Another aspect of being prepared for Winter

[Tom Rankin]

After shoveling out my car this morning, it has a flat! So, I open the trunk and start getting out the donut. Well, the donut is frozen into the trunk! I managed to find a sturdy piece of metal and pry it out. Ok, now I'm all set, right? WRONG! The jack is frozen into 2 inches of water that collected under the donut! (Tim, does this sound familiar? ). So, at this point, I 'give up' and call AAA. They say they'll be there in 1 hour. Hmmm. So I go back to my apartment and Laurie says, how about trying an axe! Excellent idea, I LOVE this woman! Now, I'm running down the street carrying an axe! I get back to the car and chip the jack out of the ice. Well, now the @#&$ thing is rusted and frozen. No amount of hacking at it with an axe will fix it. So, again, Laurie to the rescue, she gets her jack, which works fine. She asks me where my lug wrench is, it seems I do not have one! By luck, hers was the same size as mine, and we use hers to get the flat off and put the donut on. At this point, AAA calls, so I cancel their services. Off to the tire store for a new tire.

The moral of the story: Check your spare tire. Lucky for me, I was very close to home and had someone to help me out. You might not be so lucky!

 

[Chip]

The moral of the story: Check your spare tire.

To heck with that, I'm calling Laurie !

 

[Rick]

To heck with that, I'm calling Laurie !

ROTFLMAO!!!!!

The bigger question is - How the heck did 2" of water get in your trunk (and stay there?????)

 

[Peakbagr]

Can you post or send us Laurie's cell#? I want to get it on my speed dialer for days like this.

 

[Jay H]

Ride a bike... shhhheesh.

Jay

 

[Tom Rankin]

The bigger question is - How the heck did 2" of water get in your trunk (and stay there?????)

I really don't know how it got there. If there was a leak from underneath, I would have expected it to drain out. Nothing else gets wet, so it's a little mystery.

Epilog: The tire was ok, it was just flat. The tire shop manager said it was fine, and there was no charge (I'm a repeat customer)!

As for the rest of you guys:

Keep your hands off my woman!

 

[Rick]

Never mind your woman, I Hear Pete's eyeing up your Axe!!!!!!

 

[yonkers]

did something freeze and burst in your trunk?

 

[Lawn Sale]

It's common for cars with a trunk to have the weather seals go, so they will accumulate water over a period of time.

My spare tire is on the back of the Trooper, or inside on the van, just because it gets all rusted up underneath. I have the spare (or two on the van), a tire patch kit, and an octopus for filling a tire from another one. But, with all my preparedness, I never thought to carry an axe, thanks!

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Do not forget to carry enough supplies, including warm clothes, blankets, etc., in case of a breakdown. My wife's car's alternator died stranding the family on the Moosilauke Highway several weeks ago. It was very cold waiting for AAA for 3.5 hours At least she and the kids got adopted by a nice family and waited inside.

The following weekend, I got stuck in the traffic snafu in Concord/Bow/Rt. 89 on my way skiing. Sat still for almost 2 hours. I had heat that time...

This especially applies to those of us who go where many do not in winter...


Tim

 

[alpinista]

My spare tire is on the back of the Trooper, or inside on the van

My spare tire is my belly. Maybe it's too many of those donuts TomRankin was talking about!

Tom _ glad to see it was a woman who was able to come to your rescue! You can never count on AAA!

 

[MichaelJ]

With the Outback I don't get water in the spare tire well (at least, I'd better not!) but the extra tool I carry is an air pump. Plugs into the cigarette lighter and works very well. It has made the difference for me on at least one occasion when everything else worked fine but the spare was flat.

It also makes it easier to keep the tires well-inflated, since it's so easy to use. Underinflated tires wear out sooner and eat gas mileage.

 

[Jay H]

I have one of those 12v compressors, has a light on one side and the compressor on the other. I actually use it on occasion to inflate the tires on my Outback. Takes forever but does work. The '05+ outbacks have a stupid donut instead of a full size spare. but yeah, if there's water in there, there is some serious leakage going on...

Jay

 

[teejay]

Condensation

Tom,

The water in the spare tire well is more than likely from condensation, not leakage. Heated, moist inside air reaches the trunk and the tire well isn't ventilated so water just condenses on the cold metal. Some cars are more prone to this than others. This also happens in your trunk, but, since you open and close it a lot, it gets aired out regularly.

A lot of cars will have a rubber plug in the bottom of the tire well that was put in by the manufacturer. Just tell your tire shop every time you have your tires rotated to also check the spare and to make sure to drain the tire well. If there's no plug, you could also put one in yourself.

I had a similar problem many years ago with one of my cars. In another case, I was forced to make some holes in the bottom of the tire well but that was to drain out a few gallons of beer that had collected there after a tapped keg opened up while rolling around in the trunk.

teejay

 

[beverly]

Epilog: The tire was ok, it was just flat. The tire shop manager said it was fine, and there was no charge (I'm a repeat customer)!

My tire rims are old and rusting. Once and a while they lose their seal - like last week. That's why I carry a bike pump around with me. It's saved me a couple of times.

 

[Rick]

My tire rims are old and rusting. Once and a while they lose their seal - like last week. That's why I carry a bike pump around with me. It's saved me a couple of times.

Add some tire slime (Green suff at auto shops) to each tire and drive around for 20 minutes. Will take care of those slow leaks. Works Great on my big Kubota tires.