# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/81 "2010-01-06T03:54:31Z")
I learned it in driver’s ed. I pretty sure there are instructions in the owners manual. Its not complicated, just remember to loosen and tighten lugnuts while the jack is not engaged. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@Mrs\_Johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Johnson)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/82 "2010-01-06T04:05:35Z")
That was one of the first things my dad taught me how to do when I got my license. Of course he said “Call me first, but if you’re ever really stranded at least you’ll know how to do it.” I’ve had 1 flat and my boyfriend at the time was 2 minutes away so he came to rescue me. Also, a nice man with a 4-way tire-iron busted the lugs loose for us, then jumped back in his car at the Carl’s Jr drive thru and went on his way. I’ve had to do it once by myself but I was at home and the weather was nice. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/83 "2010-01-06T04:30:54Z")
Oops wrong thread. LOL ---
**Author:** ![Old\_Goat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/5daacb/32.png) [@Old\_Goat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Old_Goat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/84 "2010-01-06T07:42:14Z")
A friend of mine has been using my car. The other day she called and asked if I had some kind of security lock on the wheel. She got a flat and they vcouldn’t turn the lug nuts. Said they just spun around. All of them. She souldn’t have stripped all the nuts?? Finally, she mentioned they were silver colored. It finally hit me. :smack: I told her ‘You gotta take the hub cap off first!!!’ Those are decorative ‘nuts’. Funny thing, it wasn’t the first time she’s had a flat. That time, I found she had mounted the doughnut with the lug nuts reveresed (taper side facing out. I guess kids now a days are not very mechanically inclined. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/85 "2010-01-06T07:58:37Z")
I can do it, have done it, many times; the hardest thing is realizing you don’t have the jack \ or are in an unfamiliar vehicle and don’t know just where to put things or find them. I have no problem doing it and kind of enjoy it \. All that said: if I had AAA and had a blowout on a heavy freeway, or in shitty-assed weather, I’d rather call them. Too many crazy drivers, too hazardous, too easy to be bumped off. Edit due to last poster’s last comments: It’s been 30 years since I took drivers ed \ but one of the things we learned was, yes, how to change a tire. I even understood combustible engineering for about 3 months until algebrae pushed it out my other ear. Neat class. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/86 "2010-01-06T08:18:15Z")
Hell no, and I’m not embarrassed about it either. I pay people to do all kinds of things I’d rather not learn to do because I’M TOO BUSY DOING STUFF I ACTUALLY LIKE DOING. What’s so bad about sitting in the car and listening to my iPod while I wait for AAA? I sit in a chair and read magazines while some guy cuts my hair, too. Then I hand him money and we’re both happy. This is a moot point, in my case, since my car is designed to have no spare tire, there’s no room for one. I have to have it towed to a tire place should my tire decide to, say, blow out on the freeway. At rush hour. With no shoulder. Like it did a month ago. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/87 "2010-01-06T09:07:52Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > Hell no, and I’m not embarrassed about it either. I pay people to do all kinds of things I’d rather not learn to do because I’M TOO BUSY DOING STUFF I ACTUALLY LIKE DOING. What’s so bad about sitting in the car and listening to my iPod while I wait for AAA? I sit in a chair and read magazines while some guy cuts my hair, too. Then I hand him money and we’re both happy. > > This is a moot point, in my case, since my car is designed to have no spare tire, there’s no room for one. I have to have it towed to a tire place should my tire decide to, say, blow out on the freeway. At rush hour. With no shoulder. Like it did a month ago. What kind of brain dead car do you own? It is not a car I’d want to drive through the middle of nowhere on the way to Death Valley, that’s for sure. I changed my tire the other day in ten minutes flat. I’d be waiting forty minutes for sure if I had called AAA. Getting to dinner earlier was well worth getting my hands a little dirtier. ---
**Author:** ![Galwegian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galwegian/32/3426_2.png) [@Galwegian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galwegian)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/88 "2010-01-06T09:47:06Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > My car is designed to have no spare tire, there’s no room for one. I have to have it towed to a tire place should my tire decide to, say, blow out on the freeway. At rush hour. With no shoulder. Like it did a month ago. My car is like this too: BMW’s don’t have spare tires anymore. Instead they have run-flat tires, with a tell-tale light on the dashboard to let you know that the tire has lost pressure. I’ve had my car since 2006, and the system has worked fine until now. By the way, yes, I can change a tire, and I last changed one for a tourist couple from Minnesota who blew out a tire just outside my front gate in August. Tight wheelnuts aren’t so much of a problem if you just stand on the wheelbrace to loosen them before jacking up the car. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/89 "2010-01-06T16:44:15Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > What kind of brain dead car do you own? It is not a car I’d want to drive through the middle of nowhere on the way to Death Valley, that’s for sure. > > I changed my tire the other day in ten minutes flat. I’d be waiting forty minutes for sure if I had called AAA. Getting to dinner earlier was well worth getting my hands a little dirtier. No, you would probably not be driving a [convertible Audi TT](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/1st-Audi-TT-convertible.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1st-Audi-TT-convertible.jpg&usg=__kCP9woFLfQTQtaKr9o7mXfyUPUw=&h=808&w=1648&sz=108&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=pIjwRNRzmvQbSM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daudi%2Btt%2Bconvertible%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den) to Death Valley. I have a short commute in Southern California. It just wasn’t the type of thing I thought to ask when I bought it (used) and I got such a great deal, I’m not even sure it would have mattered. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/90 "2010-01-06T16:51:41Z")
> [@Galwegian](#): > > My car is like this too: BMW’s don’t have spare tires anymore. Instead they have run-flat tires, with a tell-tale light on the dashboard to let you know that the tire has lost pressure. I’ve had my car since 2006, and the system has worked fine until now. BMW are going to phase the run-flat tires out again in the next generation of vehicles because of their poor ride and handling characteristics. Also, the TT comes with a flat repair kit, so unless the sidewall is punctured, you shouldn’t need to call AAA. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/91 "2010-01-06T17:15:12Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > BMW are going to phase the run-flat tires out again in the next generation of vehicles because of their poor ride and handling characteristics. > > Also, the TT comes with a flat repair kit, so unless the sidewall is punctured, you shouldn’t need to call AAA. It was shredded. I had to drive on it because the place it picked to blow was unbelievably unsafe. I couldn’t have even gotten out of the car, there was so much (fast) traffic. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/92 "2010-01-06T18:07:46Z")
> [@bup](#): > > If the question had been about changing a \*bike \*tire, that’d be tougher. I only successfully learned how to do that a couple of years ago in a class, and have never done it ‘in the wild.’ > > But a car tire? Many times. Too funny. that I can’t do. Toddles off to find a bike repair class . . . ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/93 "2010-01-06T18:14:15Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > It was shredded. I had to drive on it because the place it picked to blow was unbelievably unsafe. I couldn’t have even gotten out of the car, there was so much (fast) traffic. Oh, well, fair enough then. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/94 "2010-01-06T18:43:15Z")
> [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > I’ve never owned a car before, so I have to ask the question…how did all of you learn to change tires? Are the instructions written in the owner’s manual of the car? I suppose nowadays you can just look it up on Google or Youtube to figure it out, but how did you learn prior to the internet? Nobody in my family was allowed to take a car out alone until we demonstrated that we could change a flat on our own, and also that we could get the car into gear without rolling halfway back down a particular hill in our town with a stop light at the crest. My grandfather taught my sister and me in our driveway. We did learn it in drivers’ ed, but I took that senior year for the insurance break and had already had my license a while by then. Now that I’ve become a woman of a certain age with knees that sometimes trouble me I am as likely as not to call AAA as not. Afterall, I do pay them. There’s no honor in paying for a service I don’t use. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/95 "2010-01-06T19:13:52Z")
> [@jellyblue](#): > > No, you would probably not be driving a [convertible Audi TT](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/1st-Audi-TT-convertible.jpg&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1st-Audi-TT-convertible.jpg&usg=__kCP9woFLfQTQtaKr9o7mXfyUPUw=&h=808&w=1648&sz=108&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=pIjwRNRzmvQbSM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daudi%2Btt%2Bconvertible%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den) to Death Valley. I have a short commute in Southern California. Actually that would be awesome to drive around there, with no one around. We went in February when the weather would have been perfect for a convertible. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/96 "2010-01-07T02:42:03Z")
> [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > I’ve never owned a car before, so I have to ask the question…how did all of you learn to change tires? Are the instructions written in the owner’s manual of the car? I suppose nowadays you can just look it up on Google or Youtube to figure it out, but how did you learn prior to the internet? a) Between the ages of 12 and 16, rotating the tires on the family car (which included swapping out the standard summer tires for snow tires) on both cars was one of the “chores” I was occasonally asked to do. b) My own car was rather old and I wanted to learn how to take care of it (couldn’t afford to pay someone else to keep it running properly). I learned how to do a tune-up (points, distributor cap, spark plugs, condenser, clean the gas lines, air filter), oil change, antifreeze in the winter time, and later how to do a front wheel alignment (camber, caster, toe-in) and balance my own tires. c) Cars were simpler at one time and their parts were a lot easier to get to. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/97 "2010-01-07T19:27:51Z")
I _can_, but I _won’t_ unless I have to. I buy AAA roadside assistance every year, and when I need it it’s the best $49 I spend all year. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/98 "2010-01-07T20:14:59Z")
I usually weigh about a buck seven. I’d have to \*stand \*on the tire iron to loosen the bolts, which is not recommended. So I use my insurance’s roadside assistance instead. My dad had me help him with car maintenance as a kid so I know the theory of tires in addition to knowing how to jump a battery. (there’s a reason I keep a portable jumpstarter in the trunk 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/99 "2010-01-07T20:28:37Z")
I weigh a buck sixty and I have to stand on the tire iron to loosen them too. Recommended or not, that’s pretty much the only way to get a bolt off a wheel stud if you aren’t Tarzan and don’t have an air wrench. ---
**Author:** ![\_xiao\_wenti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b782af/32.png) [@\_xiao\_wenti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_xiao_wenti)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633/100 "2010-01-08T00:52:37Z")
I change tires when I need to, but once had to do so after an overzealous shop person overtorqued the nuts - a MAJOR pet peeve. Since then I carry 2 12-inch sections of threaded pipe with a union to slip over the tire iron to increase the moment arm. Now I can take off the old tire nuts without killing myself. I am sure that there are many people who are physically incapable of changing tires due to the itty bitty tire irons and the over-torqued nuts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-replace-a-flat-tire/523633.md?page=6)