Tire Changing 101

After you read this, but before you criticize, think about when was the last time you changed a tire.  It's been about 15 years or more for me and never on the car I presently own.

So as the story starts, about 8pm Sunday evening, I was sitting peacefully reading a book when Barbara called.  She went to St. Pete for Mother's Day and was on the road returning home. We had a series of conversations about something wrong with the car and trying to get her home, when a tire blew apart and she come to an immediate stop.  So I told her to remain there and I called a friend to take me to her on I75 about 45 minutes from home.  Thus started tire changing 101.

The first thing I was concerned about was if the spare was OK.  I've had this car for over 10 years and the spare has not be moved.  I checked the spare and as it sat, it looked fine.  So the next issue was finding the jack, etc.  After I located the jack which was under a carpet and tool kit, I worked for about 15 minutes thinking I was unscrewing a clamp to remove the jack from the trunk.  Not getting anywhere in this attempt, I asked Barbara to read the owners manual to see what I was doing wrong.  (Reading the manual is a female job.  Men don't need a manual.)  Once she got the correct page and I looked at the picture (I still didn't read it.) it took about 2 seconds to unscrew a different knob and the jack easily lifted out of the trunk.

I didn't mention this before but this is in Florida and by the time I arrived at the car, it was dark, about 85 degrees with 90% humidity.  So after the jack was released from the trunk and before anything else happened, I'm soaked in sweat.  I next used the tire wrench to loosen the lug nuts.  There was one lug nut that needed a "key", which I had to go back into the trunk to hopefully find.  Alas, it was in the tool kit, so that small bit was a snap.  Naturally all but one of the lug nuts came loose without much trouble.  The last nut took some foul language and a lot of effort to remove, but finally they were all loose.

Now to place the jack should be an easy item.  However most of the bumper and lower car is plastic, so in the dark I'm searching for some frame metal to use.  I found some in the front of the car, but after the jack was fully extended the tire was not off the ground.  So again, I asked Barbara to check with the owners manual.  She found a picture that indicated the side of the car was the proper location to place the jack.  When a totally flat tire, the side of the car by the tire is very low to the ground, so after feeling around I did find a piece of metal and there was just enough clearance to get the jack in position.  This time after being fully extended the tire was high enough to remove.

Did I also mention that where Barbara stopped there was an ant hill right by the flat tire.  So while the ants enjoyed dinning on me, I removed the tire and replaced it with the spare.  Now this should be an easy task, but in the modern world, the pretty lug nuts have a cap, so the lugs do not protrude out from the wheel like they use to.  This is good if you don't want to screw the nuts for 10 minutes until they are tight, but it's not as easy as it seems.  You have to hold against the hub and start a few of the nuts or the tire will fall of the lugs.  With this done, I let the jack down.  Now I noticed the spare that looked good in the trunk was a little short on air when on the wheel.  So our first stop was a service station not too far away.

It's also been a while since I've got air at a service station.  The air machine takes quarters and it cost $1.00 for air.  So you can guess that I had three quarters in the change pocket in the car.  However, thanks to the modern world, not all is lost.  They also have a swipe machine for a credit card.  I used my card, got my air and returned home without at further delay..  We arrived home about 11pm.

Today is the day after and after visiting two tire stores, I may get a replacement later today or sometime tomorrow.  And I noticed on my credit card bill that that little bit of air cost me $3.00.  Next time I'll make sure I have 4 quarters in the car.

P.S. I took the tire back to Goodyear Monday and they told me the road hazard is only for 3 years (I bought four tires four years ago.), so they wanted $175 for a new tire.  I told them "I don't think that's going to happen" and left.  They also told me the tire I bought was replaced by another tire with a similar tread.  I think he was telling me I had to buy four tires, not just one.  Anyway, I went to another tire shop and he ordered the same Goodyear tire I had and installed it today for $145.  I'll not do business with that Goodyear store and may not ever buy a Goodyear tire again.