My first ever car tyre change...

**MinionZombie** · 09-Jan-2009

A bit of an adventure this morning...read on...

http://deadshed.blogspot.com/2009/01...re-change.html

**bassman** · 09-Jan-2009

Sounds like a fun morning. You guys spell tire with a Y? Didn't know that.

So MZ had his cherry popped. I'm surprised this is your first flat. I usually have one or two a year. But then again, I'm always driving in places that cause nails and screws and shit stuck in there.

And oh yeah...that "thingymy" is a tire iron.

**AcesandEights** · 09-Jan-2009

MZ, glad to hear you had your blowout at a lower speed and t didn't cause a serious problem while driving.

Otherwise, with regards to the changing o' the tire, it does feel good to have the experience under your belt, now doesn't it?

**zombie04** · 09-Jan-2009

I changed one myself yesterday. It was on the front passenger side which really angered me to no end because I had a flat on the front driver side last October...just a little too close together for my liking.

**MinionZombie** · 09-Jan-2009

Originally Posted by zombie04

I changed one myself yesterday. It was on the front passenger side which really angered me to no end because I had a flat on the front driver side last October...just a little too close together for my liking.

My bet's on a tyre conspiracy, they're clubbing together against you ... mark my words ... and uprising be coming.

And yes, it does feel good to have that experience under my belt now, because I'd never thought to really know how to do it. I'd briefly watched a tyre get changed years ago, but you're really only gonna learn by doing.

Although just thinking about it, if it had blown 10 minutes later - when I would have been on tight, windy rural back roads - it might have been a different story.

Some of those corners are a smidge tricky normally, but if the tyre had blown out on one of those, and a truck had been on-coming (a likely thing to happen), it could have all gone pear-shaped very fast.

I have found myself graced with automotive luck, in that I've had a few close calls, but have been lucky enough to avoid any shit hitting my proverbial fan ... like I said, I'm glad it didn't happen 10 minutes later. At least from a practical perspective, there'd have been shit-all places to change a tyre on that road.

Also, I'm glad it didn't blow-out yesterday afternoon when I was on the dual carridgeway doing 70mph in the rain.

Aye, I don't drive the car all the time, and certainly not in places where it'd get nails in the tyres ... although I did run over a blown-out truck tyre once when I was 18. Scared the bejesus out of me, knocked a fog light out, but nothing else.

So yep, that was my morning adventure.

So now, of course, if I happen upon a damsel in distress with a flat tyre (say, Scarlett Johansson ... who is obviously naked ... obviously), then I can say "don't worry ma'am, I'll fix it".

Oh yeah - and find attached here, a picture of the blown-out tyre in question. Was that a big pot-hole? thought I ... no - it was that exploding.

**LoSTBoY** · 09-Jan-2009

Bloody hell, looks like the gremlin on that plane in the Twilight zone was at it!

Nice skills on the blow out!!

**DawnGirl27** · 09-Jan-2009

Very glad to hear you were not going too fast, and that you are now a tire changing afficienado.

**MinionZombie** · 09-Jan-2009

I am rather glad it didn't happen doing 70mph on the dual carridgeway yesterday in the rain, as I said earlier, but I am rather glad cos that could have gone very wrong indeed - and in fact, the steering wheel was pulling to the left a fair amount yesterday - but I'd thought it was the steering column just jammed a bit with the sheer cold we've been having or something like that.

So clearly it was quite close to going, and then did today.

And true to my lack of tyre knowledge, when my Dad saw the damage when I pulled the wheel off the axle/rim/whatever he exclaimed in shock "that's not a flat! that's a bloody blow out!" ... I didn't quite "get" the potential danger of a blow out, and how in fact it had all gone quite well.

Thankfully I do have good car control skills, as I do enjoy the act of driving anyway.

So yeah, bit of an adventurous morning today ... and thinking about it, it was better that it happened today with just me in the car.

On Sunday I'm off to the cinema with a car load of mates, so that would have been onto the dual carridgeway at 70 again ... now that would have been a potentially big arse up...deary me.

I must say I was quite impressed with the tyre blow out ... and to think, last night I'd been watching Top Gear - the episode where they make their own cop cars - the episode in which Clarkson added those boadicea things to his rear wheels and as a result of the unbalanced wheels, experienced a lot of shake on the wheel ... and I didn't make the connection whatsoever, ha!

It must have been a loud bang though, I had my music on (not deafening, but still), and could hear it loud and clear ... although whoever was behind me didn't seem to notice at all, lol.

I'll have to put the new wheel (a Firestone) on again (so the wheels match because of the alloys), so there's some free practice...that doesn't involve me at the side of a road.

**~~Edison Carter~~** · 13-Feb-2009

lucky you didn't kill someone in other lane!
Wheel blew up because it was 20 lbs PSI low.
Fine autos wheels just don't suddenly pull to a certain side with A ok alignment
(unless you regularly hit the kerb).
It's Understandable your uni.edu is a handicap.
happy motoring

**MinionZombie** · 13-Feb-2009

Originally Posted by Edison Carter

lucky you didn't kill someone in other lane!
Wheel blew up because it was 20 lbs PSI low.
Fine autos wheels just don't suddenly pull to a certain side with A ok alignment
(unless you regularly hit the kerb).
It's Understandable your uni.edu is a handicap.
happy motoring

**DawnGirl27** · 13-Feb-2009

Originally Posted by Edison Carter

lucky you didn't kill someone in other lane!
Wheel blew up because it was 20 lbs PSI low.
Fine autos wheels just don't suddenly pull to a certain side with A ok alignment
(unless you regularly hit the kerb).
It's Understandable your uni.edu is a handicap.
happy motoring

What's up with that?

**C5NOTLD** · 14-Feb-2009

Pick up some run flat tires.
Pricey but great. I have GoodYear run flats on my car and would never go back to a regular tire.

They are great and you never have to get stuck anywhere.
You can drive up to 55mph on on a run flat during air pressure loss or even if it has no air pressure. Always gets you to the garage or back home in the event of a tire problem.