Changing a tire

[deserthntr]

discount tire does free flat repairs even if you didnt buy tires from them. just put your spare on and drive in to a discount if you have one close to you. and they are honest and wont try to sell you a tire if you dont truly need one, just because you had a flat.

[chico]

Nature Girl captured it all on her last 2 sentences. Just as full service gas stations have gone by the wayside, pumping your own fuel, washing the windshield, etc. it has become the norm, so is changing a tire if need be. Being shown the correct and safest way to do it and then following the steps--nothing like hands on training--Nature Girl will be able to continue on her travels without a worry.

[naturegirl]

Definitely my thoughts behind this. I did not have to change the tire at all. There was no need except to buy me a couple days to decide if I want to upgrade my tires.

 

The name of the game was to make myself do it from start to finish. I was just a tad upset when I thought I would have to ask for help on the lug nuts, but then the 4-way worked except rolling my ankle somehow and punching myself in the jaw once when a couple nuts finally came loose. I did read warnings on Google about bodily injury when they release, but until it happens you just can't predict it. It was pretty funny.

 

I have been sharing my story with every female driver I know and not a single one expressed an ounce of enthusiasm about the thought of changing a tire.

 

[joe hunter]

I always tell my daughter when she runs into something like that ...if you hadn't spent all that time playing with dolls and putting on make up you would know how to do it just like your little brother can. lol You did good Nature Girl !! Do your self a favor and take your vehicle to a tire shop and tell them you need your wheels torqued. They will tighten them with a torque wrench to the correct foot pounds. Might be a pain but it is the right , safe thing to do with wheels.

[PRDATR]

Impressive. You did good, just another feather in your cap. A can of Fix-A-Flat is a good thing to have along until you can get to a tire shop.

[naturegirl]

I will admit that I did not know prior to this experience that Fix A Flat can be used on truck tires. I've only ever seen it used on ATV tires so I just assumed it wasn't for vehicle tires. Guess I should have read the directions on the can I had at home in the garage..lol

[arizonian]

You go, girl. Keep after it until you master it.

 

Xena has to fix her snowmobile by herself. It's what her Dad taught her.

 

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/xena-and-her-skidoo

 

Bill

 

Merry Christmas!

[CouesWhitetail]

I enjoy your writing style as well. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. Getting extra leverage by using a pipe over the lug nut wrench or using the telescoping handle type like someone posted definitely helps with loosening the lug nuts.

 

Whenever I get new tires or have them rotated, I make sure I go in to the back where the guy is working and ask him to set the torque on the lug nuts to be such that I will be able to loosen them. I tell them that I spend a lot of time in the back country by myself and that I don't want to have a problem loosening the nuts when I need to. They usually oblige. I also ask my husband to "break" the lug nuts and re-tighten them so that they aren't machine torqued crazy. So far I have always been able to change my own tire, but I always worry one of the nuts won't loosen for me. Never thought about putting water on it....thanks for the tip Ernesto! I know PB Blast would work on those for sure. That stuff will loosen anything!

 

And I agree the hardest part of changing the tire can be getting the tire out of the back of my Cherokee when it's loaded full of stuff!

 

To all the fathers of daughters out there....please make your daughter change a tire so she knows how! Especially tell her where to safely put the jack, how to block the wheels and keep the vehicle from crushing her or making it impossible to get the jack back under it should it fall off. I like the idea of the spare under the vehicle...never thought of that one. Normally I never get under the vehicle changing the tire as I can usually manipulate the jack into position without crawling under, but it's always good to think about all the things that could go wrong changing a tire.

[naturegirl]

You go, girl. Keep after it until you master it.

 

Xena has to fix her snowmobile by herself. It's what her Dad taught her.

 

http://www.history.com/shows/ice-road-truckers/videos/xena-and-her-skidoo

 

Bill

 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Her smile when she completed it says it all.

[naturegirl]

I enjoy your writing style as well. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. Getting extra leverage by using a pipe over the lug nut wrench or using the telescoping handle type like someone posted definitely helps with loosening the lug nuts.

 

Whenever I get new tires or have them rotated, I make sure I go in to the back where the guy is working and ask him to set the torque on the lug nuts to be such that I will be able to loosen them. I tell them that I spend a lot of time in the back country by myself and that I don't want to have a problem loosening the nuts when I need to. They usually oblige. I also ask my husband to "break" the lug nuts and re-tighten them so that they aren't machine torqued crazy. So far I have always been able to change my own tire, but I always worry one of the nuts won't loosen for me. Never thought about putting water on it....thanks for the tip Ernesto! I know PB Blast would work on those for sure. That stuff will loosen anything!

 

And I agree the hardest part of changing the tire can be getting the tire out of the back of my Cherokee when it's loaded full of stuff!

 

To all the fathers of daughters out there....please make your daughter change a tire so she knows how! Especially tell her where to safely put the jack, how to block the wheels and keep the vehicle from crushing her or making it impossible to get the jack back under it should it fall off. I like the idea of the spare under the vehicle...never thought of that one. Normally I never get under the vehicle changing the tire as I can usually manipulate the jack into position without crawling under, but it's always good to think about all the things that could go wrong changing a tire.

 

Great advice Amanda and I totally agree about dad's teaching their daughters. The biggest thing is make them do it on their own from start to finish with only words of instruction and not physically helping them.

[4Falls]

This has reminded me... the twins are real close to driving age. I guess its time for tire changing 101. The 99 ranchero could use a full rotation anyway.

[Big Browns]

 

lastly any advice I could give is... ALWAYS put the spare under the vehicle 1st when using a jack... if it travels at all that steel spare rim will save your butt from being crushed and you can start over .. once you have freed the flat tire from the hub switch them out... placing the flat tire under the vehicle while your installing the spare..

 

if the truck falls with no tire there is a good chance you wont be able to get the jack back under it.. that spare gives you some room to work with.

 

I always put the spare tire under the truck. This saved my life about 10 years ago while changing a tire at Big Lake. The jack popped loose and the truck dropped onto the spare tire. I was under the truck at the time. STUPID! Thank God I was given the same advise a month earlier from a friend.

 

Adam

[MRL1984]

Y'all act like it's just girls that can't change a tire. I had to talk an ASU (only throwing that in to show his age) attending young man through the process a couple months ago. He said it was his first time and he had plenty of motivation in the car with him (advantage of going to ASU).

[AZkiller]

Holy sh#t! You need a man!

[PRDATR]

Righty Tighty/Lefty Loosie. Unless you have an older Chrysler vehicle or a few of the mid-60's GM's.