Spares, who needs em?

[clyde]

Originally Posted by clyde

This is what I don't get about flats: Some people seem to get them all the time. Some seem to never get them. You have had worse luck with car tires than anyone else I know. Brendon could barely tow anywhere without getting at least one flat. John's had very good luck. I think I've had pretty good luck. I don't know why, but I don't think it has anything to do with anything other than luck. It's not difficult to imagine how your experiences have impacted your views on spares an I don't fault that, but I also think that experience is an outlier experience.

I've had plenty of small punctures that were plugable and quite a few that weren't, but held air well enough to let me get the tire replaced.

So, revisiting a recent topic...

Say you have a full size spare. And your spare goes flat before you can get stuff taken care of? Hmm? Hmm? What then?

Tuesday afternoon, my daughter came home and told us about the flat she just got...and drove home on (in the E46). She had driven to the grocery store and about halfway home, she thought the car felt weird, was vibrating/bumpy, but she didn't feel safe pulling onto the shoulder. Since home wasn't far (roughly a mile), she drove home very slowly.

Driver rear tire sidewalls were shredded, but edges of the rim looked okay. Spare tire is the original spare with a 2003 date code and was holding 30psi. The tires on the car are 2013 build tires. I had an agreement with a buddy for newish tires he had just taken off his car, but he's across town and I've been dragging my feet. So, I call him and make plans to head over on Friday.

I had my daughter change the flat for the spare with the trunk tools and it went well. I don't think I ever used the jack they put in the E46s. It's a pretty slick contraption. Germans, I guess.

Looking at the tread, I found a big and very new looking nail. My guess is she drove over it after leaving the store and deflation was pretty quick, but with the sidewalls as torn as they were, dunno.

Anyway, this evening she comes home and says, "Hey, Dad. You might want to come outside." And the spare is flat. Air was actively exiting from the valve stem area. So, I showed her how to put the car on stands. And how we put wood boards under the stands in this weather so the stands won't sink into the asphalt tonight/tomorrow. She enjoyed using the impact this time and was pretty impressed with how quick the whole thing was from starting to drag stuff out from the garage to being done.

The lesson I learned here is that I need new jack stands. All four that I have are pawl style. The Harbor Freight recalls made me want to get the Esco flat top ones that use pins, but I'm not sure I can use them with the Camaro at the pinch welds. Anyway, two of the ones I have are 4 ton and too tall to get under the E46 jackpads when my jack is at full extension under the center jack points, which is annoying.

Oh, and I'm picking up a set of winter tires mounted on steelies (thanks Josh PA) on Saturday that I could have picked up much earlier and had on hand.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by clyde

So, revisiting a recent topic...

Say you have a full size spare. And your spare goes flat before you can get stuff taken care of? Hmm? Hmm? What then?

Tuesday afternoon, my daughter came home and told us about the flat she just got...and drove home on (in the E46). She had driven to the grocery store and about halfway home, she thought the car felt weird, was vibrating/bumpy, but she didn't feel safe pulling onto the shoulder. Since home wasn't far (roughly a mile), she drove home very slowly.

Driver rear tire sidewalls were shredded, but edges of the rim looked okay. Spare tire is the original spare with a 2003 date code and was holding 30psi. The tires on the car are 2013 build tires. I had an agreement with a buddy for newish tires he had just taken off his car, but he's across town and I've been dragging my feet. So, I call him and make plans to head over on Friday.

I had my daughter change the flat for the spare with the trunk tools and it went well. I don't think I ever used the jack they put in the E46s. It's a pretty slick contraption. Germans, I guess.

Looking at the tread, I found a big and very new looking nail. My guess is she drove over it after leaving the store and deflation was pretty quick, but with the sidewalls as torn as they were, dunno.

Anyway, this evening she comes home and says, "Hey, Dad. You might want to come outside." And the spare is flat. Air was actively exiting from the valve stem area. So, I showed her how to put the car on stands. And how we put wood boards under the stands in this weather so the stands won't sink into the asphalt tonight/tomorrow. She enjoyed using the impact this time and was pretty impressed with how quick the whole thing was from starting to drag stuff out from the garage to being done.

The lesson I learned here is that I need new jack stands. All four that I have are pawl style. The Harbor Freight recalls made me want to get the Esco flat top ones that use pins, but I'm not sure I can use them with the Camaro at the pinch welds. Anyway, two of the ones I have are 4 ton and too tall to get under the E46 jackpads when my jack is at full extension under the center jack points, which is annoying.

Oh, and I'm picking up a set of winter tires mounted on steelies (thanks Josh PA) on Saturday that I could have picked up much earlier and had on hand.

I had winter tires mounted on 17-inch steelies on my first E46. People were always coming up to tell me my hubcaps had been stolen! So, I found some BMW center caps to cover the hubs. Helped a bit…

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by clyde

So, revisiting a recent topic...

Say you have a full size spare. And your spare goes flat before you can get stuff taken care of? Hmm? Hmm? What then?

Tuesday afternoon, my daughter came home and told us about the flat she just got...and drove home on (in the E46). She had driven to the grocery store and about halfway home, she thought the car felt weird, was vibrating/bumpy, but she didn't feel safe pulling onto the shoulder. Since home wasn't far (roughly a mile), she drove home very slowly.

Driver rear tire sidewalls were shredded, but edges of the rim looked okay. Spare tire is the original spare with a 2003 date code and was holding 30psi. The tires on the car are 2013 build tires. I had an agreement with a buddy for newish tires he had just taken off his car, but he's across town and I've been dragging my feet. So, I call him and make plans to head over on Friday.

I had my daughter change the flat for the spare with the trunk tools and it went well. I don't think I ever used the jack they put in the E46s. It's a pretty slick contraption. Germans, I guess.

Looking at the tread, I found a big and very new looking nail. My guess is she drove over it after leaving the store and deflation was pretty quick, but with the sidewalls as torn as they were, dunno.

Anyway, this evening she comes home and says, "Hey, Dad. You might want to come outside." And the spare is flat. Air was actively exiting from the valve stem area. So, I showed her how to put the car on stands. And how we put wood boards under the stands in this weather so the stands won't sink into the asphalt tonight/tomorrow. She enjoyed using the impact this time and was pretty impressed with how quick the whole thing was from starting to drag stuff out from the garage to being done.

The lesson I learned here is that I need new jack stands. All four that I have are pawl style. The Harbor Freight recalls made me want to get the Esco flat top ones that use pins, but I'm not sure I can use them with the Camaro at the pinch welds. Anyway, two of the ones I have are 4 ton and too tall to get under the E46 jackpads when my jack is at full extension under the center jack points, which is annoying.

Oh, and I'm picking up a set of winter tires mounted on steelies (thanks Josh PA) on Saturday that I could have picked up much earlier and had on hand.

I was going to comment "if only you had a set of winter wheels for this car "
Sounds like overall it was a good learning experience for your daughter.

@wdc... one of my daughter's first boyfriends who was into modifying shitbox cars with loud exhausts and stupid camber (i did not approve of the relationship) once seriously commented "those black rims look so pimped out". One more moment that I lost hope in our future generation.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

I was going to comment "if only you had a set of winter wheels for this car "
Sounds like overall it was a good learning experience for your daughter.

@wdc... one of my daughter's first boyfriends who was into modifying shitbox cars with loud exhausts and stupid camber (i did not approve of the relationship) once seriously commented "those black rims look so pimped out". One more moment that I lost hope in our future generation.

LOL.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

I was going to comment "if only you had a set of winter wheels for this car "
Sounds like overall it was a good learning experience for your daughter.

Yes.

@wdc... one of my daughter's first boyfriends who was into modifying shitbox cars with loud exhausts and stupid camber (i did not approve of the relationship) once seriously commented "those black rims look so pimped out". One more moment that I lost hope in our future generation.

In recent years, my attitude towards that sub-subculture has changed more to, "At least they're into cars. That's something." May not be wild about it, but okay. I don't know.

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by clyde

In recent years, my attitude towards that sub-subculture has changed more to, "At least they're into cars. That's something." May not be wild about it, but okay. I don't know.

He was also the local weed dealer... so that played a part in my overall impresson