I suppose I did too. But I haven't had to change a tire for years. Decades even. I don't remember the last time. Changing a tire has changed from those simple times. Here's my story since I have nothing better to do.
Today while running errands, my last stop was for lunch at my favorite local Mexican place. On the way home I get a low tire warning. In the winter I normally have my portable battery operated DeWalt air compressor in the truck. But I used it to pump up the tires on my snowblower and didn't put it back because my truck was full of stuff going to Goodwill, which was my first stop today.
After my last stop for lunch I'm making the short trip home when the low tire light comes on. I regularly check my tire pressure using the info center readout because recently I have one tire that has a very slow leak and needs a couple of pounds about once a week. But this was a different tire that was never an issue. I pull off in a friend's driveway, halfway home and decide I can make it the rest of the way home. It's less than a mile on residential roads. But it got worse quick and I had to pull off and check it again. I was stuck in the parking lot of a care facility
I go inside and ask if it's okay if I leave my car there while I walk the half mile home to get my compressor. They had no problem with that. I'm glad I was layered up today, but it was still cold walking into the wind. My initial idea was to walk home and bring the compressor back on my lawn mower. But then I thought, I would have to walk back and get the mower once I got the truck home. So I decide to carry the 24 pound awkward load the half mile back to my truck.
It was a bit of a workout, but I arrived. I slide in the battery pack and flip the on switch and nothing. Crap. The battery was fully charged. So I decide to put the compressor in the passenger seat to warm it up with the seat heater and warm running truck. I test it occasionally and still nothing. What a time to decide to quit working on me. This thing has been a great tool for those times it's so cold the air at the gas stations freeze up. The entire reason I got the thing.
So now I wish I would have left my truck at my friend's house and asked him to give me a lift back home to get the compressor. But I didn't. So I call him and ask him if he's got a portable compressor and thankfully he did. He needed about 15 to 20 minutes to fill the tank with air and then made it. We got enough air in the tire for me to make it home and then the tire changing adventure began. Actually it began when I was waiting for him to arrive. I got out the manual to figure out how to get at the spare.
The jack is hidden behind some molding under the back seat. A couple of quarter turn wing nuts hold it in place. The first one came lose with no issue. But the second one was like wrestling Jarrett Degen and his funky style. I finally got it to come off. Then another wing nut releases the jack from some wheel blocks. That didn't want to move either, but eventually my inner David Carr got it done. So I have a jack, but no tire.
I knew where the wheel wrench was stored as I've had to locate it for the service guys nearly every time I take my car in for an oil change and tire rotation. All they really need is the locking nut adapter. Easy peazy. They don't keep this stuff with the spare tire these days, but that's part of the modern adventure. I wonder if the guy that decided where to locate the spare, jack and wrench learned his craft by playing Myst. Or maybe he was more of a Leisure Suit Larry type.
The spare is under the truck bed, sight unseen. This took some reading to figure what I needed to get at it. The first steps weren't too bad, assembling the jack handle extensions/wheel wrench and finding the access hole to insert the extensions. The next step was to turn wheel wrench/extensions counter clockwise. Hey, that's working pretty nice once I got the first turn broke lose. The tire starts to lower. That's pretty cool. Now what? The pictures describing the objects look nothing like the real thing.
I get the tire all the way down to the floor and start wrestling again. I felt like I was going up against Yonger Bastida. It was getting the best of me. Lighting was not great as my good portable light was in Ames. It was dark and dirty under that truck. Finally I get Yonger to his back but instead of pinning him, prop him up with a couple of bricks so I can get under the tire. I eventually free the cable and retainer and am rewarded with a tire.
The rest will be easy right. Just like the old days except for the locking nut. Not so fast my friend. No way are we letting you loosen those nuts. I just couldn't get enough leverage with that crappy wheel wrench. Even after squirting some penetrating lubricant on the nuts. (Not sure if you should do that, but I did.) So it's impact driver time. Unfortunately I need a deep well socket to use that tool. Lowes and Fleet Farm are only about a mile away, but I can't drive and it's too late to walk. So I'm stuck. I got through most of the rocket science part and was down to the traditional tire change part and I can't do it.
While waiting for the penetrating oil to work, I decided to try to locate the magic spot where the jack is suppose to go. The snow melting off the truck is making it difficult so I take some blind pictures and think I've found it. There's no visible "X" like it seems to indicate in the manual. And their pictures aren't old and dirty like the underside of my truck, so if there was an "X" you'd never find it.
So here I am...stranded in Iowa. I've made a lot of progress and seem to have gotten past the hard part. But I think the worst is yet to come. Especially when I get the bill. Not just the tire repair or replacement, but even worse is whatever it's going to cost to fix or replace my compressor. I loved that thing until today.
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