2 Hour Flat tire Change ... Ugh ... Why so hard???
- Thread starter SwampSurvivor
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This reminds me of GM's abortion of a spare tire set up. On my Silverado the stock jack is a joke, I threw it away. The spare tire mounting is a joke, and after doing it once in my driveway I have determined that if I ever do get a flat on the road I'm calling a tow.
Oh and if you live in a state that salts the roads, good luck trying to get that spare down after 5-6 years hanging their, because GM has a horrible safety catch that rusts solid.
Oh and if you live in a state that salts the roads, good luck trying to get that spare down after 5-6 years hanging their, because GM has a horrible safety catch that rusts solid.
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This tip from a heap driver. Keep the spare tire stuff in good order. I base line every driver to a reliable condition. This includes the wheels. I grease the hubs to prevent the alloy wheels from bonding to them. I also test run the gear in my driveway. A tire change takes me between 10 and 45 minutes depending on the vehicles. A flat in the work van requires reading the manual. It is incredible where they hide spares in vans.
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: AstroTurf
A Beer?
Nope, Sounds more like you need AAA Roadside Service.
Let them mess with it.
Glad it worked out though, Jim
AAA would show up, say the spare tire is stuck, and leave!
Then they would tow you to a shop that could do it. You get a few free short distance tows with AAA.
I would have let a shop fiddle with all that noise! Lol
Originally Posted By: AstroTurf
A Beer?
Nope, Sounds more like you need AAA Roadside Service.
Let them mess with it.
Glad it worked out though, Jim
AAA would show up, say the spare tire is stuck, and leave!
Then they would tow you to a shop that could do it. You get a few free short distance tows with AAA.
I would have let a shop fiddle with all that noise! Lol
My expensive oil change place which import shop (convient to work) charges $60 for synthetic blend change. However they make sure your spare is full and even exercise and grease if need be the lowering mechanism every time they perform an oil change.
I did have tow truck driver more or less make fun of me I could not remove a tire from hub since everything else apart. He tried and finally took one of his towing bars with rubber end and wailed wheel to knock it off.
I did have tow truck driver more or less make fun of me I could not remove a tire from hub since everything else apart. He tried and finally took one of his towing bars with rubber end and wailed wheel to knock it off.
I have used an 8' 4X4 from the opposite side to pop the wheels off. Marina had a flat at work and called AAA. The mechanic was impressed that the wheel came off the hub easily. The Ranger came to me with only a jack handle . I picked up a good used spare and the bottle jack from an Exploder . The under the bed stowage is rusted beyond functionality. THe spare is in the bed for now.
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
This reminds me of GM's abortion of a spare tire set up. On my Silverado the stock jack is a joke, I threw it away. The spare tire mounting is a joke, and after doing it once in my driveway I have determined that if I ever do get a flat on the road I'm calling a tow.
Oh and if you live in a state that salts the roads, good luck trying to get that spare down after 5-6 years hanging their, because GM has a horrible safety catch that rusts solid.
My father never used the one on his truck and just left the sapre in the bed. Well after 6 years we had to use the whole bed and put the tire under it. It jammed on the way up. We had to remove the carrier from the frame of the truck (with the tire) to get the thing off.
I'm very glad that my Jeep has the spare tire INSIDE the cabin.
Originally Posted By: andyd
This tip from a heap driver. Keep the spare tire stuff in good order. I base line every driver to a reliable condition. This includes the wheels. I grease the hubs to prevent the alloy wheels from bonding to them. I also test run the gear in my driveway. A tire change takes me between 10 and 45 minutes depending on the vehicles. A flat in the work van requires reading the manual. It is incredible where they hide spares in vans.
Oh yeah - any time I change a tire on one of MY vehicles, I grease the hubs, mounting surfaces so I don't have that problem. I also keep my cars from rusting (the best I can).
As far as the stock jacks, I actually like the jack that came with my Cherokee - even with 31'' tires, it has no problem raising the jeep and keeping it stable. It's not a scissor jack, though.
This reminds me of GM's abortion of a spare tire set up. On my Silverado the stock jack is a joke, I threw it away. The spare tire mounting is a joke, and after doing it once in my driveway I have determined that if I ever do get a flat on the road I'm calling a tow.
Oh and if you live in a state that salts the roads, good luck trying to get that spare down after 5-6 years hanging their, because GM has a horrible safety catch that rusts solid.
My father never used the one on his truck and just left the sapre in the bed. Well after 6 years we had to use the whole bed and put the tire under it. It jammed on the way up. We had to remove the carrier from the frame of the truck (with the tire) to get the thing off.
I'm very glad that my Jeep has the spare tire INSIDE the cabin.
Originally Posted By: andyd
This tip from a heap driver. Keep the spare tire stuff in good order. I base line every driver to a reliable condition. This includes the wheels. I grease the hubs to prevent the alloy wheels from bonding to them. I also test run the gear in my driveway. A tire change takes me between 10 and 45 minutes depending on the vehicles. A flat in the work van requires reading the manual. It is incredible where they hide spares in vans.
Oh yeah - any time I change a tire on one of MY vehicles, I grease the hubs, mounting surfaces so I don't have that problem. I also keep my cars from rusting (the best I can).
As far as the stock jacks, I actually like the jack that came with my Cherokee - even with 31'' tires, it has no problem raising the jeep and keeping it stable. It's not a scissor jack, though.
Back in 1981, I was in Chicago in my friend Rick's full-size Blazer. We were on Ogden east of Cicero Avenue, which wasn't exactly the best part of town. Rick hit an enormous pothole which was deep and sharp enough to blow the front tire and we were soon stopped on the side of the road. I was about to get a crash course in how not to prepare a vehicle for something as routine as a flat tire.
Rick had long ago lost the factory Blazer jack; in its stead was the tiniest little bottle jack ever made. Even worse, it was very low on oil and would only raise up a few inches. Rick sent me hiking to look for discarded timbers or other blocks of wood while he worked to loosen the lugnuts. Eventually I returned with an armload of lumber but by now Rick had discovered a new dilemma - the spare was mounted on a rack on the tailgate and was secured by a nut on a threaded rod but the lug wrench he had was not deep enough to get all the way to the nut.
Eventually a Chicago cop came by and took pity on us and he have me a ride to a nearby full-service gas station where the two of us managed to convince the mechanic to loan me an adjustable wrench so Rick could get his spare tire off. Then began the daredevel task of raising the front of the vehicle high enough to get the flat off and the new tire on, with the miniature jack perched precariously on top of about six pieces of wood, all of different sizes and shapes. Eventually we got the spare mounted and tightened and attempted to start our journey home.
Unfortunately, Rick's Blazer had a badly leaking transmission caused by a cracked housing. He never did anything about the leak, other than to add more fluid whenever it seemed to be shifting slow, late or not at all. On this fateful day, the jarring impact of the pothole had finally stressed the cracked case to its breaking point, and the crack had widened and all the transmission fluid was deposited in a two-block stretch of Ogden Avenue until the truck would go no further. He tried and tried to get the thing to run, adding all of his stash of tranny fluid bottles only to create a growing puddle right under the truck.
Eventually he called it quits and as darkness was approaching (we'd made it just far enough to be out in front of a factory gate, beyond which we could see the weekend guard washing his own Blazer, an immaculate and beautiful vehicle which put Rick's junker to shame) Rick eventually decided to get the vehicle towed for what he assumed would be a quick fix at the gas station I'd been to a few hours earlier. But once the truck was up on the lift, the crack loomed as large as the Missouri River and he realized it was hopeless. We eventually walked quite a long way to a train station and rode to some point where Rick's mother could pick us and take me home, filthy and smelling suspiciously like tranny fluid. We'd been working on the thing all day! Adding insult to injury, Rick's Blazer was broken into during the intervening couple-three days before he could get it towed back to the suburbs where he would eventually get it fixed close to home. It was six months before he was driving again.
Rick had long ago lost the factory Blazer jack; in its stead was the tiniest little bottle jack ever made. Even worse, it was very low on oil and would only raise up a few inches. Rick sent me hiking to look for discarded timbers or other blocks of wood while he worked to loosen the lugnuts. Eventually I returned with an armload of lumber but by now Rick had discovered a new dilemma - the spare was mounted on a rack on the tailgate and was secured by a nut on a threaded rod but the lug wrench he had was not deep enough to get all the way to the nut.
Eventually a Chicago cop came by and took pity on us and he have me a ride to a nearby full-service gas station where the two of us managed to convince the mechanic to loan me an adjustable wrench so Rick could get his spare tire off. Then began the daredevel task of raising the front of the vehicle high enough to get the flat off and the new tire on, with the miniature jack perched precariously on top of about six pieces of wood, all of different sizes and shapes. Eventually we got the spare mounted and tightened and attempted to start our journey home.
Unfortunately, Rick's Blazer had a badly leaking transmission caused by a cracked housing. He never did anything about the leak, other than to add more fluid whenever it seemed to be shifting slow, late or not at all. On this fateful day, the jarring impact of the pothole had finally stressed the cracked case to its breaking point, and the crack had widened and all the transmission fluid was deposited in a two-block stretch of Ogden Avenue until the truck would go no further. He tried and tried to get the thing to run, adding all of his stash of tranny fluid bottles only to create a growing puddle right under the truck.
Eventually he called it quits and as darkness was approaching (we'd made it just far enough to be out in front of a factory gate, beyond which we could see the weekend guard washing his own Blazer, an immaculate and beautiful vehicle which put Rick's junker to shame) Rick eventually decided to get the vehicle towed for what he assumed would be a quick fix at the gas station I'd been to a few hours earlier. But once the truck was up on the lift, the crack loomed as large as the Missouri River and he realized it was hopeless. We eventually walked quite a long way to a train station and rode to some point where Rick's mother could pick us and take me home, filthy and smelling suspiciously like tranny fluid. We'd been working on the thing all day! Adding insult to injury, Rick's Blazer was broken into during the intervening couple-three days before he could get it towed back to the suburbs where he would eventually get it fixed close to home. It was six months before he was driving again.
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Never had a flat on the E430 and S2000, had 2-3 flats on the LS400, the last one was more than 7-8 years ago.
Kestas
Staff member
I check out the spare tire system on every used car I buy by doing some dry runs. One reason is to make sure all the parts are there in good working order. The other is to make sure I know how to use it and learn its pitfalls.
The last time I went through this I found two wheel bolts that needed replacing. One broke during removal. Good thing I found that out on my driveway and not on the road.
The last time I went through this I found two wheel bolts that needed replacing. One broke during removal. Good thing I found that out on my driveway and not on the road.
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