# You have a flat tire on a lonely road, and your cell's dead. How screwed are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954 "2014-12-22T21:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/121 "2014-12-24T19:51:52Z")
I’d be fine (probably). I know how to change a tire, and have done so before. That said, one of our cars doesn’t have a spare. It has some sort of tire repair kit. I’m pretty sure I could figure that out, but I assume I’d be screwed if the tire was seriously damaged. Part of me is tempted to jump on the “they don’t make 'em like they used to” fallacy, but in practice I think its a reasonable decision for the modern age. Modern tires are quite robust and the chances of my cell phone or some other communications mechanism being unavailable at the same time as a tire shredding calamity are slim. I think the extra trunk space is worth the small amount of extra risk. That said, if I _could_ call roadside assistance I would. I think its included in my auto insurance. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/122 "2014-12-24T20:03:12Z")
I have been in exactly that situation, and had no problem changing the tire. The only problem I had was, I had gotten off the freeway onto a small road to change the tire, and there was no on-ramp in the direction that I was originally headed. Now, had I been on a “lonely road” rather than on a freeway with emergency call boxes when my alternator gave out on me, then I’d probably be in for a long walk. ---
**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:** [December 24, 2014, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/123 "2014-12-24T20:40:23Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have a concealed carry permit, and unless I am headed somewhere I can not carry it is with me =) Good man. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/124 "2014-12-24T20:46:22Z")
For me, flat tires are a minor and brief inconvenience. Always keep a spare. Always keep a tire iron. Always keep a can of Fix-A-Flat just in case. And my battery booster/charger has an air compressor. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/125 "2014-12-24T21:02:34Z")
So I’ve never changed a tire but I assume it wouldn’t be hard. Just jack up the car, take the bolts out, then bolt in another tire. Its basically changing a lugnut only bigger. However, my problem is that I don’t own a jack nor those big X shaped wrench thingies to take out the bolts. Therefore, my real and honest answer would be that I’d just keep driving on the flat tire until I can get to somewhere I can make a phone call to, then fix up whatever damage the car took during that drive ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/126 "2014-12-24T22:33:31Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Cars don’t have flats and spare tires anymore, they have run-flat tires. They are designed to be driven to the nail salon and soccer practice on smooth roads in fine weather by people who have a cell phone and roadside service. Anything besides that is considered to be “off-road” use, requiring stunt driving skills and special back-country equipment, like a spare tire bolted to the roof (there is no well) and a jack. > [@Kimballkid](#): > > That’s funny. I should have held on to my 2012 Fiesta as some kind of rarity as it had a spare and just regular tires. The owner’s manual even had a page on how to change a tire. Right. Saying that cars don’t have spares anymore is a… bit of an overstatement, shall we say. [Edmund’s](http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/the-disappearing-spare-tire.html) estimates that over half (52%) of new car models sold still come with the small “donut” temporary spares, with another 11% or so (mostly trucks coming with full-size spares. A repair kit (with no spare) is standard on 25% of cars, and run-flats on only 12% of new vehicles. So, bottom line, over 6 in 10 new vehicle models still have come with a spare. I hasten to add, though, that the [number of new models](http://www.calif.aaa.com/content/dam/ace/LOB/automotive/Vehicles_without_a_spare_tire_Jan_2014.pdf) that don’t have a standard spare is growing, as the costs of having a spare are outweighing the benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/127 "2014-12-25T03:38:51Z")
I can and have changed tires out multiple times on my car and similar with the tools provided by Toyota to do so: crappy little wrench, wee little scissor jack. The frame is marked by each wheel where the jack goes. I don’t think my mechanic overtorques the nuts but I haven’t had any issue where stepping on the wrench didn’t loosen them right off. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/128 "2014-12-25T04:24:02Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Not screwed at all, I have, in my trunk; > The stock crappy scissor jack > A small trolley jack (should replace it with a small bottle jack) > A “cross-style” lug nut wrench (which I could also use to repel vampires in a pinch, I guess) > The stock lug nut wrench > > And the best feature… > > A FULL SIZE spare tire on a standard steel rim (gotta love Volkswagen for including a FSST… > > And, I know how to change a tire > > A flat would be a minor inconvenience for me Pretty much the same for me, except that I don’t have the trolley jack; just the scissor jack, which works pretty well, truth be told. I’m also sort of an ape, so a cross lug wrench has always been more than adequate for me to get lug nuts off. I also have a can of Slime fix-a-flat type stuff, which isn’t flammable, in case my FSST isn’t fully aired up for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/129 "2014-12-25T11:26:21Z")
Changing a tyre is not a problem for me. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/130 "2014-12-25T16:31:16Z")
I don’t know how many flats I’ve had to fix, sometimes on very lonely roads indeed. On one trip to Venezuela I had seven flats on the same rental car. I got the first flat on a winding mountain road. When I checked the trunk, it turned out the spare was also flat (although it looked like it was fully inflated), so I had to hitch to the next town with a tire on my shoulder to get it fixed, and then hitch back. I got another flat when I hit a pothole after dark on a road out on the Llanos. The bump also bent a rim on another tire so it developed a slow leak, but fortunately I got to my destination before it went too flat to drive. My worst problem was on a dirt road in the Andes in Argentina, because the rental car had a completely unfamiliar kind of jack. I had to wait until someone came along who could explain how to put it together. I most recently had to change a flat about six months ago in a shopping center parking lot in Panama. I found it pretty difficult because of overtightened lug nuts, but a passerby helped me out. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/131 "2014-12-26T00:42:52Z")
No problem. I’ve averaged changing a flat about once a year over the last four years or so, so I’m in good practice. Plus I keep a sledgehammer in the.trunk for when the wheel doesn’t wsnt to release from the hub (which is always in my Mazda3), so I’m good in that situation, too, ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/132 "2014-12-26T01:43:11Z")
Well, the only vehicle I own is my bicycle, and if I’m going for a long ride I always carry a pump and patching kit, so I’ll be back on the road in a matter of minutes. If I’m driving my hypothetical car, I’m…probably not going to die out there, but it might be a while. I know in an academic sense how to change a tire on a car but I’ve never actually done it. There may be some issues in getting the flat off, as I do have good upper-body strength for a woman my size but a woman my size is pretty tiny and I’ve seen even some fairly large people struggling with the manufacturer-provided wrench. If I ever do buy a car, my very first stop in it will be to an auto supply store to replace whatever crappy jack and wrench came with the car. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/133 "2014-12-26T03:08:55Z")
Yes, get a better jack, but don’t toss the scissor jack, for if you end up with very little space between the ground and the jacking point, the scissors jack will fit where bottle jacks won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954/134 "2014-12-26T05:36:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I realize it’s a pain in the ass when the rim sticks to the hub, but coating the interface with any kind of lubricant is a bad idea. I was expecting this response :). I’ve heard endless discussion on both sides of the topic and frankly the anti-anti-seize side has been unconvincing. My primary issue with your argument is this: the comparison is not between anti-seize vs. plates in pristine condition, but rather anti-seize vs. plates that have corroded in some unpredictable way. The plates stick to each other due to corrosion of some kind–normal oxidation, galvanic, etc. The corrosion products produce non-flat surfaces and are obviously nowhere near the strength of the original metal. One might imagine a severe case where there is no actual metal-to-metal contact, and the only contact is through corrosion products. In lesser cases the compressive force on the metal surfaces will be merely reduced, but that is still bad. Anti-seize compound prevents corrosion and furthermore is designed not to slip while under pressure due to the finely divided metal particles. It’s entirely possible that it’s not quite as strong as pristine surfaces would be, but I think it’s almost certainly far better than the inevitably corroded surfaces one gets by not using protection of some kind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-a-flat-tire-on-a-lonely-road-and-your-cells-dead-how-screwed-are-you/707954.md?page=6)