Living WITHOUT Tools!

[WhiskeyRanger]

My point was a generalization, of which you obviously didn't comprehend. Changing a tire is a elementary, and simple task that every auto manufacturer details in their owner's manual, and many also post in the cargo area of the vehicle.

All of which are basically the following, four simple steps:
1.) Jack up car
2.) Remove flat tire/wheel from vehicle
3.) Replace with spare tire/wheel, re-install those intricately difficult, complex mechanism, called (wait for it)... lugnuts (lefty-loosey, right-tighty, boys and girls!)
4.) Lower vehicle to ground

But using your theory, that would be reduced to just two, simpler steps:
1.) Call someone to do it for you
2.) Pray you find someone available



^^ Exactly.

Or they could just read the provided instructions.

 

[moron88]

i told my mom about this thread. her reaction was similar to some of you guys. this is an actual quote "i have a tool set. it may be from avon, but i have a tool set!". it's this little pink zippered folding case with a tack hammer, a flashlight, a bit driver with a dozen or so basic bits and a 1/4" drive adapter with a few sockets. i've used it a few times because i didnt feel like going out to the shop for a screw driver. decent enough for light household work.

 

[theoldwizard1]

My point was a generalization, of which you obviously didn't comprehend. Changing a tire is a elementary, and simple task that every auto manufacturer details in their owner's manual, and many also post in the cargo area of the vehicle.

Kind of a sad/scary story.

Daughter calls hubby because she has a flat on her Ford Expedition at the local grocery store. Hubby grabs floor jack and heads over.

Issue #1 - Hubby forgets (never learned ?) to loosen lug nuts while tire is still on the ground.

Issue #2 - Floor jack is one of those whimpy little trolley jack in a carry case. Barely gets tire off the ground and then the vehicle falls off the jack while trying to loosen log nuts !

Ultimately had to use the jack that came with the SUV and the little trolley jack to get the vehicle high enough to remove the old tire and install the spare.


After I found out about this incident and knowing that the just bought a 28' travel trailer, i got him a Powerbuilt 6000 lbs Unijack (bottle jack with built in jack stand).

 

[BDT/NWMN]

No, certainly not.

They're all missing one vital element to be classified as a tool, and you're borderline consideration of losing your man-card for suggesting it.

A tool is something you can use to repair or build something with. You can NOT repair anything with a blender.

Had to put the emoticons in there, so any long-bearded, skinny-jean hipsters who live in a high-rise apartment and ride around town on a chinese, retro-scooter don't get menstrual cramps, over my sarcastic comment.

Are You telling Us that You mix your paint with a stir stick?

 

[James-W]

My point was a generalization, of which you obviously didn't comprehend. Changing a tire is a elementary, and simple task that every auto manufacturer details in their owner's manual, and many also post in the cargo area of the vehicle.

All of which are basically the following, four simple steps:
1.) Jack up car
2.) Remove flat tire/wheel from vehicle
3.) Replace with spare tire/wheel, re-install those intricately difficult, complex mechanism, called (wait for it)... lugnuts (lefty-loosey, right-tighty, boys and girls!)
4.) Lower vehicle to ground

But using your theory, that would be reduced to just two, simpler steps:
1.) Call someone to do it for you
2.) Pray you find someone available



^^ Exactly.

It would be pretty hard for me to change a flat tire on my car, I have no spare tire. I have a little air-compressor where the spare tire would normally be. It is my understanding a lot of newer cars are coming from the manufacturer that way.

 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

It would be pretty hard for me to change a flat tire on my car, I have no spare tire. I have a little air-compressor where the spare tire would normally be. It is my understanding a lot of newer cars are coming from the manufacturer that way.

You have got to be kidding me, no flat tire?! WTF!?

Had no idea this was a thing, but apparently it is:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/gma-investigates-cars-sold-spare-tires/story?id=36435661

 

[Brownsfan]

Yep. Most cars are not coming with spares any more. Thanks to government mandated fuel economy ratings. I just bought a new Explorer and actually had to sign a form acknowledging I know this vehicle does not have a spare. My Sonata that I traded in same thing.

 

[sberry]

Be fine by me, tired of working on the ****.

 

[jd_1138]

It would be pretty hard for me to change a flat tire on my car, I have no spare tire. I have a little air-compressor where the spare tire would normally be. It is my understanding a lot of newer cars are coming from the manufacturer that way.

Wow, that's nuts. A compact spare weighs what 20 pounds which just a tiny negligible effect on gas mileage, and there's space in the floor of the trunk for it.

I'd require the parts dept. at the new car dealership to provide me a brand new rim with a new tire mounted, or I wouldn't buy the vehicle. All my cars carry a spare, a 12V compressor, breaker bar/socket, jumper cables, etc.. I'm not going to be stranded somewhere with my family just because my vehicle didn't come with a freaking spare tire. And no I don't want to have to count on AAA.

So if you go to air up the tire and the air just escapes via a large hole, you then have to get towed to a tire shop. I bet AAA will raise their rates to make up for all the increased towing (instead of just changing a flat for someone)?

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Run flat tires? So many new cars have rims that are so close to the ground due to low profile tires.. Just slow down and limp the car to the nearest tire shop..

Good thing that is only an eight mile drive, the tire shop is open, and they have the proper size tire.

 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Yep. Most cars are not coming with spares any more. Thanks to government mandated fuel economy ratings. I just bought a new Explorer and actually had to sign a form acknowledging I know this vehicle does not have a spare. My Sonata that I traded in same thing.

Typical government BS. Hell I actually thought a flat was mandated by some regulation. Frankly not having a spare is a dangerous situation. Imagine your daughter or loved one stranded out in the middle of nowhere without access to a spare. Or imagine a situation of having a flat, without cell service, in the middle of winter. Could be the difference between life and death.

Dumb dumb dumb. And all to cool the earth or some BS like that.

 

[Zeke]

Hell, my wife can't live w/o tools. Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?

 

[Sal Bandini]

I've been driving for over 30 years and changed maybe 4 or 5 flats on the road that whole time.

Totally over-rated skill. Plus, depending on where you are, it could be dangerous.

AAA ftw

 

[Sloper0204]

I've been driving for over 30 years and changed maybe 4 or 5 flats on the road that whole time.

Totally over-rated skill. Plus, depending on where you are, it could be dangerous.

AAA ftw

How many miles per year do you average? When I was putting on 100,000 to 150,000 a year on my pickup out in the "real" oilfield, I had to change a tire a month on average. There was a period when the one field was still developing (no paved roads, lots of two track, hardly any gravel) that we had two spares in every truck with a third at the shop. But, we spent a lot of time with tire chains on all four tires or being drug behind a dozer.

Even now, averaging between 50,000 to 75,000 a year I make sure to have a spare in good repair and everything I need to change it.

In my non-work vehicle? Haven't changed a flat in 5 years. Wife has had 2 in the last year on her car though.

 

[Superbec]

Imagine your daughter or loved one stranded out in the middle of nowhere without access to a spare. Or imagine a situation of having a flat, without cell service, in the middle of winter. Could be the difference between life and death.

Dumb dumb dumb. And all to cool the earth or some BS like that.

Don't know about trucks but all the european cars I ever saw without a spare tire came with run flat tires from factory.

My bmw doesn't have a spare or room to put it . but it came with run flats , I changed with normal tires though .

I didn't have a flat that needed changing on the side of the road in 20 years .

 

[Wanna Ride]

Thank you. I had no idea how to change a tire until your wisdom set me on the path to enlightenment. My point was that different lives take different skills. I've had people tell me I'm hopelessly obsolete because I don't know anything about my computer besides how to turn it on and off. I know people who have built computers themselves, and I took my laptop to the local shop when it stopped charging. Might be they're right. Technology is only going to be a bigger part of life. One of my cousins lives in Chicago. He wears skinny jeans. But he knows as much or more about computers as I do about my equipment fleet, and where I skip the John Deere dealer, he skips the Geek Squad. Each of us knows what we're doing in our own fields and lives, and we're each doing fine. Don't see how it's my place to tell him what to do different.

You missed my point again. I wasn't inferring you should tell him what to do differently, and I wasn't telling you how to change a tire, I already figured you knew how to do it. I was reiterating that... IT'S EASY, and even a simpleton should know how to do it, whether he has a car or not. It's not a technical challenge. It's in fact very intuitive.... oh, never mind.

 

[Lee Celtic]

Living without tools... no thanks.

Tools are my excuse to get out of the house and away from those I love when I need space to wind down.

Tools are a way of making money.

Tools get me free Red wine as I don't charge neighbors for odd jobs but they like to keep me sweet by buying me a bottle.

Tools save me money as I do as much as I can myself.

Tools mean I can do a job on my stuff and know it's been done right and I haven't been ripped off.

I had a neighbor come to the house in a panic banging on my door, I thought her kid must ill or husband having a heart attack. turned out the washing machine was leaking water everywhere flooding her kitchen and she couldn't get through to the guy who she calls to fix stuff...

I grabbed a flat head from the draw in our kitchen and walked out into the street. flipped up the cover on her water supply tap and turned it off then headed for the house.. she had run back to her house ahead of me..

When I got to her kitchen she said "It's ok now it's stopped.."

I pulled the machine from under the counter and undid the two screws holding the top and removed it then had a look. A plastic clip the type with opposing teeth that over lap and you just squeeze together had broken.

2 minutes I said then went to my garage returning with a jubilee clip and a jubilee flexi driver, I wound it up tight and then went outside and turned the water back on.. All this was done in maybe 10 minutes.. got me two bottles of Shiraz..

Tools are cool.. being able to use them is cooler.. being able to use them in front of someone who has no idea and ends up in Awe is priceless..

I've also found that once people know your into fixing things they give you stuff.. The guy across the road from me gave me not 1 but 2 petrol powered jet washers.. both worked after a plug clean and fresh fuel.. the most expensive one was £675 new and only needed the trigger valve freeing up, I offered them back to him but he's already gone out and bought a new one exactly the same make and model.

Guess it boils down to them and us.. I like being us..

 

[Wanna Ride]

I've been driving for over 30 years and changed maybe 4 or 5 flats on the road that whole time.

Totally over-rated skill. Plus, depending on where you are, it could be dangerous.

AAA ftw

It's not overrated, Sal. It can always be dangerous, working on a vehicle on the side of a road. But so is sitting on the interstate, in the rain or snow, in the middle of the night, while you wait endlessly for assistance.

Paying for car insurance is over-rated... if you NEVER need it.

Somewhere there's someone sitting on the side of a road right now, wishing like hell, they were a little more self-sufficient. Maybe they're catching up on fixing some broken computers while they wait. Or playing Pokemon.

 

[Lee Celtic]

When my kids were younger I did a stint as the local scout leader. One of the first things I did with them all was teach them what the different parts of an engine were, how to top up fluids,change a bulb, fitting jump leads and changing a wheel.. I had a mother of one of the scouts come up to me a couple of months later and thank me as she'd had a flat while out shopping and as she was trying to phone for help her 13 year old son and his friend had swapped the wheel for the spare.. Then he advised her to get the repair done incase she got another flat on the way home.. Proud moment for me.

 

[ganymede]

.

....... Tools are cool.. being able to use them is cooler.. being able to use them in front of someone who has no idea and ends up in Awe is priceless..
......

This.
I'm in the city surrounded by college kids . Once I was helping someone put together an ikea bed frame . It was 2nd hand and wasnt meant to be taken apart n moved multiple times and that's exactly what had been done.
She handed me some Allen keys that had come with the frame. The ends were chewed up and they were of course the absolute minimum useable length.
I declined and got standard and metric sets from my tool bag. Her eyes widened up .. "Wow, you have a lot of them !"

 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Living without tools... no thanks.

Tools are my excuse to get out of the house and away from those I love when I need space to wind down.

Tools are a way of making money.

Tools get me free Red wine as I don't charge neighbors for odd jobs but they like to keep me sweet by buying me a bottle.

Tools save me money as I do as much as I can myself.

Tools mean I can do a job on my stuff and know it's been done right and I haven't been ripped off.

I had a neighbor come to the house in a panic banging on my door, I thought her kid must ill or husband having a heart attack. turned out the washing machine was leaking water everywhere flooding her kitchen and she couldn't get through to the guy who she calls to fix stuff...

I grabbed a flat head from the draw in our kitchen and walked out into the street. flipped up the cover on her water supply tap and turned it off then headed for the house.. she had run back to her house ahead of me..

When I got to her kitchen she said "It's ok now it's stopped.."

I pulled the machine from under the counter and undid the two screws holding the top and removed it then had a look. A plastic clip the type with opposing teeth that over lap and you just squeeze together had broken.

2 minutes I said then went to my garage returning with a jubilee clip and a jubilee flexi driver, I wound it up tight and then went outside and turned the water back on.. All this was done in maybe 10 minutes.. got me two bottles of Shiraz..

Tools are cool.. being able to use them is cooler.. being able to use them in front of someone who has no idea and ends up in Awe is priceless..

I've also found that once people know your into fixing things they give you stuff.. The guy across the road from me gave me not 1 but 2 petrol powered jet washers.. both worked after a plug clean and fresh fuel.. the most expensive one was £675 new and only needed the trigger valve freeing up, I offered them back to him but he's already gone out and bought a new one exactly the same make and model.

Guess it boils down to them and us.. I like being us..

Had no idea you could turn off the water from the street. I'm always worried about a pipe bursting and the main water valve being frozen up.

So glad I read this forum.

 

[James-W]

Had no idea you could turn off the water from the street. I'm always worried about a pipe bursting and the main water valve being frozen up.

So glad I read this forum.

Around here there are water shut-offs at the street, but you need a special tool to turn off the valve. The city charges $35 to shut the water off and $35 to turn it back on again. Plumbers has their own tool to do this. I figured I should have one of those tools, so I my made my own. I can't tell you how many people have borrowed that tool from me over the years.

 

[WhiskeyRanger]

Those tools pay for themselves pretty quick in the hood. Used to be $50 to turn your water back on after it got shut off for non payment. Detroit started dumping gravel into them when they shut them out to make it harder to turn back on.

 

[geartow]

Driving a tow truck and being sent to change flats is a game of chance ,mostly the spares are flat, no spare , and some new cars.come.with a can of fix a flat as a spare.