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OKC, five O'Clock, passed Biscuit Hill, pavement got awfully rough. Of course it's rough, it's Oklahoma. It got worse and worse. Finally dawned on me that wasn't only rough pavement, I either had a flat or the tire threw off some rubber. Thank God the spare is up and I put a flashlight in the car with me this morning. I began cranking on that little screw jack. Thinking about what kind of person might pull over and offer to help, I retrieved the 357 and put it beside me. Forty six minutes later the spare is on, lug nuts tightened, and hundreds of vehicles passed. The good news and bad is no one stopped. I was wearing a floor length black tight skirt. No one passing by knew that. I also had left a pair of coveralls in the car for winter conditions and car trouble. Back on the interstate I pulled into the Indian Trading Post which is also a truck stop. Right there in the middle of the parking lot I shed my coveralls. Sorry, not strip tease, I still had on my skirt under that.
Note to self, put a hydraulic jack in the car even though this is once in every twenty years thing having a flat on the highway. Put a four way lug wrench in the car as what comes with is next to nothing. Check spare tire pressure at least once a year, maybe every time I change oil?
Two Doctor's visits and before starting home I stopped at Costco for two new treads. I am not driving that distance hoping nothing goes wrong with the other tires. Who knew tries could cost so much now days? They can give you the vehicle, sell you the tires and still come out ahead. I'm living in the dark ages after surviving sticker shock. And I thought the prices of food had gone through the roof.
Take my experience as a word of advice. If one is usually on the highway for long distances as I do and even if you aren't. Don't regret after the fact your spare was flat, you had no jack, no lug wrench, and nothing to put over your good clothes if things go belly up on that drive. Ladies, and this applies to gentlemen also, you might be the only friend you have when you need help. All those things are inexpensive if you ever need them.
Stay safe, stay well
Hugs People
Barb
Gotta love the challenges in life to keep us on our toes? Don't want no more challenges.
Comments
Don't forget to tighten the
Don't forget to tighten the lug nuts to the specified torque number when you're at home or in a garage. Repeat after you drove ~20 miles / 30 km. Otherwise you might lose a wheel while driving.
Give them the Farmer Twist
Guest Reader I honestly admire the mechanics in this world. Lost wheels due to lose lug nuts? Once on a car and once on a bobtail truck loaded with a cat. When one looses the duals that drop down to the pavement is a really long drop. I checked those lug nuts twice but they were tight. No tire on the pavement, there is no breaking. It took a half mile to finally stop. The duals passed me long before that. A John Deere tractor broke the rear axle, lost the rear wheel. That's long ways down to the ground. I was on the highway when it happened, managed to steer it into the bar ditch even with out a rear wheel. It's been a long long time since I felt a lose wheel. Other than those three times I always caught it before it turned into a disaster.
Hugs, Guest
Barb
From beginning to end, life is a learning experience.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Air pump
There is these cheap 12v air pumps that work very well for tires. Go around check tires by kicking them. You can feel a soft tire. Having a spare tire is great…if you can get to it and get it off said vehicle, half the new cars you won’t be able to, they out it under the middle of car. Aside from welding itself to the car if you have flat you won’t be able to get the spare tire anyway as car is too close to ground. Doing it while jacked up on tiny little jack…yeah not a good idea.
Word of advice put the flat tire you just got off under the car so that if jack falls over car lands on rim. Less damage than say damaged brakes. Rim may not look great but usually it’s just a scratch.
The kicking method is
The kicking method is inadequate. If the tire is so soft that you can feel it with a kick then it's usually much too late for the tire. Make sure you keep to the preasure stated in the operator's manual by measuring the preasure at least once a month at a garage or gas stop. You might increase the preasure as much as 0.1 bar - 0.2 bar (10 kPa - 20 kPa) above what's stated in the operator's manual. This increases slightly the handling and slightly decreases the wear of the tires. If the tires are so soft that you can feel it with a kick that usually means 0.5 bar (50 kPa) or more below what's recommended in the operator's manual. That means excessive deformation in the walls of the tire at high speed resulting in increased heat which might cause the tire to begin to smoulder and finally burn. Worst case is it'll just pop at hight speed (>45 mph) on the highway. It'll also cause the contact surface of the tire to deteriorate unevenly, decreases the handling and control of the tire and can lead to early aquaplaning.
Watch for the impact wrench monkeys.
It's very rare that the wrench monkey properly torques the lugnuts. Most of them have dialed their impact as high as it will go. Then you'll end up on the side of the road looking for something you can an use as a cheater pipe to break the lugnuts loose. I got a 2 ft. Breaker Bar and an assortment of 1/2" sockets I carry in the box in the bed of my pickup.
BTW, if you have to rely on the kindness of strangers you're better off being up near Tulsa than down near OKC. The people near Tulsa are used to working for a living. The people from the Okla. City area are used to sucking on the govt. teat for their living.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Good advice
I carry both a hydraulic jack and a 30 inch breaker bar with a 9/16 deep well socket. (Used to be a spark plug socket when I drove Fords.) The breaker bar not only takes the place of a lug wrench, but turned the other way, helps position tire so it lines up with the lug nuts. I have six hole 17" rims on my Uplander and with a tire on is more than I want to pick up to fit onto the lugs.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Electric jack
After spending 2 hours changing the tire on my 8 ton RV parked on soft ground, I got a 12V electric jack. Best investment in many years, I've needed it several times since. Got an air pump, too
Yep Electric Jack
I still have the one I made as an apprentice back in '69. I even cut the Square threads (internal and external). The only bits I didn't make are the pump itself, the pressure gauge and hoses. The thing is hydraulic and I restored it a few years ago. New seals and oil and it was good to go. Plugs into a 12v lighter socket in the car.
Those were the days
Samantha
Most new cars
Don't have a cigarette lighter. Grrrrrrr...
Also don't count on places like Costco to put your new tires on right. Twice I've had some bozo cross and strip threads putting the wheel back on.
Ron
Some are still available
Five years ago, my car's engine broke (piston failure). It was the second day of Christmas. I had called tow tuck and was waiting for it to come. Some 20k from the city. Meantime, two drivers had stopped offering help. Maybe it's coincidence, but they drove Volvo's.
These are suggestions from
These are suggestions from someone that has had to _use_ them regularly.
Tiny background - I've spent 26 years as an IT consultant, meaning lots of driving from customer to customer, and driving through warehouse yards, parking lots, and even on dirt and gravel.
1) Get yourself a plug kit, with a T-handle, and a large tube of rubber cement. Yes, the tire places consider them "ruined" after that, but they can be a lifesaver. I had _three_ damaged tires, and with one spare and the plug kit, I managed to get myself to a tire shop. In 26 years, only one plug wasn't a permanent fix (that required a removal and reinstall, then lasted till the car was sold)
2) 12 volt air pump. I have a Campbell-Hausfield I bought at WalMart in something like 1997, and it still works today. It sits in the wheel well above the doughnut spare.
3) Round air gauge. Don't cheap out on this one. If you have odd wheels with recessed valves, get a round gauge with a flexible hose. These are much more readable in low light conditions than a stick.
4) Gloves. Not rubber ones, although those are good for keeping your hands clean, but basic 'mechanic' style gloves. Pretty cheap at Harbor Freight. This will protect you in case there's something sticking out of a tire, or up from the ground.
5) Extendable lug wrench, or 2 foot breaker bar. I have a 'Gorilla' brand extendable wrench for my car, and my wife's has the really long cheap breaker bar from Harbor Freight. You'll probably need to buy a 1/2" socket that fits your nuts - there are two main sizes, then spline and other types.
6) Rags. You can deal with dirty hands, but oily/greasy hands are the devil's playground. You can put in a package of the emergency wipes if you want, but definitely some cloth rags.
Notice I didn't say anything about a jack. That's because despite what a lot of people say, screw jacks are _safe_. They tend to have a broad base, use minimal effort to raise and lower (it's just really tedious), and they go VERY flat to fit under the car. That's important if you're off the road, and you might be in dirt. If you have room, you _might_ add a chunk of wood a bit bigger than the base of the jack. They also won't collapse like a hydraulic or pneumatic unit can. The most that might happen is falling over, and that's less likely with a screw jack than the other types. (I wouldn't use a racing style jack for an emergency jack - they can scoot around a bit, and when they dig in, they'll do strange angles)
I do have a bottle jack, but I've never used it. 1) The head is too small. It'll punch through the metal unless you align it perfectly, or use it on an arm. 2) It's too short. It'll fit under the car, but it won't raise the car. I think it was made for cars with 13-14" tires, despite being bought when most cars were 15-16".
Some optional things you can get.
1) torque multiplier or automotive torque wrench/impact driver. One clamps across the wheel to give you more torque to loosen a nut, the other usually runs on 12v to bash a nut loose. Slow, but doesn't require a lot of upper body strength.
2) lithium ion impact driver. This you'd have to remember to pull out, run down, and recharge at least once every six months or so.
3) spare lug nuts.
4) Full sized spare. (I tend to keep mine in the garage). You can often get home on the doughnut, but it could be two or three days before you could get to a tire store.
5) basic tool set. A multitool (decent quality), small pocket socket set, full sized phillips and flat screwdriver. Maybe a multimeter. Those will let you remove the battery if necessary, or at least take off the clamps to clean them.
6) AAA membership.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I feel your pain
About a month prior to the brain injury I received, I needed to buy 4 new tires for my F150. You think car tires are expensive!
And what's with the weird rim sizes now? It used to be so simple, small cars had 14 inch rims, full size cars and half ton pick up trucks had 15 inch ones.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.