Do you know how to change a tire?

[banchargum]

A terrible thing happened to my husband and I on the way to Disney, I got a flat tire and was trapped for three days. Here is what happened:

I was driving from my home, in West Virginia, towards the main Interstate Highway. I was in rural West Virginia 100 miles from home and it was a Saturday late in the afternoon on the Labor Day Weekend. The steering wheel started to shake and rattle and I heard a hissing and popping sound. My tire was flat. I walked to a payphone and called AAA, they were worthless. I was told that the closest place that could tow us was almost 40 miles away and they could not come for many hours and would cost over a hundred dollars. All the local spots were closed for the Labor Day weekend. Most places were closed until Tuesday, it was Saturday.

They kept asking me to put on the spare tire, I told them I did not have the skills to change a tire. Either did my husband!! Finally, I found someone to put on the spare but I was afraid to drive a long distance with a temporary tire in a rural mountainous region. We could only drive a few miles to a rural hotel and park there for a few days until a local man helped us on Tuesday. The trip to Orlando was cancelled.

It is scary driving around rural areas without knowing how to change a tire.

 

[Serena]

I'm sorry, I don't get why you didn't just let AAA come to help you. Instead of paying $100 you ended up cancelling your trip?
I also don't get why you didn't at least try? Maybe there are circumstances you didn't mention, like health problems.


I just don't get it.

 

[banchargum]

My AAA membership only allows towing for up to three miles which did me very little good in this unique situation. They would tow me but there was no guarantee that I would be able to get a new tire at this late hour at the place they would tow me to. In fact, there was no place to sleep (motels) in that town.

I feared that I would be towed to the service station in that town and the car would sit there until Tuesday when the garage would open up. At least at the run down rural motel we waited at until Tuesday- we had a place to camp out and sleep until the businesses opened up again. On Tuesday at the motel, I found a man who put on an old tire on the car that got us over the mountains and home, and eventually to a Goodyear Tire Center.

 

[Tiggeroo]

i think somebody could have talked you thru changing it. You could have also hung in the parking lot til you saw somebody and offered them 50. to change the tire. I've done this when desperate. My father required each of us to be able to change a tire among other things in order to drive. I've never had to do it but I do think I could figure it out. Esp. if I had a cell phone and somebody to say, ok now do this.
Two posts, can you spell t-r-o-l-l ? It just isn't possible for somebody to spend four days in a hotel waiting for a tire change.

 

[Tiggeroo]

re-read post. It's not an issue of changing tire but of driving on donut. You could have made the ride. I've done it. Alot of local garages have used tires sitting around too.

 

[pearlieq]

Changing a tire is not that hard. You just brace the car, jack it up, take the tire off, put the donut on and get on your way! If I could figure it out by myself when I was 18, I'm sure you and your husband could have managed.

The donut could have gotten you to the next major city. I'm sure you could have found a Wal-Mart or the like and gotten a new tire--holiday weekend or not.

 

[precious pixie]

I am clueless when it comes to things like that. I would have never known how to change a tire. I also wouldnt want to be twed somewhere if I wasnt even sure that they could fix my tire and not knowing if there is a hotel around or anything. DH and I live in heavily populatd south florida so I don;t think I would evr be in the same circumstnce but I can see how disconcerning it would be. Hopefully you will be able to make up your trip to Orlando, just give your a car a check trhough before you go

 

[Cool-Beans]

Two posts, can you spell t-r-o-l-l ?

T...
T...
T...R...O..
T...R...O...L...E? Did I get it right?

Or is it TROLL?! Where's DVCLiz when you need her?

 

[snowwite]

Next time check you cars manual. I think the instructions are in it. It isnt rocket science. You jack up the car,remove the nuts,remove the tire , put the donut tire on the car and tighten the nuts. As far as I know you cannot exceed 50 mph but you can drive for 100 miles before needing to get a new tire. Why would anyone wait for days for a tire change? It does not make sense. AAA helped us on Christmas eve in a snow storm when the car died one year so they are open on holidays.It is too bad that you had to cancel your trip. I would recommend stopping by your local gas station and see if someone can show you how to change a tire so that you are not left helpless again.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

The whole waiting for days thing for the tire sounds weird.

 

[Tiggeroo]

is it a coincidence that the name starts with Ban?

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I say troll because:

1. Start Date Sep 2006 (more like Sept 10, 2006)
2. Posts 3 (2 have been in this thread)

 

[diznygirl]

Well, everyone's got to start sometime!

Yes, I know how to change a tire. I also know not to depend on AAA. We have OnStar now, I'm hoping they will be much more responsive.

 

[NMAmy]

My dad wouldn't let us get a driver's license until we could change a tire. The instructions are right in your owner's manual. It isn't a difficult thing to do.

 

[kelleigh1]

Um...with AAA, you wouldn't have needed to be towed for a flat tire. They could have put the spare tire on. And depending on your car, your spare could have been a true size and not a donut. My last two vehicles had real tires as spares - no donuts.

 

[LadyyRedd]

Um...with AAA, you wouldn't have needed to be towed for a flat tire. They could have put the spare tire on. And depending on your car, your spare could have been a true size and not a donut. My last two vehicles had real tires as spares - no donuts.

But then they'd have had nothing to join the DISboards for the first time to post about!

Kimya

 

[Stepharoonie!]

I sure do know how to change a tire!

I pick up my phone, call my hubby, and he does it!

 

[banchargum]

Those of you that are calling me a troll are not following the story very well.

I had to wait for 48 hours, not four days

This was in rural West Virginia, not in a big suburban place with a tire shop on every corner open 24 hours a day!

My spare was a temp tire that was only recommended for 20 miles at a time, not long drives over a rainy mountain road.

This all happened over the Labor Day weekend.

Even if we did know how to change a tire it would not have helped up much in this situation because the temp or spare tire would not get us to Elkins WV, 45 miles away.

 

[LadyyRedd]

This was in rural West Virginia, not in a big suburban place with a tire shop on every corner open 24 hours a day!

What city in WV was this in?

Kimya

 

[ilovepcot]

banchargum...Did you know when leaving for such a long trip that your DH did not know how to change a tire????????? Is there a physical reason *why* he isn't able to do this or just never bothered to learn how?