Dose anyone ever change a flat tire?

[wdeturck]

I had one bad tire and needed to replace it. I decided to move the rear tire up front and since there is an unused spare put that on the rear till I get two good tires for the front. I only have a hydraulic jack that will lift my Cubs so I decided to use the jack in the truck. Found it behind the seat bur had to get the OWNERS MANUAL just to find how to get it loose. Wheres the handle? got the OWNERS MANUAL to find out where it was and how to get it. loose. Spare tire is under the truck so I crawl under and see no way to get it down. Get the OWNERS MANUAL and you must use parts of the jack handle to let it down. Figure all that out and still can't get the cable loose. Get the OWNERS MANUAL and it shows me how to pull the cable to get the tire out father but the next step is tough(you must lift the side tire up and work the cable and bracket through the hole). Got the tire out, now how to jack it up so I look in the OWNERS MANUAL where to jack it up. I got wheel covers(how do you get Those off? I had my 4 way lug wrench and didn't try their short lug wrench but they unscrew after I look at the OWNERS MANUAL. You have to crawl under the rear of the truck to est the jack so it lifts on the axle(it's in the OWNERS MANUAL) and get it jacked up. I got 4 of the 6 lugs loose with mt 4 way but need the 1/2" breaker bar and socket to get those 2 loose(the lug wrench they gave wouldn't work I get the rear tire off and the spare on and re-tightened them with the breaker bar. Have to use the OWNERS MANUAL to find where to jack it up(three different models in the OWNERS MANUAL). I try my 4 way and get no lugs loose. Try the breaker bar standing on it still don't loosen . I can't find a piece of pipe so have to run to the neighbors and get one. I took the breaker bar along(had the socket on it and lost it in the grass coming back. Started looking in the grass & leaves for the black socket with a magnet but my neighbor saw it in the grass(that is out of a set that fits metric and inch sockets or I wouldn't have even looked). It took the 4' pipe to loosen them. About 2 1/2 hours with the OWNERS MANUAL to change 2 tire. I still needed the OWNERS MANUAL to put the jack and handle away. I was trying how to get the chrome centers off the wheels(they don't come off and the spare tire is on a different rim so I will have to get an extra tire mounted later. I didn't put the wheel back under the truck yet. This was on a nice sunny day and if I ever get a flat it will be night, raining and I will be on a slope without a cell phone

[jpackard56]

And that describes what the modern world has deemed to be "progress"
Give me 40 and 50 year old stuff that people still had pride in engineering and producing that the average man could actually work on any day.

[vince_o]

Thats why I like driving a truck. You have options. 1 you can run on the other 17 till your down to 16, unless they are on different axles. 2 I call the dispatcher to listen to them tell me I have 17 more, or 3 just call the tire guy sit in the cab till they get it done.

[Ben Morong]

Geezer --

In Maine the state highway department uses salt like sand, so if your spare is under the back of the bed, the cable winch thingy won't turn anyway cause it's rusted up solid, so you take a disc grinder and lay under the truck, and grind whatever you can find until the spare falls on you. After that you leave it in the bed of the truck, along with an old jack that you got out of a junkyard car 30 years ago, and you're in business.

[lonnyb]

Don't be suprised if the rusty pice of steel called the wheel is so rusted out it aint safe to put on the truck to even allow the weight of the truck to rest on it without collaspeing.
95 Dodge Dakoda, 4" angle grinder, had to leave hydralic jack under truck and borrow brothers car to go to get flat replaced.

[Amigatec]

I have a 1999 Dakota and I had to get the OM out just to find the jack.

[ksanders]

I tried to use my jack once that came with my truck and it wouldn't even lift it with the jack handle given, and it's an 86. The spare was rusted in for the same salt reason discussed so I just dropped it to reduce a little more weight and figured I can't jack the truck up anyway on the road so I'll call someone and pay whatever it is if I have a flat. What other choices are there?

As for 40 or 50 year old cars? My 64 Falcon spare is one wing nut from being ready to install located safely away from the weather in the trunk area. I'd probably be going in 20 minutes if I ever had a flat with it. "Technology"

[wdeturck]

"Technology" I learned about some more of it when I put the spare(it's on a different rim(no chrome cover which can't be removed) so i Just put the outside center cover and put the wheel in the workshop. I just had the truck inspected and instead of checking the emissions at the tail pipe(stupid old computers can't tell the difference between vehicles) so they made all the garages buy these new computers that only checks the ViN number at PA DOT and that the engine light isn't on for certain parts. They had to clear all the codes off my computer and it won't pass till you drive and the computer dose all the required tests(the fuel recovery system which is why mine failed isn't one of them) and I had to drive my truck over the weekend which wasn't enough when I took it back on Tuesday so I had to drive 10 more miles to get it to check the O two sensor but that didn't check the fuel recovery system yet . While I was driving over the weekend the tire pressure light comes on so I figure I don't have enough air in the spare. Duh: there s no sensor in the spare. I look in the OM and see it's on because a sensor is missing and I still haven't figure out how you reset them with out going to a garage I asked abut this when I was at the garage and he said throw the tire in the bed or put it back in the rack.

I think my Chevy truck got salt water in the Fuel Evaporation system when we had the big snow storm 2 years ago. Chevy dose have a bulletin with the kit you can only buy at GMC to move the pickup but it isn't a recall but has been a problem since 2003 through 2010. It should have been a recall but they have it hid in that bulletin

[Dbaumanjr]

Yeah Geezer, vent & purge valves have been common failure items on those trucks. Luckily they're not hugely expensive & easy to change.
On your spare tire issues: be glad that the spare tire came out from under the truck. GM had many issues with the spare tire winch cable rusting off & the spare bouncing down the road. Their fix? use stainless steel cable & engineer an automatic lock system into the winch that rusts solid in about 3 years. Then even if you cut the cable off, you still can't remove the spare!
On your TPMS (tire pressure monitor system): Thank the people that owned Ford Explorers & drove them at high speeds with the tires half flat for that fiasco. The Govmint decided to "save" everyone from having that issue ever again. So mandated that system. Its finnicky & unreliable at best. DO NOT: use fix-a-flat in the tires! DO NOT: run the wheels without valve stem caps, DO NOT: use chrome plated brass valve stem caps or brass valve cores in the sensors(part of the sensor) or you will be buying new sensors. List prices from about 50-120 yankee dollars.
Replace the bad tire without crushing the sensor, put that wheel back on & see if the light goes off. If not, then take it to a garage that invested in the 1500 dollar tool to reset the system & pay the man with a smile & a handshake.

[ksanders]

Yup, I second that on the valve stem sensors. Parent's 2004 Expedition had those and came from the factory with metal valve stem caps. One of the caps froze up after time (to be expected) and the valve stem broke right off trying to remove the cap (by hand I might add, not using some tool that shouldn't have been). $125 repair and refusal to change the tire until it was fixed by the tire store. They are pretty accurate as far as pressure at least but a costly feature. Favorite word of the thread... "technology"

[albie]

Darryl, the best thing we've gotten lately from the company that supplies our wheel weights and stems is 2 or3 kinds of tps valve stems and parts kits(wich have nuts, stems and caps). Now we can put in new stems without having to replace sensors. The other thing that is cool is Chrysler has gone to rubber pullin valve stems that the sensor is attatched to inside the tire with a screw, no rot issues like the metal stems.

[wdeturck]

If I put regular valve stems in is there anyway to turn off the idiot light for it? Don't those sensors have batteries built in that will go dead?

I did find a plastic bag almost big enough to go over the spare(my good rim with the sensor) tha I have to slot to go around the cable and got it sealed with tape hoping that will keep the wheel from getting salt damage. I did make a small hole for a drain.

[jpackard56]

Around here we are being told if the sensor is broke it is illegal for them to mount a tire back up until OEM part is replaced Ain't it nice that the government is so concerned about us Technology has its place and in this situation (being a family friendly site) I can't print where it belongs

[Dbaumanjr]

Albie,
I've seen the sensors that bolt to the stem & the banded ones around the drop center of the wheel. There are also universal sensors, but we've not had much luck with them.
Geezer, when the batteries go dead in the sensor, the light comes on. The batteries are not replaceable. These sensors will become a "wear item". Can't you have the spare tire mounted on the chrome faced wheel?
And I agree about that place....

[wdeturck]

This whole thread started because I had one tire that won't pass inspection and I have a (almost full size spare) under the truck. This truck has 265 tires and 17 inch rims instead of 245 tires. When they use to have full size spares and people rotated tires the spare got into the tire rotation till you got 4 new tires. You get free rotation on tires but you must waste 2 hours getting it done Now I find out I have a warning system that is useless and going to cost me $300 to maintain and why they don't have a sensor in the spare(the one you probably need the most later on) and it can't be eliminated and eventually is going to be like the check engine light which use to be FYI and now is controlled by the PA DOT and no longer make it practical for the average guy to even maintain our vehicles. I could of left the wheel with the bad tire in the bed of the truck but after the first trip to PGH I would be looking for a wheel to match my other 3 I wish I could find a car like this one.

My car in 1955

[Dbaumanjr]

If you don't want to deal with tire pressure monitors remember this:any vehicle below a one ton truck is required to have this system from the 2007 model year onward. Some vehicles have them clear back to 2003 with the tire pressure sensors. Before that a few models had low tire lights that utilized the ABS wheel speed sensors. These worked pretty good, but wouldn't tell you if all your tires were soft.
Hopefully in the future the manufacturers come up with a standardized, simple & inexpensive system. At this point they're all different.

[Farmallgray]

If you don't want to deal with tire pressure monitors remember this:any vehicle below a one ton truck is required to have this system from the 2007 model year onward.

I have an '07 Pontiac (built in June of 2007) G6 that doesn't have them. It doesn't even have ABS brakes. I hadn't heard that they were government mandated, but we sure sell a lot of them at work.

[wdeturck]

I have an '07 Pontiac (built in June of 2007) G6 that doesn't have them. It doesn't even have ABS brakes. I hadn't heard that they were government mandated, but we sure sell a lot of them at work.

them meaning sensors What is the price range at NAPA

[Farmallgray]

Offhand they average around $50 each. What is your vehicle?

[wdeturck]

2009 Chevy 1500

[Dbaumanjr]

Todd,
Your G6 doesn't have metal valve stems? Seems odd. There are 3 styles: metal(aluminum) valve stems with the sensor mounted to it inside the wheel, rubber valve stems with the sensor held to the stem inside the wheel with a screw & a sensor that is glued & clamped with a stainless steel band to the drop center of the wheel. But obviously you know that if you're selling them. When you start the car is there a yellow tire light that does a bulb test?
Unless it was built in Canada or something odd like that.

[Farmallgray]

No there is no light and it was built at the Orion plant in MI. It still has the original tires so I don't know for sure that there isn't anything inside them but the valve stems are just the plain rubber pop in style.

[Dbaumanjr]

Weird. I'd like to peak inside one, just for curiosities sake..... Think you'll miss a tire in the morning?

[Farmallgray]

Just to add fuel to the fire; I checked at work yesterday and we don't even have a listing for TPMS sensors for an '07 G6. So I really hope it doesn't have them since I'd have to get them from the dealer when it needed them.

[SWilliams]

Consistent with the phase-in commencing October 5, 2005, all new light vehicles must be equipped with a TPMS that meets the requirements of the standard by September 1, 2007, with the following exceptions.
Vehicle manufacturers need not meet the standards requirements for the TPMS malfunction indicator and related owners manual language until September 1, 2007 (i.e., at the end of the phase-in), and vehicles produced by final-stage manufacturers and alterers must be equipped with a compliant TPMS (including a malfunction indicator) by September 1, 2008.
However, manufacturers may voluntarily certify vehicles to FMVSS No. 138 and earn carry-forward credits for compliant vehicles, produced in excess of the phase-in requirements, that are manufactured between April 8, 2005, and the conclusion of the phase-in.

[wdeturck]

Jim Hayes E-mailed me this thread about a chevy truck http://www.ytmag.com/cgi-bin/viewit.cgi ... th=1061943 and I didn't read about the blinking light in my owners manual. I think mine came on blinking and then went solid and posted it on the speedometer Mine was on because I put the wheel with the sensor in the workshop so I was missing a sensor. In the manual they say that you may have to reset the TPMS when you rotate the tires and this doesn't happen til you drive so many miles The whole system is very stupid. This is in the Manual and what do you think my wife would do if she could find this in the owners manual

The TPMS sensor matching process is outlined below:

Set the parking brake.
Turn the ignition switch to ON/RUN with the engine off.
Press the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) transmitter"s LOCK and UNLOCK buttons at the same time for approximately five seconds. The horn sounds twice to signal the receiver is in relearn mode and TIRE LEARNING ACTIVE message displays on the Driver Information Center screen.
If your vehicle does not have RKE, press the Driver Information Center (DIC) vehicle information button until the PRESS TO RELEARN TIRE POSITIONS message displays. The horn sounds twice to signal the receiver is in relearn mode and TIRE LEARNING ACTIVE message displays on the Driver Information Center screen.

If your vehicle does not have RKE or Driver Information Center buttons, press the trip odometer reset stem located on the instrument panel cluster until the PRESS TO RELEARN TIRE POSITIONS message displays. The horn sounds twice to signal the receiver is in relearn mode and TIRE LEARNING ACTIVE message displays on the Driver Information Center screen.


Start with the driver side front tire.
Remove the valve cap from the valve cap stem. Activate the TPMS sensor by increasing or decreasing the tire"s air pressure for five seconds, or until a horn chirp sounds. The horn chirp, which may take up to 30 seconds to sound, confirms that the sensor identification code has been matched to this tire and wheel position.
Proceed to the passenger side front tire, and repeat the procedure in Step 5.
Proceed to the passenger side rear tire, and repeat the procedure in Step 5.
Proceed to the driver side rear tire, and repeat the procedure in Step 5. The horn sounds two times to indicate the sensor identification code has been matched to the driver side rear tire, and that the TPMS sensor matching process is no longer active. The TIRE LEARNING ACTIVE message on the Driver Information Center display screen goes off.
Turn the ignition switch to LOCK/OFF.
Set all four tires to the recommended air pressure level as indicated on the Tire and Loading Information label.
Put the valve caps back on the valve stems.

You have to let or add air just to check the sensor and when you get that done you have go fill the tire correctly
What happens when the guy rotates the tires using 5 tires(trucks have a full size spare) and the sensored wheel ends up in the rack and after some time the light comes on as you still don't know which tire is over or under inflated I hope the other manufactures are better than GM. There is also a note in the manual that the light can come on when the temperature drops that the tires don't need checked All this crap that they are adding to the computer system is very stupid. I heard that some cars have black boxes and they know that you were speeding so the can give you a ticket after an accident:banghead:

[J Hayes]

Geezer I have been told anything with On star can be monitored at anytime even if you don't subscribe.
and those computers do carry information that can and may be used in case of accident or can be used in Court as driving habits. and how many times you exceeded the max speed limit allowed by law not by area. 65 max in Pa but if you have a record of 85 average they can nail you as an unsafe driver so report goes to your Ins. Co.

Something like the Progressive Commercial.

Also when buying from a dealer they sometimes will add a free onstar for a year... this is if you don't pay for it they just shut it off.

[SWilliams]

Any vehicle built since about 2000 with airbags has the ability to record the speed you were going when the bags deployed. The system records constantly but has limited memory capacity. Most keep roughly 20 seconds. It records speed, throttle setting, brake setting, outside temperature, gear, engine load, air bag status and other operational data. The original intent was as a safety tool. Sort of making people the test subjects in real conditions. So if there was a really bad wreck they could pull the data and see what actually occurred.
With all of the new crap on vehicles I am betting that this system has been given more memory, more sensor readings, along with more tattletale options.