the weaker sex, we’re often wearing girl clothes. I don’t have to so much now, but there’s been plenty of years in my life where I’d be wearing clothes that are pricey enough (and I was poor enough) that I didn’t want to risk getting them covered in dirt and/or oil. Also… shoes. No man truly understands how crappy female footwear really is. And I’m not even talking about super high heels or anything like that. I’m just talking day-to-day office type footwear. With any weather or dirt at all, they are ruined. Thirdly, the tools that are in a tire-change kit, at least the ones that came in my cars, aren’t great. They’re adequate at best. Adequate-at-best along with a lack of hand strength makes things like tire changes a pain in the butt. Hand strength is one of those things that men take for granted. That’s why you guys get to open jars all the time and we’re stuck using those stupid rubber things or hot water or other such methods. I’m not saying that girls can’t change tires - we absolutely can and I think very little of women who say “OMG I can’t change a tire because I’m a GIRL!!!”. And I would, if it was a choice between waiting for an hour or more on a cold highway. But if the hubby is a phone call away, or it’s in my driveway and I can call AAA? You bet that’s the route I’m taking. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633.md?page=2)