Home.
Got to the arena and discovered I had a half-flat tire. I had had a reader call me yesterday and ask me to sign some books before the evening program tonight. I’d gone home not feeling well—I think it’s the Zamboni fumes in the underventilated arena. But I was to come back tonight, sign the requested books, and rejoin Jane—who’d called and asked if I could bring her more batteries. She’d also forgotten her seat cushion. So I got to the rink, paid my 5 dollars for parking, but the tire felt decidedly funny, so once I parked, I looked at it, left rear tire—half flat. Well, I was at the arena, on the far side of the parking lot, near the entry; I took her the seat cushion and got 3 lbs of batteries (I swear) through security; and then I had Jane call OSG across the arena and ask if OSG could get Jane home if I went and got that tire aired up before it was impossible to drive. I am mechanically ept at quite a few things, but changing a tire in a parking lot in the dark and the cold is not my forte. So before I left the arena, I called the person who wanted the books signed and asked if she could get to Customer Service so I could sign them, explaining I would do that before going to take care of the flat tire, but she wanted to do it tomorrow.
So, of course it’s now a case of bucking all the inbound arena traffic to get out. And I’m forcing my little Forester upstream and trying to go the other way, which, thanks to one gate-guard, was finally able to do; and I went over to Division, which is usually a good bet for filling stations; but the one I met first I know is in a rough area, having been the scene of several crimes—that one’s not where I want to stop; and the other I was in the wrong lane for, so I hoped on an outside bet to make it to the local tire emporium. They’re closed. So I found a station I know, and no, they didn’t have air, but the nextdoor auto wash did. So I go over to a deserted, closed business, drop 75 cents in the slot and aired the thing. If I’m very, very lucky, it’s flat because the tire was allowed to get low, and it lost its seal, and airing up will hold until I can get to the tire place and get it seen to tomorrow morning. I fear I’m going to have to get all new tires, because that one in particular is not trustable after the abuse it had, and the others weren’t that great to start with. If the tire is still fully aired up and holding in the morning I may get to go to the rest of the Nationals; if it isn’t I’m likely to go over, air up, take Jane to the arena and spend my morning over at the tire dealership. Jane really, really loves the dance: if it were the pairs to be missed she’d be taking care of it; it’s dance, currently, so I see to it. Fair’s fair, and the tire has got to get fixed.
Whoa,tires are a sure way to ruin a budget! Very
good of you to let Jane bask in her favorite venue. I have also run across filling stations that didn’t have air. What’s with that! I fondly remember full service and the anger when gas leaped from $.28 to $.36.Everyone was cussing
and wondering what the world was coming to. I’m now sure that all that happened “Once upon a time,in a land far,far away….”
“Save the earth. It’s the only planet that has chocolate.”
When I was but a wee lad, my Dad taught me that tires are the *only* part of your vehicle that actually contacts the road (and keeps you there), unless something has gone horribly wrong. If you want to avoid something going horribly wrong, never skimp on tires. That being said – a full set is very painful on the wallet…
I have a small compressor in my trunk that plugs into the lighter, as well as a can of fix-a-flat. The compressor cost less than $20, and can inflate a tire from ambient to recommended pressure in a couple of minutes. you can also get them with a battery on them that can jump start your car if necessary, or even power small appliances – I’m sure the local Costco, Autozone, or whatever will have them in stock.
An excellent idea.
Second on the tiny compressor with built in battery. They also usually include a flashlight and hazard blinkers/reflectors for those dark roads with tiny berms. I had a blowout once, only to discover my spare, although in good condition, was also flat. I said Bad Things, then called DH, who came to my rescue with a friend. Friend had one of these gizmos and reinflated the spare in about 15 min.
I had one tire with a slow leak. Then another one with an actual puncture, took them to the tire place and was told my rims were bad, so I bought 4 new wheels and 4 new tires and kept one for a full spare. I still have a slow leaker, have to put air in about every other week. It’s annoying. I have the fix-a-flat in my trunk as well, along with the full sized tire which won’t fit in the little holder, it only holds those itty bitty spares. Finding time to deal with these little annoyances is the hardest part. I wish you the best of luck CJ!
This is where AAA is more than worth the membership money. I have used them several times for flats in dicey conditions. And then there was the time I hopped out of the car to remove something from the garage door -leaving the engine running, and had the door swing shut. I discovered that Toyotas now *lock* themselves! With my cell phone, house keys and entire life inside the car. The challenge was to find someone home whose phone I could use. After I got AAA (and explained that no I didn’t have the membership # as it was in the car) life was relatively simple – if humiliating.
Ow! I used to teach school. This sometimes necessitates moving students. Or riding WITH students, which can be interesting. We made a field trip to a museum—and I rode with one of my seniors.
We get out, at the venue. Mind, this is pre-cellphones. One gal says: “I have my tickets. I think I’ll leave my purse in the car.” And tosses her purse in. “Sounds like a good idea,” says another. “Yeah,” says the driver, and tosses her purse in and slams the door.
Yep. Locked out. We went to the museum, and spent the next hour calling the father of the driver, then waiting on the curb for the father to show up with spare keys….
I drive a Toyota 4Runner……one of the things I LOVE about it is that I cannot lock the door if the keys are in the ignition….have to use a second key in the lock….but wow tires are costly for 4 wheel drive……I had the same lesson, Spandrel: Don’t skimp on tires or brakes!
Have just been looking at the ladies short program…..just loved Sasha Cohen…..that spiral!…..not only the length but the form was so elegant! It’s over on NBCOlympics.com 😆
I had a much-loved but very troublesome Renault Fuego a while back. Slow-leak tires were just one of its many charms—it had aluminum rims that couldn’t handle the amount of salt we used to put on our roads in winter. Finally, someone suggested I get old-fashioned inner tubes inside my radial tires. Worked like a charm; never had a slow leak problem after that
Ingenious.
Sticking tubes inside tires designed to be tubeless is in general a Bad Idea(tm) as it causes the tire to run hotter. In-town you might (probably could) get away with it, but in highway (i.e. high-speed) use you increase the risk of blowouts and tread separation. A tube tire is actually vented at the bead, while tubeless tires are designed to seal at the bead. As an emergency “get home” measure, all well and good, but IMO a signficant risk long term…
I am lucky enough that all my flat tires (except one) have been in parking lots. That other one was on the interstate through Arizona in the hotest day in the summer while I was driving about 80 MPH. That class on avoiding accidents in Drivers’ Ed sure came in handy.
I’ve driven through 3-4 blowouts, including one where a front tire disintegrated on the way to the airport for a convention. An FAA employee, female, spotted me in good clothes hauling the spare out of the trunk and gave me an assist. I even made my plane. I’ll take a rear tire blowout over a steering blowout any day of the week.
The tire is still holding air this morning. So it is driveable. But I had to drive a considerable distance last night on it at half inflation, and an upcoming 4000 mile drive at highway speeds worries me. I’m going to check our receipt on these tires. I think they’re over 75,000 miles old, and that’s what these are rated for.
Don’t forget to check the date your new set of tyres was manufactured.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11
Tires are not to fool with… CJ, if your present donuts have 75k miles on ’em, unless they are very high quality (and perhaps even then) they are due for the recycle; at that level of use, you can’t have much tread left. In re: driving about at partial inflation, much has to do with how fast you drove. At usual in-town speeds (40mph or less, say) and short distances, this is not the end of the world for tires otherwise in good shape, not exceesive miles, etc. Heat is the main issue with low inflation pressure, unless tires are so underinflated that the wheel damages the sidewall (then you are likely to break the seal at the bead and lose all pressure anyway).
And, if this is your all-wheel-drive vehicle, you doubly want decent tires given Spokane’s winter weather conditions. We keep saying, we all intend to get years and years of use out of you yet–we need to keep you in good repair! 😉
CJ, Consumer Reports did an article on tires a couple of months ago, if you’d like, I can call up the article on their online page and give you their recommendations, not just in high-mileage rated tires, but in best buys for those tires. I believe you’re going to want all-weather tires, correct? I can email you the results if you like, that way, we’re not clogging up the forum. I’ve got to get new tires for my Honda Civic, which also doesn’t let me lock myself out, even if the keys are not in the ignition, unless I push the master lock button, and then I’d be screwed. I’ve done that once, and I was at home, so I called my father and asked him to bring out the extra key. I also keep the valet key in the house, but since the house keys were in the car, I couldn’t get into the house.
THanks, Joe. E-mail, allweather, yes. We’re still holding pressure. But these tires date from about 75,000 miles ago, in 2005, and I’m inclining to hold out for replacement: we don’t want to have to get out the spare on the highway with cats in the car, the lesser of two evils that could result if the tire gives way. I also don’t want to have a blowout at 75 mph. And we all know I never drive over that.
I’m reminded of the first time I ever changed a tire: we were at girl’s camp, winter, and our fearless leader’s car had a sincere flat. About 8 of us, aged about 16, decided to change this tire, since we were miles from help. We developed a method for lug nuts that are stuck. We would sit on the wrench, after doing high foot-bounces on it several times. (Nobody had a hammer.) We managed to get it changed, and decided if that was how tight lug nuts needed to be, we should stand and sit on the wrench getting them back on, too. I did remember about tightening them alternately and across from one another—I’d seen my dad change a tire and he explained about that. And it held fine.
That car of Dode’s was a zoo. It reliably died if parked at a downward angle, and all the parking spots in the one-street hamlet nearby were downward. So the 8 of us shoved Ol’ Betsy out of the parking place and did a running push with rear bumper and doors to get ‘er moving so she’d start. Then our fearless leader cruised Main slowly with the doors open. At each pass, two more girls would dive into the moving car until we had our full complement. The old gaffers on the bench outside the drugstore had a royal laugh at us, and we were laughing, too, as we pulled the doors closed and chugged off into the sunset.
Did you ever watch ‘Little Miss Sunshine’?…..kind of a “been there, done that” for you! 😆
On the way. It’s not as “pretty” as I’d wanted to send, but it’s directly off the page, so you should be able to read it fairly clearly. If there are any questions, please let me know.
Replace them.
I kept tires on too long, and they were about the same age as yours, and my wife had a tire catastrophically fail on I5 one afternoon. The tread came completely separated from the sidewalls. We got lucky and she was able to get off the road safely.
You cannot tell if the tire has sidewall issues from the outside of the tire, and I was checking the tire pressure every gas fill-up.
That reminds me of the car I had my senior year in college. The started had gone bad, so I always looked to park on an incline or have to get a push to start. I lived with it that way until jsut before garduation, then got it fixed before I had to drive across the entire country. It was a Honda 5-door hatchback, and otherwise reliable.
I could not remember the codeword for your email, so I’m afraid it might have gotten dumped into the spam folder. If so, I’ll have to email it again, this time with the codeword. One must remember that the memory is the third thing that goes.
Got it, Joe, thanks! I know those brands, and have got them arranged in a hierarchy in my head now.
I wondered if you were attending that, seeing as it’s in your backyard. Sorry to hear of the misfortune!
Well, we’re off again tonight, and hopefully the tire will stay inflated. 🙂
I actually LOST A WHEEL while I was driving….fortunately not going fast at all and perhaps even more fortunately the front right…with rear wheel drive and nobody on the road…but that was over forty years ago and I still get chills thinking about it……since then I have become a *little* compulsive about tires, wheels, bearings…….the worst of it was that my own private nightmare was losing a wheel!! 🙁
Have fun tonight and this week end….love the commentaries ! 😀
Miles and age both say that those tires are about ready to go.
I put a new set on my car a year or so back: more years, many fewer miles, and they were ready to be replaced. Expensive tires, because the car is heavier – it’s a hybrid, and the extra 50 kg of batteries in the back matter. On the other hand, the way I drive, I can probably go another four years on *this* set.
The starter (conventional) battery is also not exactly standard, as I found when it died, and AAA didn’t have one on their truck. (I seem to recall that that was when I got the tires, since it had to go in for the battery anyway.)
I’ve used a plug-in-the-lighter (power port) tire pump for a very long time. In addition to the emergency use, they let you fill your tires up to pressure when they’re cold. The recommended pressures are for cold tires. Highly recommended! I haven’t seen them at Costco, but Costco is a good place to get a set of tires as inexpensively as possible. I have seen pumps with a setting for pressure, so they turn themselves off automatically, but I don’t know where to get one now.
I was driving on US 395 (Reno to Victorville) when, in the middle of a lot of nothing, traffic stopped dead from 65+. After I emergency-stopped the beater I was driving at the time, I started noticing a squeak. I pulled off at Little Lake, stopped just off the highway, and something didn’t look right about the right front wheel. I walked over to the one and only garage, one of very few buildings in Little Lake, and discovered that by great fortune the mechanic was there even though it wasn’t Little Lake’s day for him to be there.
The mechanic looked at the wheel, and asked me to roll slowly toward the station while he walked backwards and looked at the wheel. Within fifty feet, the brake pedal dropped to the floor with a thump, and I heard a gush as all my brake fluid dumped on the ground. This was before dual brake systems.
I continued to the garage using my hand brake. The mechanic looked at the wheel closely for a few seconds, jacked the front of the car up, grabbed the tire, and to my shock, pulled the tire and half the wheel off the car without loosening a single lug nut! He mumbled, “I thought that would happen,” and then explained that my wheel bearings were completely destroyed.
Due to his fortuitous presence, I was back on the road in a couple hours, not gouged a bit for the repairs–despite the next closest mechanic being a hundred miles away–and very much impressed by the need for routine maintenance on automobiles.
having driven on US 395 at night, I can attest for the paucity of anything but open space there. Walt, glad you were in such a fortuitous spot, and that you didn’t break down in the middle of nowhere.
Which also brings to mind, pack emergency supplies in your car, high energy foods, water, space blankets (the thin foil sheets), anything that will help keep you alive until you can get to a better place or help gets to you.
I’m glad the brakes didn’t fail at the emergency stop!
Quite right about having survival stuff especially when you go into places with severe weather or rarely traveled roads. Your car is a great shelter, and you headlights are very bright signal lights. SOS may be officially obsolete, but it is still recognized. A good flashlight and lots of batteries are useful, too; Maglites and some others have a button you can signal with (they’re *flash* lights); a few have an automatic SOS setting.
Cold can kill in minutes. You need a gallon of water a day, more in hot weather. Food can be ignored except for comfort–it takes a month to starve.
I can say from experience that the space blankets do work. Well… at least the ones they make for pets! I keep the house cold at night, so all the pets have the sleeping pads with a core of space blanket, so that their nests are warmer. And I have been known to steal the dog’s and put it on the sofa while I watch TV. It does work to bring the temperature up a little bit, especially when combined with a fleece snuggie. (My mom made that for me for Christmas… it may look funny, but it’s nice right now!)
Now, I’ll admit that the cats don’t generally use their blankie, since they much prefer to sleep on me. And the dog starts off on hers, but then generally paws it to one side in the middle of the night. So I’d say it might work too well in her case!
Absolutely. We travel far, mostly through cold territory…but we have a few advantages. A gps. Flashlights. An all wheel drive car that gets regular mechanical attention. 2 drivers that believe twilight is a good time to seek a motel. 2 cats to keep us calm: never argue with cats in the car; they can make your life miserable. Food. Water. Baggage with spare clothes. Charged cellphones. And if things got really bad, we have enough cat food with us for 2 weeks: we could share. 😆 Plus cats have a natural body temperature of over 100 degrees. They’re great body-warmers.
I try to avoid hot-weather environments, but I at least know how to get water and food out of a cactus, what else to eat (ugh!), when to travel, how to stay cool-er, how to stay warm at night, how to start a signal fire, and most of all not to leave the very visible shiny car: our girl guides group took advantage of a local army base survival expert, and my parents believed the desert southwest was a lovely place for summer vacations. (I hate heat.) 😉
Anyway, we’re pretty good travelers, and number one lesson is NOT to use your gps to go onto little tiny roads into the mountains as a shortcut: anything small above 2500 feet is likely to close for the winter and never be plowed. We’ve had fatalities in this area because of that, and nearly lost another carful this year.
Do you book your hotels in advance? When I moved back across country with the dog and the cats, I found it was much more relaxing to have the hotels lined up already. I knew exactly how far I was going that day, so there wasn’t the stress of trying to find a hotel when it was getting dark, and no need to try going that bit faster so that you get that bit farther in the day. It just made for an all-around more pleasant journey.
In a sense we do: traveling with the cats we tend to stay at Motel 6 and La Quinta: Motel 6 a lot more often, because it’s cheaper. When we’re driving between Spokane and Dallas we have our day’s drive, our restaurants, and our hotels in mind, and use the cellphones to call ahead and rez for the evening, according to where we think we’ll stop. We know the I-90 to I-25 to I-40 route really well, and some side roads off that. We also know I-5.
On the upcoming trip, however, we’re doing the diagonal down through Winnemucca and such from Spokane to I-5 in California, and this will be new to us. But the GPS is a wonderful thing. You can ‘ask’ it about motels in, say, Winnemucca, and get a list, with phone numbers, so you can set up for the evening based on where you are. We know that our 2 favorite chains take pets, and that’s cool. So we’ll be on major roads, though in smaller towns, and because we also travel with a nice pet cage (a foldable ferret cage can actually hold cats comfortably with sitting perches, etc) we can often even talk independents into taking pets for the night when they usually don’t. We also leave a nice tip for the maid, though we clean up immaculately, even carrying a mini dustpan to get any litter that scatters.
Safety-wise, we find that traveling with animals makes you think ahead and be more patient in traffic and on mountain roads: we take heights in the slow lane, because kitty ears take longer than ours to adjust. So we’re more careful than we’d be if we were concentrating on getting ahead of some certified fool, etc. Our philosophy when hauling pets is to pull off at a rest stop if need be, to let the fool clear our territory, and roll on at a reasonable rate.