Get yourself and family one of these for each car.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-12v-portable-inflator-w-digital-tire-pressure/p-02875114000P
No I do not work for Sears or Craftsman, these things are a great, small, portable tool that I have personally used to bail out several stranded motorist. Unless it is a large puncture you can get the car out of a bad situation and maybe even home.
There is, happily, enough room in my trunk to accommodate a full-sized spare. Once I established that, I discarded the doughnut and bought a real tire.
Considering the fact that I’ve had something like 15 to 20 flat tires in my 36 years of driving I would not now, nor have I ever had an issue changing a flat tire.
At 16 years old I went all Dr. David Banner and broke a stud when the lug nut wouldn’t turn.
That link just takes me to a generic Sears shopping page.
The first time I visited the woman who is my wife at her home, she shredded the back tire while crossing a railroad track in semi-rural Wisconsin. I managed to change the tire on a car I’d only been in once on a very dark night with no street lights. I’d like to think I could do so now some 40 years later. I have done so a few other times, though not recently as I have lost some strength and I also have subscribed to AAA.
I’ve changed tires a few times. My current car has run-flats, and no spare. So like our good friend Just Asking Questions above, I’d be fine if the tire was merely flat - I even have a compressor in the car that I could use to boost it back up periodically. If it were shredded enough, I’d be pretty screwed - no room in my trunk for a spare. At least, not if I want to be able to put the top down.
I would get out and change the tire no matter what the cell coverage was. It wouldn’t occur to me to call for help doing something as mundane as changing a tire. Everyone who drives should know how to do it.
I carry two lengths of water pipe in my car, and a four-ended lug wrench instead of that little POS lug wrench that cars typically have. So I can twist tight lugs properly, with the two pipes on the lug wrench.
I did it myself about two months ago, and loaned the tools to a neighbor shortly after that. Works very nicely.
When you’re driving through the desert
And your car runs out of gas,
Lots of luck, folks, Lots of luck.
When you try to stop some strangers
They will holler as they pass,
“Lots of luck, pal, Lots of luck.”
So you walk 8 miles and all up-hill
To call the Auto Club,
And the whole thing’s nip-and-tuck.
'Cause they’ll ask you for your number
And your number’s in your wallet
And your wallet’s in your car
So Lots of Luck.[indent]-- Allan Sherman[/indent]
uuuuuuh yeeaaah, that’s what that piece of pipe is for.
Changed many a tire. One time I pulled over to help a motorist and I had a full compliment of tools in the trunk. The poor guy looked really frazzled. Got out an electric drill, scissor jack and breaker bar. Broke the nuts loose and raised the car using the drill on the jack. Wheel was off in 30 seconds. It looked like a poor man’s pit stop. His spare was flat but I had a 12 volt compressor with me.
In Soviet Russia, tire changes you!
No, seriously, you could not get a drivers license in the USSR unless you could show that you could fix your car. Probably because a person on the road from Yekaterinburg to Irkutsk would be pretty screwed if they could not fix their car in the middle of the vast taiga.
Have you considered carrying a little grease for the threads? If you grease them, you can get them as tight as you need to, they will stay tight, and you will not have to struggle as much to get them off. Works just as well as locktite, but is easier to unscrew.
If I have the gun with me I could shoot out the other three tires to make the car level.
If not, then I could change the tire, no problem. It just seems a little less American to handle things that way.
Now, if there is a problem under the hood, I could change the tire.
I’m over the age of 15. So I would be fine.
Not in the slightest. I tested the car jack when I bought the car and check the pressure in the fake spare every other week. And I have a compressor so I can keep that puppy solid. And having restored about 5 cars from the frame up ----------
I wouldn’t even think about checking the phone unless the delay would make me late for something.
Once upon a time I carried a patch kit and a bike pump with me. The landlord hired a roofing company that seemed to not be too careful with nails and they seemed to work themselves out of the dirt/gravel parking area in back for months. If time allowed I’d change the tire then patch/reinflate the removed tire on the spot. I got really good at changing tires.
This does remind me that it’s time to teach the niece how since she recently turned 16.
Sometimes you can just inflate and patch the tire with very little effort by using a can of fix a flat. You can also pry out the nail/screw/whatever so it doesn’t make that horrible sound while driving afterwards.
(I have no connection with any retailer or manufacturer of any fix a flat product)
But yeah, I can and have changed a flat tire more than once. Fix a flat is way easier. Of course it doesn’t work if the tire blows out, instead of a puncture.
Not at all screwed, I can change a flat in about 10 minutes.
Also, it’s not muscling the spare, those are light, the full size on the car is going to be much heavier, but you really just have to dump that in the trunk. Getting the lugnuts off can be a problem, but like others said, just get the wrench in the right spot and stand on it. That usually does it for me. The next tough thing is getting the tire off the car, often times it gets pretty stuck. I’ve found that kicking it usually does the trick. On a sedan/coupe, either sitting down and smacking the bottom with the sole of my foot or putting my back to the car and doing the same thing usually works pretty well, but a smaller person might have trouble with that. Especially if they don’t understand that no, you’re not going to hurt anything no matter how hard you kick it. (I promise, my 95 pound sister can’t kick the car off the jack. )
Lastly is just the confidence that you did it right, but I just tell people to drive slowly and carefully until they get back to civilization and have someone double check their work. If a ‘not so strong’ person just changed their first tire, you can usually get another quarter turn out of each wheel nut.
One last thing that my dad taught me, if you’re going to toss things like a flashlight down by the spare tire just in case…a set of gloves is a worthwhile investment. Just a cheap pair. Changing a tire in 10 degree weather, out in the snow or wind with cold tools makes the job a lot harder. Last time I changed my sister’s tires I made her give me her gloves. They hardly fit, but they made the job considerably easier.
TLDR, yes, I can change a tire with no problem. In fact I once changed my tire on the way to school and still wasn’t late.
ETA, and the first time you change your tires (or when you buy your car if you’re ambitions) swap out the locking lug nuts for regular ones. No one’s going to steal your tires and if you lose the key you’re really in trouble.
I’d be walking. My car has no spare, no space for a spare, and a compressor/fix-a-flat kit that’ll work for only a slow leak.
I think I’d be fairly screwed. I have the proper tools in my car at all times but I’ve never changed a tire without a lot of help.
First things that go into my daily driver is a 4-way lug wrench, a portable hydraulic floor jack, and a folding shovel. I’ve got this covered.
