Yeah, I’ve changed my own flat on a cople of occasions. The first time the lug nuts were really, really rusted on, so I had to jog to a store and get some goop and then jump up and down and the tire iron. Never had “Dad teach me.” Just vaguely recalled it from driver’s ed, six years before and checked with my manual before I started.
With my old car, I also used to change my own oil, change/tighten the belts when they needed it, and did a tune up once a year. It freaked out Neighbour Boy the first time he saw me back my car up a bit then reach underneath to empty the oil pan. He sorta grunted, pointed, and said: “Girl do car stuff!” then he came out and brought me a beer!
Poverty created necessity – learn to do as much as you can own your own and you don’t have to pay someone to do it for you.
Interesting to note, because I have small fine hands there were some car things I could do more easily than some guys.
E.G./ I helped my former landlord with his truck because there was an easy-to-fix but really hard-to-reach part he was fiddling with. He would have had to lift the car and remove another part to get at it from undeneath, whereas I was able to just reach in from the top and grab it. His big, manly hands didn’t fit in the tight space.
I can’t imagine calling my SO for help changing a tire unless there were seriously unusual circumstances that required two people.
Note: I have a CAA (Canada’s AAA) membership. Never used it though.
I know how to change a tire, and have on several occasions. The most difficult part for me, tends to be loosening the lug nuts. I wind up having to jump on the bar to get them loose.
A funny thing happened to me the last time I had a flat tire.
I’d recently had surgery and was practically unable to bend down, much less lift anything. I was returning from taking my son and his friend to the movies, in my pajamas, no less, and all of a sudden had a blow out. Pulled over to the side of the road, tried to get the jack out the truck, and couldn’t even manage that. I stood there, feeling utterly dejected, at the side of the road, waiting for the Mass Pike roadside assistance truck to come by, when a woman, dressed to the nines, stopped and asked if I needed some help. I explained that I had a flat and couldn’t even get the jack out and that I was waiting for the roadside people to come by. She wound up changing it for me, and afterwards we started talking. I was more than a little surprised when she asked me out…but even more surprised when I learned that she was a he named Rick.
A telemarketer from Crappy Tire called once. IIRC he was trying to get me to upgrade my Crappy Tire credit card or get airmiles or some such nonsense. Since he was just doing his job, I let him talk.
He was an older man. He asked, “well, what do you usually purchase with your card?”
I answered, “tools and automotive parts mostly.” (quite true)
To which he replied: “Oh, and is it Mr. Crayons who works on the car himself? (Rather than go to a garage.)”
Me: “Of course not. I’m the one who works on my car.”
He got really flustered. “Oh!.. Oh, uh… Good girl!” He sounded like he was congratulating his daughter for pooping in the potty for the first time.
A little confidence goes a long way. When guys have seen me pulling tools out of my trunk and brandishing them like I really know what I’m doing, they back off figuring that I really do know what I’m doing. (Plus, I carry fancier power tools than a lot of them, which tips them off.)
I know how to do it in theory, but I’ve been driving for over nine years, and have yet have a tire that needed changing(nothing a can of FixAFlat or my air compressor hasn’t been able to cure, anyway) <knock on wood> Which is a bit odd, considering the many skills my old, recently retired car made me need to learn (I don’t recommend the lessons about power steering line leaks, it becomes very hard to steer. It’s cheaper to buy fluid by the quart if you come across that problem.). However, I think if I did have a flat that needed changing, I would call AAA.
I may well be able to do it, if I can get the damn lugnuts off, but I fear tires somewhat. I made myself crazy while waiting the 3 days it took my mechanic to get a new tire for me (it wasn’t flat, but needed to be replaced because of wear) imagining blow outs on the highway that sent me either: a. smashing into another car, injurying innocent people b. careening off the side of the mountain highways. If I did it myself I’d end up at the mechanics anyway, fully convinced that the lug nuts weren’t tight enough, and the tire was going to fall off at any moment. What can I say? It’s just one of the many things that makes me neurotic.
When we first got married, I made sure that my wife (now my ex) knew how to change a tire so that she never got stuck somewhere. (And there were no cellphones at that time.)
But I bet I got y’all beat when it comes to tight lugnuts. I once had lugnuts that I first tried one of those “X” wrenches, then progressed to using the “X” wrench plus a 3-foot pipe, then a six-foot pipe. Then I tried jumping on it (and I weigh over 200 pounds). I ended up twisting the metal of the wrench! :eek:
Finally, I put some penetrating oil on the threads, and used one of the other legs of the “X”, and, jumping on the six-foot pipe, managed to break the nut loose.
And yes, I have witnesses, it was my Dad’s wrench!
I know how to change a tire, but haven’t had to. The two times I have been in a car that’s gotten a flat [once because the driver, who wasn’t me, caught the tire on the side of the road (soft shoulder), other time because the tread simply dissolved], it was the driver who changed 'em.
Then agan, I also know how to do basic maintenace, tune-ups, etc., and could (assuming I have the proper tools, the time, and instructions) do semi-major to major repairs.
And yup peeks down shirt, I’m female.
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