Spare Tire Jacks - Recommendations Please

[UGLY OLDS]

I agree with Frank...AAA card..Don't leave home without it.... Second choice is a small floor jack....Experiment BEFORE leaving home...Get some folks together at your garage with "different" favorites...Change a tire ( front AND rear)  on the car at home using ONLY whats in your trunk...You'll be amazed at what you CAN'T do..( Remember..The car's a lot lower with a flat tire..) ...Better to be "surprised " at home than "on the shoulder" ...... :cry:  :cry:  I have seen pro-street cars on the highway that the rear tires could NOT be removed from without dis-assembling the rear suspension..   ..PLAN AHEAD    

OHHHHH Great, now you have scared the POOP out of me!

I just need to sell this * thing and get on with life!

It ain't that bad :!:  :!:  All I'm saying is if you "pratice" changing the tire in the safety of your garage, you will know what to do & what to use IF you get a flat on the road....My statement about the Pro-street cars I've seen only relates to how "unprepared" some folks are before they travel... Get a small floor jack like Frank advised ..( Wal-Mart..Etc..) , but try it before you hit the road...Sorry if I startled you.... :oops:

[UGLY OLDS]

The best thing is still a cell phone & a AAA card...Works every time.....

[Dave]

I made a fancy plate to use with an old sissors spelling jack that i took out a car i was junking. Ive never had a flat but im sure it will work good enuff but i dont have a spare either..
Dave

[alchevy]

Ugly Olds made some very good points. Practice at home before you leave makes sense. I only got one thing from being a boy scout and that was "be prepared". So I take way more tools than what I need with me in my street rod. The guys I travel with tell me that I have everything but the kitchen sink. That's in tools and digital camera and camcorder and laptop computer and... That must be why I drive a big sedan. Last time we went to Louisville, afterwards one of my friends was talking about how much gear I travel with and then he said that he was gratefull when he had to use a tool or something that I had with me. I like the look of the molded-in fenders, but like Ugly Olds was talking about the guy that had to remove his suspension to change a tire, some folks may have to take a fender off to remove a tire.

I carry a spare tire, a small floor jack, two jack stands, and a card from Hagerty Insurance that will get me a tow if I need one.

I have gone through my tools in the trunk and have left some things at home. The number 1 item that has been with me and that has helped more folks has been fuel line and clamps to use when folks have a fuel leak near their carb.
AL

[1FATGMC]

I carry a BOTTLE OF JACK and a CELL PHONE..........  Have small tires in the front and big meets on the rear.....##### have no room for 2 spares anyway.................works for me (so far).....

I carry an older 75 series tire as a spare.  It is narrow enough to use in the front and tall enough to use in the back if needed.  So far I've never used it.  I also run tires on the teardrop that are the same size as the front tires on the truck.  My spare is too tall for the teardrop fenders, but I could put it on the front of the truck and put that tire on the teardrop.

I've only had one flat and that was coming back from b'ville a few years ago by myself.  I stopped in Eureka, UT for gas (in the middle of nowhere) and as I was filling up a boy on a bike said "do you know your front tire is going flat".  A guy at the store/station said there is a guy that works our of his house that can probably fix it.  I filled it with the air compressor I carry and follow the guy to to "fixers" house.  He had me on the road in 30 minutes.  If this would have happened in Salt Lake City it would have probably taken a couple hours minimum.

c ya,

Sum

[OldSub]

The best way is a AAA card.

That was my first thought too, but last year I had a problem on I-70 near the Colorado Utah border.  I ended up standing on the edge of the bed of my pickup to get high enough the cell phone would connect.  It took about five lost calls before I got through to AAA to get some help.

I was carrying both a big bottle jack and a hi-lift in addition to the factory scissor jack.  Unfortunately those didn't help.  

I ran into a head wind that reduced my usual 8 mpg to about 3 and I ran out of gas miles short of the next station.  1-ton truck, 18 foot trailer, three jacks, lots of tools and no extra gas...

When I had AAA collect my broken 'vette making the call was easy.  I made it from home.  The problem was a tow truck driver that didn't know how to load a real low car.  If there is a next time I may let the car sit until I can deal with it myself.

I don't plan to give up my AAA card, but I'll want something else as a first option.

[1FATGMC]

That was my first thought too, but last year I had a problem on I-70 near the Colorado Utah border.  I ended up standing on the edge of the bed of my pickup to get high enough the cell phone would connect.  It took about five lost calls before I got through to AAA to get some help............

The next time point the cell phone my way.  I was only about 2 hours south of you.

I ran into a head wind that reduced my usual 8 mpg to about 3 and I ran out of gas miles short of the next station.  1-ton truck, 18 foot trailer, three jacks, lots of tools and no extra gas...

Yep, around here you need to keep the tank as full as possible,

Sum

[OldSub]

The next time point the cell phone my way.  I was only about 2 hours south of you.

Thanks, I'll remember that next time.  

I was a few miles short of Green River that time and might ask someone to come 10 or 20 miles to rescue me, but 100+ seems like abuse!

[UGLY OLDS]

I've never had to use AAA for my Olds..( Thank goodness!!) My Kid has used them a few times for his car...( '37 Dodge) ..Once when he "re-aligned" the front sheet metal & another time when he locked up an axle bearing.. Strange thing...left my house heading home to Southern Il, stopped for fuel about 165 miles from here...Filled up the tank..Moved the car 20' & the R/R wheel locked solid...Called AAA & advised them who--what--where -etc & reminded them this was a special antique car....The driver showed up with a rollback & enough planks , boards, blocks & whatever and had no problem what so ever loading the car...AAA reminded me that our coverage was only good for 150 miles of towing..I advised them I would gladly pay the extra charges...They dropped off car & kid at my house 4 hours later..I handed the driver $15.00 cash for the "extra mileage" & a twenty for being so thoughtful....He was smiling from "door to door" when he left....

[1FATGMC]

The next time point the cell phone my way.  I was only about 2 hours south of you.

...............100+ seems like abuse!

Around here that is nothing.  I have to go that far to get to a Wal-Mart and it is about 100 miles even from my place to where you were and a pretty drive for a lot of it.

c ya,

Sum

[brti]

The screw jacks out of any newer chev pickup are great. Low, longer handle and available at your local auto wrecker. cheap, cheap, cheap.

[Leon]

A few years back my wife and her mother were on their way back from Laughlin and had a blowout.  She tried calling me ( I left an hour earlier to beat the heat) but I couldn't hear the ringer since I was driving the convertible.  She was finally able to get through to AAA and they told her it was going to be a couple hours since they were in the desert midway between Barstow and Needles.  Finally a couple other hot rodders stopped and helped them change the tire.  The jack wouldn't pick the car up with a flat, but worked great if the tire was up.  The problem they then had was lug nuts.  I put mag style wheels on the car and forgot to put some acorn type nuts in the trunk for the spare.  A perfect example of why you should try things at home before heading out!

[alchevy]

I guess you might want to let most of the air out of a tire while trying it at home to get the full effect from what I have been reading here.
AL

[1FATGMC]

I guess you might want to let most of the air out of a tire while trying it at home to get the full effect from what I have been reading here.
AL

Yep and go out and do it on some dirt/gravel like along side the road and then tape the sound of some semis going by at 75 6 feet away and play that back while you practice along with a huge fan to simulate the wind off the semis rocking you and the car back and forth           ,

Sum

[OldSub]

I guess you might want to let most of the air out of a tire while trying it at home to get the full effect from what I have been reading here.
AL

Hey while they last I have a variety of practice tires available.  Flat and flatter, guaranteed to have no air pressure inside.  

You pick.  Free to a good home as long as you pick them up at mine.  For a limited time each comes with a hot coffee or cold beer depending on time of day!