Several years back, during a minivan comparison test, the editorial staff of Edmunds.com was given a harsh reminder of the import of tire changing skills; specifically, spare tire changing skills. While traveling through the normally placid Malibu Canyon, almost within sight of the Pacific Ocean, our Dodge Grand Caravan was pummeled by a basketball-sized rock that seemed hurled by God Himself. Striking the moving vehicle's front passenger wheel with pinpoint accuracy, the small boulder managed to fling the hubcap, bend the rim, and shred the tire's sidewall in a single impact. After deciding that a similar impact with a side window or lower body panel would have been truly destructive (and dangerous), we consoled ourselves with the knowledge that "only the wheel was damaged." All we had to do was get the spare tire on and we'd be back in the game, right?
As we soon learned, our "lucky" break wasn't so lucky at all. First, the assault had occurred during one of the worst storms in recent Southern California memory. This meant pouring rain, strong winds, and mud-soaked earth lining each side of the canyon road. Add to this the Grand Caravan's spare tire location (under the vehicle!) and you have the makings of Flat Tire Hell. Since there was no owner's manual in the Dodge, we weren't sure how to get the spare out from under the van. Finally, we realized that even if we got the tire out and the jack set up, the muddy ground on which the Grand Caravan was parked would never support the van's weight. After struggling with these issues (and getting completely soaked) for close to an hour, the decision was made: call a tow truck. It took less than a mile to find a paved shoulder where the jack would work properly and the tow truck driver showed us the procedure for removing the spare tire. Fifteen minutes later the spare was mounted and we were back inside the minivans, testing out the heater capacities and seeing if they could double as mobile clothes dryers.
There are several lessons in this story, but the most important one revolves around knowing your vehicle's spare tire system. If the first time you ever thought about your vehicle's spare tire location was a few minutes ago when you read this column's title, you could find yourself in Flat Tire Hell as well. Our possession of cell phones, a local tow truck company, and the fact that we were traveling in a group kept this minor annoyance (OK, major annoyance with the rain) from being a full-fledged disaster. This same vehicle, traveling alone in a remote location and out of cell phone range, would have been in serious trouble. As a result, this How To...will cover a few basic rules of flat tire preparation.