Car homework [status]

[rebeccmeister]

I am back in the low desert again for a while, not for any particular reason, but in part to work around the logistics of my hosts.

We drove back this morning with the horses in tow, because they are getting re-shoed soon here. That made for some interesting trailer driving experiences - apparently this trailer keeps on having issues with one wheel in particular, and our trip back was no different. We pre-emptively swapped on a spare, but 15 miles from our destination, the spare shredded flat and we had to put back on a tire that was known to be leaky, with lower pressure than ideal.

Thankfully, the practice tire swap meant we got the flat itself changed out pretty quickly, in the morning desert warmth of the Arizona Central Valley.

The horses were not amused.



It is pretty interesting to change a tire while a horse stamps impatiently above you.

Anyway, the whole thing led to the idea of doing a practice tire change on my car. In high school, the girls who took regular Physics all learned how to change a car tire during class. The AP Physics students didn't get to learn that particular lesson. I don't even know if I own a jack, and it sounds like it's good to know where to put the jack on your specific vehicle. Yeah.

And now I have to remember how to forage for groceries here. My main recollection is that different places specialize on different things, so it's impossible to get everything you want in just one simple trip.

My other main recollection is that it's better to go either early in the morning or later in the evening, because, well, heat.

So for now, to work.

Comments

[moodyduck]

I had to help (or entirely do) the change to or from studded tires on the car my brother and I drove in high school. After doing four wheels eight times each I felt like I knew how to do it.

It figures that I've never had to change a tire since then. Never had anything more than one very slow leak last year which did not actually go flat before I took it in.

[rebeccmeister]

Oh ha, yeah, that would be excellent practice, and then some!

[bluepapercup]

Your car should come with a jack and tire iron! Your owner's manual will tell you where it's located and suggest a good spot to place the jack on the frame when opening it. Lots of great youtube videos on how to change a tire as well. One of the few things where video helps. I have changed my tired many times, and it does get easier, so better to practice in a low-stress environment than have the first time you do it be at the side of the freeway.

[rebeccmeister]

Yeah, the "practice in a low-stress environment" is what got me thinking about it!

Good point on using the owner's manual for its intended purposes! :^D

[twoeleven]

Let me second the part about RTFM about where to place the jack. The more modern the car is, the fewer spots where you can jack it up without damaging it. The heavy steel frames of yore don't mix well with modern fuel-efficiency or safety standards.

[rebeccmeister]

Message received! :^)

[scrottie]

Your spare tire is a mini tire under the floor panel behind the rear seat and the jack is in a compartment just starboard of there forward of the taillight.

If you have to jack the car up, consult the manual to learn where the jack points are. If you try to jack at the wrong place, you can bend the body.

There's a lugwrench in there too. Lugnuts that have been on for a long time and were slightly overtightened by a pneumatic wrench (which is what garages do) can be hard to get off. You'll likely have to put the lugwrench on so that you can stand on it and gently jump to get it to start to go. That's normal. You don't have to tighten it that tight again after changing the tire but you do want to get a good 30 or 40 foot pounds on it and then check them again soon later (garages over torque because people don't check them later even when told to).

Hey, you can do your town tire rotations ;)

[rebeccmeister]

Yeah, it sounds like I *should* do my own tire rotations, just for the practice!

It was interesting, on the horse trailer apparently the lugnuts self-tighten over time. JH had a really amazing cheater bar to get the loosening started, and it was helpful to learn to start loosening them BEFORE jacking the wheel up.

[scrottie]

Oh yeah! That's totally a thing. Forgot about that. Yeah, otherwise the wheel just spins which doesn't help anything.

[moodyduck]

That was the one fun part of tire changing. Jumping on the long wrench to loosen the nuts before jacking up the car.