Fascinating dynamic here at Chez Lane about changing a tire.

It’s a little baroque, in fact.  You see: the wife is the engineer, so she typically does the mechanical stuff. But I have the edge on upper body strength, so it’s my job to lug stuff around (like tires). Also, I’ve changed tires before and before this morning she hadn’t. And, of course, this is one of those things that you should do at least once on your own so that you know how to do it. …And that’s why I was just standing around and watching over my wife change a tire.  It was a touch bizarre; usually I’m just watching as she does incomprehensible things to mechanical things. Weird to have actual opinions in this particular arena.

So that’s how my morning is going. Which is to say, not actually all that badly: the nice thing in all of this is that my wife’s home from work.  We’ve already picked out the faux-English pub where we’re going to have lunch.

5 thoughts on “Fascinating dynamic here at Chez Lane about changing a tire.”

  1. A woman I know’s father would not let either of his daughters drive until they demonstrated that they could change a tire.

    1. A friend insisted on that for both his son and daughter. It’s a good idea. (Moe, file that for when yours get a bit bigger..)
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      Mew

      1. Meant to add onto this .. how to attach jumper cables is also something that should be taught.
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        Had a friend in college who had quite a lot of pain because he caused a spark, connecting his, and .. got a face full of battery acid when the battery exploded.
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        Mew

  2. I’ve had to change tires when I had a blowout in the middle of the Ventura Freeway – 405 interchange (had to drive about 1/8 mile on the flat to get to a shoulder) and also at 0630 on the 395 9 miles south of Big Pine. So yeah, it’s a useful skill.
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    I also recommend getting an electric air pump that you can plug into your car’s 12V system. Mine cost about $25 and has paid for itself several times over.

    1. Basic car kit should include a tire pressure gauge, couple screwdrivers, medium or large crescent wrench, nice long heavy jumper cables, and – if there’s room – a cross-bar lug wrench in addition to the dinky ones the factory supplies. Oh, and – again, if room permits- a small air compressor such a sBrian mentioned.
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      There’s room in my Tundra for all those and then some, I added an 8 ton hydraulic bottle jack, but .. not so much in Mrs. Cat’s sedan, so .. she gets the basic kit… (no compressor, no cross-bar wrench) and tires that’ll run flat for a little while. (and she knows to call me if she has an issue)
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      Mew

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