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Old 05-02-2022, 07:35 PM   #1
shew01
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Default Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

Today was a gorgeous day, and my wife and I took our 6 volt car out for a bit. We stopped a while, came back to the car, and noticed a flat. This was my first flat. We’ve had the car almost three years. We driven it about 9000 miles, and I installed a new set of American Classic radials with new tubes about 1400 miles ago. We just got home a few minutes ago after changing the tire, and I plan to investigate the cause of the flat tomorrow. However, since this is fresh in my mind, I thought I’d share some lessons learned in hopes of helping newcomers to the Model A hobby.

- When you have a flat, hopefully you’ll have all the tools you need in the car with you. Lesson learned: Test the tools you plan to keep in the car to make sure they will actually work as expected.

- I probably could have just pumped up the tire and driven home, if I had a 12 volt system and portable air compressor with me, or, if I would have had a bicycle pump with me. Nope. I didn’t have any way to put air in the tire. Lesson learned: Take some way to inflate a tire with you. So far, this is the only compelling reason I’ve seen to have a 12 volt car. I plan to install a 12 volt inverter in the near future. Hopefully, it will be able to power a portable compressor long enough to inflate a tire. Maybe someone will post to this thread if that is a bad idea.

- Start the tire change by confirming that you can actually get the spare tire removed from the car before bothering to take the flat off the car. (There just isn’t a lot of point in removing the flat if you cannot remove the spare.) This was a near miss for me. I didn’t have my normal toolset with me. Although I had the engine crank with the lug wrench built into its end, I had never tried to remove the spare with that particular tool. I could reach the top two spare lug nuts fine, but my luggage rack normally stays bolted in the upright position, and there was not enough clearance to use the crank lug wrench to remove the bottom nut that was only reachable through the luggage rack. I didn’t have the right size wrenches to loosen the luggage rack and fold it down out of the way. I also had a foldable X lug wrench in the car, but the X lug wrench could only reach the bottom spare lug nut at an angle and could not put much torque on the nut. Fortunately, the bottom lug nut on the spare was not super tight, and I managed to wiggle the spare loose while several onlookers stopped by to chat. (The chats didn’t help much. Oh, well…. That’s another story.) Lesson learned: Carry ALL the tools you will need to change a tire in the car with you. Make sure you can remove the spare with the tools you plan to have with you. Make sure you have the correct wrenches to loosen the luggage rack, if you have one.

- When I first purchased the car, I bought a nice looking scissors jack to keep in the car, but I never tested it because I didn’t want to scratch up the nice red paint on the new jack. It turns out that the foldable crank is a REAL pain to use on this particular jack. Lesson learned: Test the jack you plan to carry in the car.

- It would be handy to carry a torque wrench in the car. Keep torque values in your smart phone.

- You may want to carry some disposable vinyl gloves in the car to keep your hands reasonably clean.

- You may want to carry some Wet Wipes with you to clean your hands if you do not have disposable gloves.

- A few days ago, I threw an old rug in the car. It was handy to lie on while crawling under the car to position and crank the jack.

It was a beautiful day, to change a tire.

Happy motoring. [emoji4]

Does anyone care to share more lessons learned?


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Last edited by shew01; 05-02-2022 at 08:54 PM.
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Old 05-02-2022, 08:03 PM   #2
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

A hand tire pump is much better than the little electric air compressors. A good old tire pump is easy to replace leathers and the hose if need be to make it work properly.
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Old 05-02-2022, 08:21 PM   #3
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

Fix-A-Flat comes in a can and unless it is a catastrophic flat you can get home or a tire shop. Anymore that is what you will find in many newer car trunks instead of a spare.
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Old 05-02-2022, 08:56 PM   #4
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

I don't carry a pump, but I make sure my spare is aired up before going on any tour.
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Old 05-02-2022, 08:57 PM   #5
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill G View Post
I don't carry a pump, but I make sure my spare is aired up before going on any tour.

Fortunately, my spare had air. :-)


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Old 05-02-2022, 08:58 PM   #6
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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Quote:
Originally Posted by J Franklin View Post
Fix-A-Flat comes in a can and unless it is a catastrophic flat you can get home or a tire shop. Anymore that is what you will find in many newer car trunks instead of a spare.

I have glass balancing beads in my tubes. I’m guessing that Fix-A-Flat may not work well with the beads.


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Old 05-02-2022, 09:13 PM   #7
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

Quote:
Originally Posted by shew01 View Post
Today was a gorgeous day, and my wife and I took our 6 volt car out for a bit. We stopped a while, came back to the car, and noticed a flat. This was my first flat. We’ve had the car almost three years. We driven it about 9000 miles, and I installed a new set of American Classic radials with new tubes about 1400 miles ago. We just got home a few minutes ago after changing the tire, and I plan to investigate the cause of the flat tomorrow. However, since this is fresh in my mind, I thought I’d share some lessons learned in hopes of helping newcomers to the Model A hobby.

- When you have a flat, hopefully you’ll have all the tools you need in the car with you. Lesson learned: Test the tools you plan to keep in the car to make sure they will actually work as expected.

- I probably could have just pumped up the tire and driven home, if I had a 12 volt system and portable air compressor with me, or, if I would have had a bicycle pump with me. Nope. I didn’t have any way to put air in the tire. Lesson learned: Take some way to inflate a tire with you. So far, this is the only compelling reason I’ve seen to have a 12 volt car. I plan to install a 12 volt inverter in the near future. Hopefully, it will be able to power a portable compressor long enough to inflate a tire. Maybe someone will post to this thread if that is a bad idea.

- Start the tire change by confirming that you can actually get the spare tire removed from the car before bothering to take the flat off the car. (There just isn’t a lot of point in removing the flat if you cannot remove the spare.) This was a near miss for me. I didn’t have my normal toolset with me. Although I had the engine crank with the lug wrench built into its end, I had never tried to remove the spare with that particular tool. I could reach the top two spare lug nuts fine, but my luggage rack normally stays bolted in the upright position, and there was not enough clearance to use the crank lug wrench to remove the bottom nut that was only reachable through the luggage rack. I didn’t have the right size wrenches to loosen the luggage rack and fold it down out of the way. I also had a foldable X lug wrench in the car, but the X lug wrench could only reach the bottom spare lug nut at an angle and could not put much torque on the nut. Fortunately, the bottom lug nut on the spare was not super tight, and I managed to wiggle the spare loose while several onlookers stopped by to chat. (The chats didn’t help much. Oh, well…. That’s another story.) Lesson learned: Carry ALL the tools you will need to change a tire in the car with you. Make sure you can remove the spare with the tools you plan to have with you. Make sure you have the correct wrenches to loosen the luggage rack, if you have one.

- When I first purchased the car, I bought a nice looking scissors jack to keep in the car, but I never tested it because I didn’t want to scratch up the nice red paint on the new jack. It turns out that the foldable crank is a REAL pain to use on this particular jack. Lesson learned: Test the jack you plan to carry in the car.

- It would be handy to carry a torque wrench in the car. Keep torque values in your smart phone.

- You may want to carry some disposable vinyl gloves in the car to keep your hands reasonably clean.

- You may want to carry some Wet Wipes with you to clean your hands if you do not have disposable gloves.

- A few days ago, I threw an old rug in the car. It was handy to lie on while crawling under the car to position and crank the jack.

It was a beautiful day, to change a tire.

Happy motoring. [emoji4]

Does anyone care to share more lessons learned?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always keep these with my tool kit.
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Old 05-03-2022, 04:20 AM   #8
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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I always keep these with my tool kit.

I’ve never heard of those. Thanks for posting.


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Old 05-03-2022, 06:13 AM   #9
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

The combination crank and lug wrench does not apply enough torque. I carry a breaker bar and deep socket wrench. Most people can judge the torque fairly accurately. I also carry a hand pump used for bicycle tires, which is easy to use and fast. The antique Ford pumps are useless unless restored. I carry a 2X4 to put under the jack as my original jack does not lift high enough. I also carry tube patches and a new tube. I once got 7 flats on a trip in 1965 with my coupe before I discovered the nail embedded in my tire. I also carry paper towels and a painters suit to protect my clothes if I am wearing good clothes (rare).
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Old 05-03-2022, 06:38 AM   #10
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

Mostly good advice.

Torque wrench is unnecessary extra weight unless you need to pull a head or rear hub out on the road. Even then you can get home OK without it.

Balancing beads - not needed with bias ply tires, not sure about radials.
60,000+ miles in model As, never needed a tire balanced.

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Old 05-03-2022, 08:06 AM   #11
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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I’ve never heard of those. Thanks for posting.


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Old 05-03-2022, 09:37 AM   #12
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

I have a foot operated pump in my Model A. Your legs are more powerful than your arms when pumping air. You and others have made some good points that I think I will use in refitting my car to handle a flat.
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Old 05-03-2022, 04:25 PM   #13
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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I have a foot operated pump in my Model A. Your legs are more powerful than your arms when pumping air.
Very good point. I’ll look for one of those.


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Old 05-03-2022, 04:27 PM   #14
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris in WNC View Post
Balancing beads - not needed with bias ply tires, not sure about radials.
60,000+ miles in model As, never needed a tire balanced.

J.M.H.O.
I’m curious. How fast do you normally drive your A?
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Old 05-03-2022, 06:38 PM   #15
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

In addition to some great suggestions above We normally keep a small trolley jack and one of those X wheel braces with 4 different ends on it in all our cars. They are cheap and make changing tires on the side of the road much simplier and quicker.
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Old 05-03-2022, 07:13 PM   #16
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

[QUOTE=shew01;2126369] I thought I’d share some lessons learned in hopes of helping newcomers to the Model A hobby.

All good advise...and not just for "newcomers"

Knock on wood, I have yet to have a flat, but going to double check on my needed tools for that event, and charge up my compressor (I have a small portable compressor with it's own power source)
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Old 05-03-2022, 08:49 PM   #17
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

I bought a model t tire pump that mounts to your running board. I have not had to use it yet but I keep checking that it is in good working order.
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Old 05-03-2022, 09:08 PM   #18
Chris in WNC
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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I’m curious. How fast do you normally drive your A?
I usually drove 55-60 mph on the highway.
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Old 05-03-2022, 09:09 PM   #19
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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I’m curious. How fast do you normally drive your A?
I usually drove 50-60 mph on the highway depending on road conditions.....
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Old 05-04-2022, 10:09 AM   #20
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Default Re: Lessons Learned from My First Flat Tire

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I bought a model t tire pump that mounts to your running board. I have not had to use it yet but I keep checking that it is in good working order.
Can you provide us w/a picture of that pump?
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