Take it off, repair the leak, put it back on.
One thing I recommend for everyone is a 12 volt pump. Many times the leak is slow enough that you can pump it up and continue on. Much nicer to sit in the car listening to the radio while the pump does all the work. I’ve saved many a fellow worker who comes out of the office to a flat tire. buy one with an automatic shut-off mechanism so you can set the desired pressure and let it do it’s thing.
I have changed several flat tires, mostly for other people who are pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway. I’ve also plugged my tires more than once. I usually rotated my own tires too, unless the handling makes me think one is out of balance.
No problem, although my wife seems to think I’m as helpless as she is. Last time we had a flat, the tire didn’t deflate until overnight in the garage. Next morning, she’s on the phone trying to find someone who would actually come to fix it (and having no luck). By the time she got done calling and came to tell me her lack of success, the job was done. I mean. . .it was in the garage.
It wouldn’t hurt anybody to pull all the wheels once a year on a nice day to make sure they haven’t welded to the hubs with rust or the nuts over-tightened. put oil on the threads and around the hub so the wheel can be removed in an emergency. Also a nice time to check the brakes.
You left out:
HARHARHARHAR!
cough,, COUGH!
Dorito splats onto screen, eyes tear up, D runs in, asks do I need the Heimlich???
OMG, sweetie!
Don’t DO that to me!!!:D:D:D
J/K.
Do do that to me! It feels very nice. (laughing, that is!;))
Quasi
How about, I thought I could but I really can’t, all by myself?
About 10 days ago I learned that I had the theory down but lacked sufficient upper-body strength.
Got the jack out and properly aligned, even figured out how to crank up the jack.
Couldn’t get the lug nuts off. Fortunately a very nice man came over and not only cranked the car higher more efficiently, but got the nuts off and put the spare on for me.
Cosmic thanks to you, sir!
Gotcha. Being a Memphian born & bred, I have never experienced 20 degrees below zero, much less 20 inches of snow. That simply never occurred to me.
[Beavis/Butthead] Heheheh! [/B Beavis/Butthead]:):)
Q
I can’t think of a time when it wouldn’t be more convenient to take care of a flat on my own. That said, I tend to use Fix-a-Flat unless the tire blew out or has a bad sidewall.
For a long time, I seemed to be a flat tire magnet. I’ve gotten flats in most cars I’ve owned.
The MGB’s tires are the easiest to change. (Haven’t had a flat in this particular one – yet. But it’s the same as my first one.) The jack fits into a socket in the middle of the rocker panel, and has a crank. Very easy. To get the tire off, just knock off the hub with the mallet. Put on the new one, screw the hub on, and whack it with the mallet to tighten.
I’ve even rotated the tires on my SUV. Although I won’t do that myself again - it’s worth the $40 IMHO.
… only I didn’t say fudge…
Yeah, I can change a tire. I’ve done plenty and, as others have posted, it always seems to be under the worst of conditions. The last one was coming home through Ohio on I-70 in the fast lane and the front left tire blew out. I was able to get stopped and off of the road without losing control, but then I got to enjoy the pleasure of changing a tire in the median of the interstate in about 20 degree weather with about a foot of snow on the ground and a nice wind blowing. I had to stop about half way through and go back inside my pickup truck to warm up.
I didn’t get it changed in under four minutes flat.
I have replaced flat tires in the past, no sweat. But due to knee problems, kneeling or squatting is now very risky; it’s even hard for me to check the air in my tires. This is one reason why I’m a member of AAA. If I ever get a flat, I’ll let them change it.
Yes
Advice:
Replacing a flat tire on anything bigger than a small tractor is fantastically difficult without special equipment. You have to change the whole wheel, and have a shop replace the tire on it.
All except for Gatopescado. He’s the only one who could answer yes, unless I missed someone.
I understand how to do it, theoretically. But I’d really rather not. I’m afraid that I won’t be able to tighten the lugnuts enough, and the tire will fall off.
Yep. But around here we call it changin’ a tar.
I can change a tire. Done it many times.
What bugs me is when women *don’t *want to learn how to change a tire. I worked with a young woman once who had run over something or other on her way to work and she now had a flat. She worked her whole shift and then at 5 AM only decided to start to deal with the problem. She couldn’t call Daddy because he wouldn’t get up until 8 AM and he would get mad at her. I offered to show her how to do it, and believe me, she was strong enough to do so.
I started by trying to explain her step by step how to do it, but she claimed ignorance and couldn’t understand what I was saying. So I started to show her how to do it. At the end of the day, I had done it for her and she didn’t even say “thanks”. She just drove off and went home.
Grrrrrr…
I answered that I have, which is not strictly true- I have never changed a flat tire. I have rotated tires on a car before, though, and I do know how to do it.
