Tire Changing Tools

Yesterday I had to change a flat tire for the first time in about 20 years.

The last time I had to change a flat was on my 2000 Ford E-150 work van, back in late 2003/early 2004. That sucked.

At about 4:00 PM, my daughter called and told me that she'd hit a curb and that she had a flat. She was down near her college and it took me about 45 minutes to get there.

When I arrived I saw that it was her right front tire and the rim was pretty banged up. I was able to change it using the OEM tire iron and jack from her 2013 Toyota Corolla. The lug nuts were pretty tight so they took a good bit of effort using the tire iron.

I do keep a 4-way lug nut wrench in my Xterra which would have provided more leverage but I didn't need it.

However, the experience got me to thinking that keeping a breaker bar in my truck along with the correct size deep sockets would be a good idea.

So later on today I plan to go over to Harbor Freight and pick up:

• A 25" long breaker bar, and
• A set of lug nut impact sockets.

The long breaker bar will give me a lot more leverage if needed to remove lug nuts while the socket set should cover any vehicle I need to use it on.

Sort of like having an umbrella with me, I figure having them will also prevent me from needing them frequently. 

Afterwards, I told her that if this happens again to call AAA and see how long the wait will be. That said, it's always good when a dad can rescue his little girl.

(As for why she couldn't change it herself, she's on the small side and there's no way she would have been able to get those lug nuts off the studs.)