My Flat Tire Is Your Next Lesson

As I was pulling away from my parking spot, I heard a loud pop followed by the sound cracking glass. I knew it wasn't good. I pulled out my handy flashlight to confirm I did drive over a glass bottle. Turning off my radio I slowly continued to drive on and exited the gravel lot to reach solid pavement - no way had I wanted to set up a jack in a gravel lot. As I exited the lot, I noticed the sound wasn’t quite the same. Pulling over and inspecting the tire I then saw it appeared to be slowly loosing air. Better to change a flat sooner than later.

If I risked driving home on it the damage could have easily and quickly worsened. Losing a tire while in motion is also extremely dangerous as you can lose control of your vehicle. And of course there is a higher risk of injury replacing a tire on the expressway or an unfamiliar area. Also letting a tire go completely flat can damage it to a point beyond repair. You can cause a pinch or slash, also tires contain fabric and steel wire as reinforcing materials which can also be distorted beyond repair.

I've changed many tires in my day. In the rain, the dark, the middle of a snow storm, in the street, a parking lot, garage, the expressway. I have it down to a science. Fortunately for me though I had some great friends that quickly jumped into action.

I had my jack and tire iron, lock nut key, two flashlights, a pair of mechanics gloves, and of course a fully inflated spare.

Rather than recreate the wheel (pun intended), I’m going to point you to the two sites I found that had the best instructions:

GEICO: How To Change A Flat Tire
http://www.geico.com/information/publications/newsletter/2009/how-to-change-flat-tire/

eHow: How to Fix a Flat Tire
http://www.ehow.com/how_112618_fix-flat-tire.html

Just to emphasize some points, after you find a safe area to service your vehicle, be sure that all four tires are on a stable level surface and properly secure your vehicle as indicated in the instructions. Modern vehicles have jack points under the vehicle. These are secure points attached to the frame of the vehicle. You may refer to your owner’s manual to identify these points. Some vehicles however do not have jack points; in that case you will have to carefully choose a secure location to align your jack. Beware of weak points on your under carriage, or any area that you may crimp a pipe or cause other damage. Jacking your vehicle at a weak point can also cause the jack to slip as the vehicle adjusts to the stress. Also note that you do not want to place your jack too deep underneath the vehicle as it will be less stable, as well the likelihood of causing damage to your vehicle is greater.

Once you have located you jack point. Place your jack securely on a flat stable surface and slide it into place. Be mindful of any debris that might allow the jack to shift under stress. You also want to align the base of the jack parallel to the frame of the vehicle. The last thing you want is for the jack to tip on a corner of its base as it comes under load.

It’s extremely important that you loosen the lug nuts before you jack up your vehicle. Attempting to do so after you jack up your vehicle can cause the jack to slip and cause injury and/or further damage to your vehicle. If you are having difficulties loosening the lug nuts, and do not have a break pipe, you can use your tire blocks or wedges to strike carefully downward perpendicularly at the end of the tire iron. You might want to wrap the end of the tire iron with some cloth to avoid damaging it. If blocks or wedges are not available you may also try to carefully heel stomp the end of the tire iron. Do so by holding onto the vehicle or a companion with two hands and carefully stomp downward at the end of the tire iron. This is not preferred but if it’s the only way you can loosen your lug nuts you might be forced to try.

It can not be reiterated enough... spare tires are a temporary tool to get you from the location of the incident to your nearest repair facility. You should exercise caution while driving on a spare. Your breaking distance will need to increase, as well your turning radius will also widen, and you should drive at or below speed limit in a lane that you can quickly pull off of if something were to occur to your spare. If you truly must drive for an extended time period on your spare, you should move it to your rear axle. I suggest the rear driver's side as it it easier to gauge the road conditions right in front of you rather than off to your passengers side. This may mandate that you rotate your tires during the process so that you have tires of equal tread depth in the front to avoid your car pulling to one side or another.

The only thing I’d add to the equipment list is a towel or rug that you can place on the ground to provide cushion and protect your clothing as you kneel down to locate the jack points. An inexpensive bathroom rug will work just fine, and can be easily folded onto itself and stored with your spare.

Hand wipes are also easily acquired from some gas stations or restaurants. I used to always keep a few in my glove box, but failed to continue the habit. Now that I am improving my preparedness, I will restock.

This leads me to the reiterate the points that you should regularly check your spare tire pressure, and ensure that all of your tools are fully functioning and that you are able to use them. Remember that you never want to have to learn how to use your gear or tools during an emergency. You should always test any new tool or gear item under controlled conditions rather than on the field or during an emergency situation. Being prepared isn’t just about having the tools, it’s also about knowing how to properly use them.

Finally, had I done vehicle safety check and walked around my vehicle before entering it, I might have completely avoided this situation as I know the bottle wasn’t there when I pulled into the lot. In drivers education class this was one of the fundamental safety instructions. I usually do take the longer walk around the rear of my vehicle before entering; inspecting the tires, the distance I have from the curb and any vehicles to my front or rear. I admit at times I do get lazy or distracted, or there isn’t adequate lighting and I don’t reach for my flash light. But after this event, I realize how important a 40 second check could have saved us some time and effort. Preventative measures are always better than reactive solutions.

As a personal aside, I'd like to also comment that an organized and well cleaned trunk greatly improves your reaction time.  Although I had all of the proper tools necessary, and some extra survival gear in my trunk, I also had a lot of extra clutter in my trunk.  It became a storage closet, that had to be dumped onto the street before I could access the spare.  Not only embarrassing, but if there was precipitation or high winds my belongs would have suffered, also if I was trying to quickly change a flat during a crisis the time wasted clearing out my trunk could have cost me dearly.

--

UPDATE: I wrote a follow up blog article - Flat Tire Preparedness Part 2 - based on user comments.