Well, yes, waiting for just any ol’ stranger is not a good idea. But then changing a tire by yourself at the side of a dark road is not a good idea either. This is one of the few really good reasons for having a cell phone.
Obviously if it’s at all possible you try to get to someplace safe and well-lighted. It’s better to drive on a flat, and ruin the tire (and the rim, if necessary) than to stop in a dangerous area. But this would be true whether you were calling the auto club, waiting for the cops to show up, or changing the tire yourself.
The usual advice is that regardless of who you are, try to get to a safe place. Drive on the rim if you have to. Also lock the doors until the help you’ve summoned (or a cop) arrives.
I think I could do it. The one time I had to, I got as far as positioning the jack, and a neighbor noticed me and came to help. Loosening the lugnuts was pretty hard, but I managed all of them on my own. I did, however, develop a crashing migraine later that day. Don’t know if it was related.
My only real complaint is that the jacks that have come with every car I’ve had are a pain in the ass to use. Or I just haven’t figured out the right way. I watched “The Transporter” recently and the main character changes the tire on his BMW and the jack he used looked like a dream come true! Unfortunately, a $70K BMW is not in my future. All the jacks I’ve used require you to use the wrench and another piece and crank it around. It seems like a good idea but I can never get a good rhythm going and/or it comes loose. In the movie, the jack had a built-in crank and it was just bam bam bam. <sigh>
I have changed a flat tire and probably could again…if I *had *to. However, I haven’t changed a flat in 20 years. I’m married and gave birth to boys, they can and do change the tires because I sew the buttons on their shirts. It’s a fair trade I think.
No female in my family is allowed to drive, unless she can change the tire of the car she is driving, and demonstrate it. It is customarily done at 16, and for each new car thereafter.
(exceptions, of course for older ladies, who cannot physically lift a spare tire)
Safety first. You dont want to get stuck anywhere, particularly in a city(we dont worry too much about being stranded in the plains and mountains and woods).
…practially speaking, as long as you are “ccw” carrying, have AAA, have a cell phone, have a couple cans of “can of spare tire” , have a portable air compressor, always drive on good tires, the chances of actually having to change a tire, or being victimized with a flat, are slim and none
Interesting that this thread came up because we’re having a “Tire Changing Day” in our mosquito lab this week. Our summer season sees many miles put on our trucks, including time-sensitive dead crow and mosquito pickups for health surveillance. About half of us haven’t ever changed a tire, and so we’re going to get some practice!
But I don’t have to.
When I had my drivers license about a year, I managed to get two flat tires one night. This was during the 70’s gas shortage, so no stations were open that night. I changed one tire and the next day, Mom, Dad, and I came back to get a second tire and he changed that one. I drove off in Dad’s car and he took mine (I think he wanted to make sure the car was driving okay since I had hit a deep hole). I happen to look in the rear view mirror and I could see him gesticulating and cursing up a storm. :eek: Uh-oh. He pulled off, reset the tire I had changed. When we got home, he made me rotate my tires.
My brother and I used to race each other to see who could get one changed the quickest. I haven’t timed myself in a while, but I know I can still change one.
Since several of my friends (at least one male friend, but 2-3 female friends) at school have admitted not knowing how to change one, I’m considering a brief instruction session for all of them on the “how to change a tire and jump start a car” deal. They should know.
Heck, I can loosen mine with no problem. Of course, I have one of those big tire bar things - the ones where part of it flips so that it goes straight on the tire and the rest is perpendicular & about 2 feet long. I want to call it a tire iron, but that doesn’t sound right to me tonight - and my brain is tired. Tire bar?
There were some guys trying to change a tire in my apartment parking lot a while ago and they were struggling with the lug nuts. I walked down to the lot, took it out of my trunk and asked if they needed some assistance.
See, I can (and have) jacked the car up, taken off the old tire (which is hard. I’m not a small or light woman - yet the last time I was involved in a tire changing episode, I had to jump up and down on a 3 foot long lever to get the lug nut to move. No way could I have the physical strength to move it (I’m not weak either)) and put on a spare.
After that, though - I call my dad. (Pathetic, I know) and then my car and spare go somewhere (I know not where) and magically I have a new tire or a fixed old tire. I’ve really no idea what to do after you’ve got the bad tire off and the spare on. I should probably find out.
Have changed a tire, have rebuilt an engine (with my sister, not all by my lonesome), have replaced a starter, an alternator, several “peripheral” parts (my bf cracks up when I say that, cuz it’s 'sposed to be a computer term).
Radiator hoses. A radiator. I’ve changed several tires, but usually in the process of helping do a brake job.
DOH! Pick up a 12 volt air compressor. I keep one in every car. Fix-a-flat just leaves a mess inside the tire and should be used only as a last resort.
You can also buy a 12 volt impact driver or a compound rachet.
The last two times my mom bought a new car, it came with a freaking tiny 1-foot long lug nut wrench. On of those cars even had aluminum wheels, with steel lug nuts that would bind on them. After I saw it had the tiny lug nut wrench, I went out and bought one of the big “X” wrenches and tossed it in the trunk, arguing that most adult males couldn’t possibly remove the lug nuts with the original wrench. She’s never had to change one though, has AAA so she won’t, or calls a family member to help or come get her…
And by the by, before you bother trying to even remove the tire, it’s smart to try to use a plug kit on the tire, if it’s just got a little hole in it. For the price of a $7 plug kit, a $4 pair of needle-nose pliers (to pull out the offending object) and a $10 bicycle pump, you can often totally avoid having to jack up the car/remove/change a tire at all…
~
Is it one of those cross-lookin doodads with four sizes o’ lugnut thingies, one on each end? (I only use the finest technical terms, note my use of jargon). I had one in my old car, but the car I’m driving now just had the usual 6-inch lugwrench from the factory. I had to change the tire a couple weeks ago and it was madness. I was jumping up and down on the wrench, shaking the car, and it took me forever to loosen the lugnuts.
And Fix-A-Flat has saved my butt more times than I’d care to count. Flat tire on my old car (the first of EIGHT!), I swing it into a Kwik-E-Mart parking lot and rummage in the trunk for the jack. There is none! Who takes the crappy factory jack? So I had to Fix-A-Flat it and limp home.
As I said, last resort. If you have a brand new tire that costs $100 you could easily ruin it. That stuff puddles and makes it tough to rebalance.
If it’s a beater that has 2 tires in the grave, then go for it. Most flat tires I’ve come across were slow leakers.
It is a pure slice of heaven to plug in a compressor, attach it to the tire, and listen to the radio while the tire gets pumped up. I miss my old compressor, it had an adjustable stop on the gauge so I didn’ t have to monitor it.
I used to drive a fairly old car…had to change me own oil, spark plugs (it eat them things!), and basic other car stuff. Dad taught me how to change a tire, but I’ve never had to, so I don’t know if I remember.
I can change a tire (and my oil–BLECH–and jump start my car), but only if I absolutely have to. In fact, I’d probably let someone do it for me. One of the advantages of being a woman, you see. I mean, you men get to pee standing up; we’ve gotta get something in compensation.
(Incidentally, I recently learned that I cannot break into my own car, but that’s an entirely different subject).
I’ve changed tires on a few occasions, most memorably on a Land Cruiser… talk about a heavy tire! But I had jacked up the truck just enough for the tire to clear the ground, so I just sat down, stuck my feet under the tire, and then flexed my feet just enough to push the tire up and get it on correctly. It was actually easier to do that way than to try getting the tire on by hand - I could at least see whether the tire was sitting on the bolts properly, and I had both hands free to make adjustments. Yeah, it took me a little while to accomplish, but I have no doubt that I can change a tire any time, any where.
First off, I used to be big in race cars and worked as a safety worker at SCCA races as well as the Secretary to the Board of the local chapter. Second, my then fiance (when I was 17) was a mechanic and also worked on contruction sites. Third, one of our best friends was a mechanic and built a race car that I literally watched him build and would ask him questions that he would patiently give me answers to. Stuff like “This goes to here so how do they interact…” etc…
So, I worked for my dad who owned a window and door manufacturing company back in the late 80’s before I worked for a tire and vehicle repair facilility and then again back in windows and doors selling.
Well, in the late 80s when I worked for my dad, I would drive out to construction sites a lot in my Honda CRX retrieving paperwork from the sites. I ended up with a lot of flat tires from screws and nails. I remember times where people would offer to help me put the donut on my car. A nice “thank you, I have it under control.” and I was off and driving to the tire shop to have it repaired.
In addition, I have had to reconnect my grounding wires, in a cream colored business suit while driving to work on my then VW Jetta…early 90s. But I had to repair that thing in the most awkward situations till I got the problem solved. Nothing worse (when it comes to cars) than being in a turn lane and you have to put the wires back where they belong during rush hour. Man that sucked.
I have had many a flat tires in my life. Replaced brakes, shocks, oil and oil filters…I am proud to say if I have to do it and I have the proper tools, I have no problem doing the job myself.
Now I have a radiator with a hole in it. I don’t think that’s something I can replace. Luckily if the car poops out on my I do have a cell phone but would not use it for a simple tire issue I would leave the car, have it towed. As long as you know the proper steps for tire replacement, it’s easy while annoying but more annoying if you wait for someone and it can be dangerous for a woman to remain stranded on a streeet or highway rather than working on it herself…even if she did call someone. If she appears in control, then she is far less likely to be the victim of a weird crime.
