Change tyre yourself, or get Roadside Assist to do it?

[Spyda]

So how do you dump the flat back in the boot and not get covered in crap while still using good manual handling practice?

What? You pick it up with your hands using rags or gloves and place it in the boot......

[Treza360]

Just a few tips for those undoing wheel bolts/nuts:

Loosen them whilst the car is still on the ground. That way you alleviate the risk of being to forceful on them whilst the car is jacked up and knocking the car off the jack.

If the bolts/nuts are done up too tight your foot is your friend. Set the wrench at an angle parallel with the road/driveway/flat hard surface you're changing your wheel on and stand on the wrench and apply downward pressure. Unless you're a small child your body mass should be enough to loosen the nut bolt.

For both of the tips above ensure that you have the jack basically sitting snug on the jacking point in case you forget that the car is still on the ground and remove all the bolts/nuts.

If it will fit put your spare wheel underneath the car so if it does fall off the jack it falls onto the tyre instead of onto the ground. This may still cause damage but it will be better than the damage that will be caused by your car underside and/or brakes and wheel hub hitting the ground. When you pull the flat wheel off pull the spare out and swap with the flat tyre.

If you are an RACQ or other equivalent Australian State member than their basic roadside assist should cover callouts to change a tyre if you are unable to (RACQ is a definite). They also should have basic car maintenance courses which are relatively cheap or free which show you how to do things like how to check and top up fluids, check and change tyres and other basic car maintenance (RACQ is a definite). If you haven't ever been shown or don't know how to do these then I would highly recommend it. Basic membership is only around $70 a year. One of the best things you can do if you're a motorist. If you don't have it go online and join now!

Cheers,
Trent



What are you still reading for go and join!

[Treza360]

So how do you dump the flat back in the boot and not get covered in crap while still using good manual handling practice?

If you have an Audi toolkit you use the plastic sheet they supply for that very reason (put flat in centre of plastic and pick it up by grabbing all four corners of the plastic).

If you don't have the toolkit, tomorrow you go down to Bunnings (they're open until 9pm on weekdays) and buy a plastic sheet. I would say for probably one-two square meters they'll charge you around $5.

Note I don't have a problem with Roadside assist. See my post above about RACQ or equivalent and my views on membership being pretty much compulsory.

Cheers,
Trent

[Blitzen]

Just to clarify, I am a mechanic by trade, but I changed my first tyre when I was 7 when mum got a flat.
But, you can still do this without getting dirty, or being forceful...Its all about mechanical advantage, ie, the length of bar you are using and how much pressure you apply. Standing on the bar is another easy way to get the nuts undone.

Anyway, back in January I was on my way to my fist night at my second job as a barman. I destroyed a tyre in an unseen pot hole in the bucketing rain (NQ Wet Season). Changed the tyre in the wet, not a mark on my white pants or shirt, and got to work just in time...All up to change the tyre, 10min. You would wait up to an hour just for roadside assist.

I can understand some situations(invalided, pregnant, disabled, aged), but if you can do it yourself, why not??

[brad]

What? You pick it up with your hands using rags or gloves and place it in the boot......

Too many potential injury issues if you hold a 14-20kg tyre/wheel assembly away from the body and trying to get it into the boot. Maybe your very strong but most people would have trouble trying to hold a wheel away from the body and get it over the boot lip, etc. Even when held against the body, we tell our guys to just dump the wheel rather than trying to place it into the wheel well as the risk of back injury is too high.

[Spyda]

Too many potential injury issues if you hold a 14-20kg tyre/wheel assembly away from the body and trying to get it into the boot. Maybe your very strong but most people would have trouble trying to hold a wheel away from the body and get it over the boot lip, etc. Even when held against the body, we tell our guys to just dump the wheel rather than trying to place it into the wheel well as the risk of back injury is too high.

14-20kg holds potential injury issues does it? I think its time to harden up a bit and leave the tofu in the bin. No one is asking you to lift it over your head and run around the car a couple of times.
If you ask MOST people to do it they wont have trouble with it. Roll the wheel to the boot, bend your knees and lift it on to the boot lip. Most cars i have seen have some sort of protection on the boot lip so that you can rest the spare on it and slide it in the boot, if it doesnt...then use a rag. Geting it out is the same deal.

Like i said, if my tinny 55kg girlfriend can pic up a 14-20kg wheel by her self and get it in and out of the boot without geting dirty than anyone can.

Appart from the invalided, pregnant, disabled, aged LOL @ not changing your tyre yourself.

[Mrk_Mickey]

Thanks for the input lads, we have all made our points..

Has the OP had any progress with the issue?

[brad]

14-20kg holds potential injury issues does it? I think its time to harden up a bit and leave the tofu in the bin. No one is asking you to lift it over your head and run around the car a couple of times.
If you ask MOST people to do it they wont have trouble with it. Roll the wheel to the boot, bend your knees and lift it on to the boot lip. Most cars i have seen have some sort of protection on the boot lip so that you can rest the spare on it and slide it in the boot, if it doesnt...then use a rag. Geting it out is the same deal.

Like i said, if my tinny 55kg girlfriend can pic up a 14-20kg wheel by her self and get it in and out of the boot without geting dirty than anyone can.

Appart from the invalided, pregnant, disabled, aged LOL @ not changing your tyre yourself.

No worries. My 8 years of working in the retail tyre industry & the past 8 years working in industrial OHS, machine ergonomics & risk assesment probably count for nothing in this case.

It's not a case of "can't" - it's "best not to".

Keep up the good work. Tell your GF to lay off the steroids.

[Blitzen]

No worries. My 8 years of working in the retail tyre industry & the past 8 years working in industrial OHS, machine ergonomics & risk assesment probably count for nothing in this case.

It's not a case of "can't" - it's "best not to".

Keep up the good work. Tell your GF to lay off the steroids.

Thats what compo is for...

Spyda dose have a point though. So going by the above logic, should the roadside assist guy really be changing the tyre as well??

Yes, changing a tyre is a small amount of manual labour, but it is something that most people can do by themselves. Its not like we are changing a tyre and tube out of a Kenworth's 3 piece split rim...And even that isn't really that hard to do by yourself with a manual bead breaker...

[madglf3]

I don't know about all of this, some places it's definitely not safe to pull over let alone change a wheel. I don't think you are supposed to stop and change it on the side of a highway either. I wouldn't have a problem changing a wheel but I can recognise that there are many places that aren't safe to do so.