Changed my First Tire - A Computer Nerd's Triumph!

[Greg Bernhardt]

Changed my first tire!

Yahoo! I am a computer nerd and not at all into autos. So when I found one of my car tires slashed this morning I was a bit in a panic. But I opened my owners manual and actually worked my way through getting the spare tire on. Woohoo I feel good!

 

[lisab]

Yahoo! I am a computer nerd and not at all into autos. So when I found one of my car tires slashed this morning, I was in a bit of a panic! But I opened my owners manual and actually worked my way through getting the spare tire on. Woohoo I feel good!

Wait a minute -- why would someone slash your tires ?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Wait a minute -- why would someone slash your tires ?

Prolly some crackpot we banned

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Now go back and change the tire that was slashed. (just joking)

 

[humanino]

Yahoo! I am a computer nerd and not at all into autos. So when I found one of my car tires slashed this morning I was a bit in a panic. But I opened my owners manual and actually worked my way through getting the spare tire on. Woohoo I feel good!

Great, you made it in the office at 14:52 !

 

[Evo]

Congratulations Greg!

 

[Danger]

What is the world coming to when someone doesn't know how to change a tire before he's 6 years old?

Anyhow, if you can come up the a name and address for the prick who did it, I'll teach you some other stuff that you might find satisfying.

 

[undrcvrbro]

What is the world coming to when someone doesn't know how to change a tire before he's 6 years old?

Anyhow, if you can come up the a name and address for the prick who did it, I'll teach you some other stuff that you might find satisfying.

I didn't know Drillbit Taylor posts on this forum jk

 

[Danger]

I didn't know Drillbit Taylor posts on this forum jk

When I learned how (although I didn't have the physical strength at the time to actually do it), it involved peeling the tire off of the rim, patching or replacing the inner tube, and putting the tire back on the rim. That's what tire irons were for. The things that they call tire irons these days are just lug wrenches.

 

[B. Elliott]

If you figured out how to change a tire, you can do a LOT more work on autos than you assume; changing a battery, spark plugs, brakes, suspension. I personally think changing a tire is harder than changing spark plugs... less strenuous at least. Heck, if you figured out how to change a tire, that's halfway through doing a brake job!

As much as I like making fun of automotive Haynes manuals... "installation is (99% of the time) reverse of removal"

 

[B. Elliott]

When I learned how (although I didn't have the physical strength at the time to actually do it), it involved peeling the tire off of the rim, patching or replacing the inner tube, and putting the tire back on the rim. That's what tire irons were for. The things that they call tire irons these days are just lug wrenches.

I still remember the look on a friend of mines face when I swapped a tire from one wheel to another by running over it with a car. I've never seen so much doubt from someone before in my life.

 

[Danger]

Are you talking about just popping the bead, or something that belongs in a circus? I'm familiar with cracking a tire off of the rim by driving over it, but not actually changing one.

 

[B. Elliott]

Are you talking about just popping the bead, or something that belongs in a circus? I'm familiar with cracking a tire off of the rim by driving over it, but not actually changing one.

Sorry, yeah, just popping it. When he pulled up in his car to bring me the tire, he mentioned not seeing any kind of rim clamp changing machine. All I said was... "watch this..." lol.

 

[Danger]

Age and treachery win out once again!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yahoo! I am a computer nerd and not at all into autos. So when I found one of my car tires slashed this morning I was a bit in a panic. But I opened my owners manual and actually worked my way through getting the spare tire on. Woohoo I feel good!

You did toggle the throsin rod, I hope?

 

[lisab]

You did toggle the throsin rod, I hope?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

You did toggle the throsin rod, I hope?

Yes after clamping the von burgers pipe

 

[Andre]

Autos? Not cars or wheels or vehicles? Here in Germany you're sort of obliged to drive snow/winter tyres in the season. But these are so soft that they would not survive summer temperatures. Therefore having a general pitt stop twice a year is mandatory, changing all tyres for summer or winter.

 

[turbo]

What is the world coming to when someone doesn't know how to change a tire before he's 6 years old?

Anyhow, if you can come up the a name and address for the prick who did it, I'll teach you some other stuff that you might find satisfying.

Really! My dad brought home Willys Jeep when I was 10 and got some spare tires and rims in the bargain. He told me to change the tires the next day while he was at work and I started on the right-hand side and (using a cheater) I managed to break a bunch of studs. It turns out the military (in its infinite wisdom) specified that the threads of the studs and lug nuts on the right hand side of the vehicle needed to be left-handed and the ones on the left-hand sides needed to be right handed. Dad needed to order a bunch of new studs and lug nuts and we installed them that weekend.

 

[Danger]

It turns out the military (in its infinite wisdom) specified that the threads of the studs and lug nuts on the right hand side of the vehicle needed to be left-handed and the ones on the left-hand sides needed to be right handed.

Luckily, I heard about that being somewhat of a standard for European (or Asian, I can't remember) vehicles when they first started showing up here. Our lawn mower actually had left-hand threads on the left-side wheel bolts so they wouldn't loosen during use.
Since I'm ambidextrous, it didn't bother me.

 

[Moonbear]

Wow Greg, you're way ahead of a lot of the residents of this state. As best I can figure, they are pretty good at getting the old tires off, but get stuck on how to get the new one on based on all the cars sitting up on blocks in their yards without any tires on them.

Though, I'm surprised you got along this far without knowing how to change a tire. A lesson on tire and oil changing were mandatory for getting handed the car keys for the first solo drive when I was a "kid." I had to help out with any other required car maintenance too, although all I ever learned from that was don't even try fixing your own car unless you have a second car to drive back and forth to the auto parts store to get the one strange tool you need for your model car, or to get another part when you find out the one you already bought is the wrong one and won't fit after you've destroyed the original part trying to get it off.

 

[Danger]

after you've destroyed the original part trying to get it off.

I've destroyed a few parts trying to get it off, but it had nothing to do with cars.

 

[binzing]

Yeah man! It makes sense to have it be reverse threaded, especially on a lawnmower. My unicycle is the same.

 

[edward]

You did toggle the throsin rod, I hope?

OMG that's right, forgetting the throsen rod can lead to a disaster.

 

[Danger]

My unicycle is the same.

Which wheel?

 

[edward]

Which wheel?

Probably the middle one

 

[edward]

I am thinking that the older Chrysler products had reverse threads on one side. The drivers side I think. That caused a lot of busted knuckles.

 

[Danger]

Probably the middle one

I was thinking that way, but I hate to jump to conclusions.
Our original family car was a '55 Plymouth. I can't remember for sure, but I think that it had reverse threads on some of the wheel studs. I know that some car that I was exposed to as a youngster did, but I really can't remember which one it was. Our second vehicle was a Vauxhal Envoy (spelling?), so that might have been the one with the bass-ackward threads.

 

[edward]

I was thinking that way, but I hate to jump to conclusions.
Our original family car was a '55 Plymouth. I can't remember for sure, but I think that it had reverse threads on some of the wheel studs. I know that some car that I was exposed to as a youngster did, but I really can't remember which one it was. Our second vehicle was a Vauxhal Envoy (spelling?), so that might have been the one with the bass-ackward threads.

Chrysler thought that the left hand thread would help to keep the nuts from coming loose.
So now I am thinking that they would be on the passenger side.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Chrysler thought that the left hand thread would help to keep the nuts from coming loose.
So now I am thinking that they would be on the passenger side.

Yep.

I think my old 68 Chevy truck has reverse threads.

I still remember this poster hanging in the high school auto shop.
"Righty tighty lefty loosey".

Given that I had rebuilt by first motorcycle by age 12, I found this to be quite insulting!

 

[edward]

Yep.

I think my old 68 Chevy truck has reverse threads.

I still remember this poster hanging in the high school auto shop.
"Righty tighty lefty loosey".

Given that I had rebuilt by first motorcycle by age 12, I found this to be quite insulting!

Wow Ivan you were practically a mechanical child prodigy.

I did my first automobile engine swap at age 14 using a chain hoist hung from a tree limb.

 

[edward]

There is one more thing I wanted to mention about changing the tire on the rim with tire irons, or a couple of big screw drivers for that matter.

Many moons ago an old timer showed me how to clip a pair of vice grips on the edge of the rim so that the tire won't slip back off or on to the rim ahead and behind of the tire irons.

I haven't changed an a car tire that way in years, but the vice grip idea works great on wheel barrow and lawn tractor tires.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Wow Ivan you were practically a mechanical child prodigy.

Nah, it was a fairly normal progression. I started mowing lawns at age 10, which meant that I had to learn how to fix the engine on the lawnmower. Then I fell in love with minibikes, and then dirt bikes. Ironically though, my first rebuild was for pay and not my own use. And it was a very strange engine. They used a rotating slotted plate instead of intake valves! And IIRC, the clutch assembly went right through the engine; through the middle of an idler gear and shaft. I had no manual and had a heck of a time figuring out how it was supposed to work. Interestingly, after being stumped for a day or two, it came to me in a dream. No kidding! I can still remember seeing the thing go together, in my sleep, and then bolting out of bed.

I did my first automobile engine swap at age 14 using a chain hoist hung from a tree limb.

Back when VW bugs were all the rage, down in Los Angeles the gangs got so good at stealing the engines that it evolved into formal contests. The last time that I heard about this, the winner had the engine out in something like 30 seconds!

 

[edward]

Interestingly, after being stumped for a day or two, it came to me in a dream. No kidding! I can still remember seeing the thing go together, in my sleep, and then bolting out of bed

LOL I had the same thing happen the first time I tried to rebuild a GM quadrajet carburetor.

I have had that Eureka moment a number of times in my life, but the one I'll always remember happened at 2:00 am at age sixteen.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Man, you guys are lucky. Whenever I have a dream where I figure something out, I wake up all excited like you two, but then realize what I just dreamed was a load of crap. For one, there was a bear chasing me.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That's okay. I once dreamt that I could travel through time by drinking antifreeze, which of course would kill you - the antifreeze certainly would, and the time travel might as well.

 

[wolram]

I find this post most enlightening, it is sort of a survival kick up the ass ,what do you do if your auto breaks down, well if it is an engine problem sweet fanny all, because engine management systems are so complex these days one has little more than no chance to fix it,
so if you travel the wilderness make sure you do not have electronics as your beast of burden.

 

[turbo]

No kidding, Woolie! My last few Harleys were carbureted, and I have torn those carbs apart, opened up throttle pumps, rejetted, and done other performance mods, installed steeper cams and adjustable push-rods, etc. Then I went modern and bought a 2005 Softail with fuel injection. I have changed the air intake and exhaust, but the only way I can tinker the fuel now is by reprogramming the add-on controller I installed. It works pretty well, but it just ain't the same...

 

[tribdog]

Are you talking about just popping the bead,

You ever use starting fluid and a lighter to pop it back into place? that's when the fun starts

 

[Moonbear]

Uh oh! We have Danger, tribdog and wollie all in one thread talking about fixing stuff...everyone, DUCK FOR COVER! IT'S GONNA BLOW!

(And I do not even want to know what they mean by "popping the bead". )[/size]

 

[B. Elliott]

(And I do not even want to know what they mean by "popping the bead". )[/size]

It's kinda like pop-lock and droppin' it... only less droppin' and more poppin'.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You ever use starting fluid and a lighter to pop it back into place? that's when the fun starts

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=181677

 

[binzing]

Ivan, are you sure you didn't wander away from NE Morning street in Corvallis as a small toddler? You sound just like a Goetzinger.

 

[scorpa]

No kidding, Woolie! My last few Harleys were carbureted, and I have torn those carbs apart, opened up throttle pumps, rejetted, and done other performance mods, installed steeper cams and adjustable push-rods, etc. Then I went modern and bought a 2005 Softail with fuel injection. I have changed the air intake and exhaust, but the only way I can tinker the fuel now is by reprogramming the add-on controller I installed. It works pretty well, but it just ain't the same...

Hah, my dad was just at a HD dealership the other day getting stuff (to rejet his bike ironically) and there was an old guy behind the service desk he got talking to. Apparently this guy ranted on and on for about an hour about how fuel injection has ruined the harley davidson motorcycle and it was only done for rich sobs that couldn't figure out how to work a choke. This guys sounded like quite a character from the sounds of things.

 

[BobG]

Yahoo! I am a computer nerd and not at all into autos. So when I found one of my car tires slashed this morning I was a bit in a panic. But I opened my owners manual and actually worked my way through getting the spare tire on. Woohoo I feel good!

You did watch the instructional videos before you did that, right?

 

[BobG]

This How to Change Your Tire might be more helpful. She has a How to check your tire pressure and jump start your car video, too. (Remember, it's easier to find someone to give you a jump if ... )

She should clean her battery terminals while she's at it, though.

She's great! She even has a video on how to wear chocolate and how to eat yellow snow!

It probably goes without saying that it's easier to change a tire when the vehicle is stationary, but not absolutely necessary (advanced tire professionals only).

 

[Moonbear]

This How to Change Your Tire might be more helpful.

Too bad she just put the same tire on that she had just taken off rather than the spare. (The spare was on a different rim.) It would have been much better if she had shown the more realistic version where someone hasn't already loosened the lug nuts for you and you have to jump up and down on the lug wrench to get them started off. I'm sure the guys would have found that addition...um...helpful...too.

I did really like the "tips" at the bottom that recommended using your insurance or auto club services whenever possible. Yep, the easiest way to change your tire is to call the auto club.

 

[Alfi]

I change tires the easy way

Hello CAA ? I'm at the corner of ... and poof ... it gets fixed. :D

 

[Janus]

What is the world coming to when someone doesn't know how to change a tire before he's 6 years old?

Anyhow, if you can come up the a name and address for the prick who did it, I'll teach you some other stuff that you might find satisfying.

Maybe changing a tire should be part of your driver's test before you get your license.

 

[Janus]

Yahoo! I am a computer nerd and not at all into autos. So when I found one of my car tires slashed this morning I was a bit in a panic. But I opened my owners manual and actually worked my way through getting the spare tire on. Woohoo I feel good!

You mean you owner's manual actual told you how? It seems that they are containing less and less information on how to "do it yourself".

Example: After my battery had died, the CD player of my my factory installed radio/CD unit player quit working (The radio worked fine). I poured through the manual (Which had a section on the unit) and found nothing that addressed the problem. By trial and error I found out that pulling one of the fuses and putting it back in (the fuse was not burned out) fixed the problem.

I guess they expected me to take it to the dealer and shell out a hundred dollars or so to have someone pull a fuse and put it back in!