I received a call from a
friend one day. She was stranded with a flat tire and she wanted me to pick her
up. When I arrived, she told me she'd called her husband and he had agreed to
change the flat later that day once his work day was finished. This plan meant
that her husband would have to drive home, pick her up, and drive her back to
the car so she could drive it home. When I suggested that we change the flat
ourselves, she looked at me as if I had two heads.
Why is it that many women
think this kind of thing is "man's work"?
Having grown up in a
household of males (I was the only girl of five kids), I could toss a football,
swing a baseball bat, and climb trees with the best of them. I guess that's why
I'm not afraid of tackling jobs that other women might shy away from. (On the
other hand, it could be that I'm just strange.)
Every woman should know how
to change a flat tire. So here are some simple instructions. You will need: a
spare tire, a jack, a lug wrench—all of these items should be in your trunk.
1.
Park on a flat
surface and engage the emergency brake. Think about it. You don't want the car
to roll while you're changing the flat. If it's at all possible, brace the
opposite tire with something heavy (a block of wood, a large rock, a brick,
etc). For example, if your front passenger-side tire is flat, brace the front
driver-side tire.
2.
Remove the
hubcap. Most newer-model cars don't have hubcaps, but if your car is older,
you'll need to remove the hubcap so you can access the lug nuts. If your car
doesn't have hubcaps, skip to #3. If you do have hubcaps, use the flat side of
the lug wrench to pry off the hubcap, prying in several locations rather than
all in one spot. Think of the hubcap as a clock face; pry at 9 o'clock and then 3 o'clock , then 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock , then noon .
Prying the hubcap off all in one spot might bend the cap.
3.
Loosen the
lug nuts. (Remember! Turn in a counter-clockwise direction. Leftie loosie,
rightie tightie.) This is going to be the most difficult part of the job.
Lug nuts are always TIGHT and it will take all of your strength to loosen them.
Use the lug wrench and physics. Apply
pressure to the furthest end of the wrench (as you would a lever). Loosen but
DO NOT REMOVE the lug nuts (yet).
4.
Time to jack it
up! Check your owner's manual for proper placement of the jack. Make sure the
jack is firmly connecting with a solid part of your car's frame, the metal
undercarriage, close to the flat tire. Once you've got the jack in place, crank
the handle until the flat tire is lifted off the ground several inches.
5.
Remove the
lug nuts and slide off the flat tire. Lay the tire flat on the ground; you don't
want it rolling into traffic (just imagine the screeching brakes, swerving cars, mayhem!).
6.
Line up the holes
of the spare with the bolts on the axle. Don't be surprised if you have to jack
up the car a bit more—the air in the spare will make it taller than the flat
tire. Slide on the spare as far as it will go and then hand-tighten the lug nuts
onto the bolts.
7.
Use the lug
wrench to tighten the bolts, and when I say tight, I mean TIGHT! You don't want
the vibration of the car to loosen the bolts.
8.
Lower the car and
remove the jack from underneath the car frame. Put everything into the truck: the jack, the lug wrench, the flat tire, the hubcap.
9.
Drive to the
nearest car repair shop or your favorite mechanic. Have the flat tire fixed OR
buy a new tire. You don't want to drive around on the spare as it might cause
road-wear on the other 3 tires. When installing the new/repaired tire, the
mechanic will probably use a compression gun to tighten the lug nuts.
10. Feel proud that you've changed a flat all by yourself!
I used my flat-tire-fixing experience in a book. In the opening scenes of Mountain Laurel, two sisters are driving in the mountains when they run into trouble--yeah, they have a flat, but the "trouble" is a sexy forest ranger named Michael Walker who shows up and starts being a bit bossy. lol
Is this a job you think you
can now try to tackle? I sure hope so! If you've already changed a flat (good
for you!!!), do you have any wild and crazy war stories to share?
5 comments:
I agree, women can change tires, I am the oldest of three and I only had one brother and he was the baby of the family. We were taught to change tires, check oil, change oil, change spark plugs etc... My most crazy story is being 18 yrs old and very pregnant, my exhusband had put wide tires on our 1966 mustang, to wide, I had been out to the lake visiting my parents and was on my way home and on the highway when I had a flat, I had to change it right there on the side of the highway at night and being very pregnant. But I did it. :)
It is not so much that I think it is a man's job... it is that it is dirty, icky work that would muss my manicure :)
Ok, that is why I drive around with a portable air compressor. :)
Thank you for sharing these easy steps for flat tire repairing. This will be really helpful for the readers. Please keep sharing more informative posts like this.
who to call when you get a flat in Neffsville
Professional vehicle towing experts from Rc-towing.com available for 24 hrs. emergency towing service in Lancaster PA, Mountville, Landisville, Lititz, Neffsville & East Petersburg. Hire our roadside assistance experts.
Post a Comment