Check your tires. Yes, you.

[Chromatix]

In a car, the rear tyres will keep you in line if the front tyres lose grip, the reverse isn't true unless you're very quick at applying an appropriate steering correction - and if you're not a racing or rally driver (or hold a Finnish licence), you probably won't be quick enough.

However the front tyres will wear out more quickly in most cars because they're doing more active work - steering, power and most of the braking. A good plan is therefore to put new tyres on the back and move the old rear tyres to the front. This gets the most life out of each pair. You should still replace the front tyres before they get to the legal minimum.

On a bike, the opposite is true - the front tyre needs to keep grip in order for the bike to remain upright. The rear wheel is much less critical, because although it will slide out when locked (just like in a car), it will just trail back into line when you release the rear brake. So on a bike, keep your front tyre in the best condition.

Fortunately, bicycle tyres don't wear out very quickly - most good ones will last for many years uness you abuse them - so it's worth getting good ones which are usually also more puncture-resistant.

[Bandit]

Chromatix is right.

It's easier and safer for most people to deal with understeer (when the front tires loose grip) because all you have to do it lift off the gas. If the rear tires break loose (oversteer), the odds are you will spin out.

I found that one out after I had a flat on a front tire and the other side was pretty worn, so I bought two new tires and had them installed on the front.

A few days later, there had been a short rain shower and the roads were a little damp. The sun was out, and the roads looked dry and when I took a corner where I had to brake.

It was a real moment when the back end of the car tried to change ends with the front because the front got the grip, and the back didn't. I didn't wreck as I know how to handle a slide, but it did raise the heartbeat a few dozen notches.

B

[Geek King]

Rolled the spare around to the where it needed to be, & discovered that there wasn't a hope in hell that I'd be able to lift it, let alone manipulate it onto the axle. Mobile phone out, cue call to stepdad...

Sometimes being 4 foot 10.5 inches & rather weedy sucks...

You should have been able to crank the car down a bit so the bolts were in line with the wheel on the ground. No need to lift the car as high as the jack will go unless you need to work on the underbody. Just take it high enough that the tyre isn't being pressed into the ground by the weight of the car.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

no problem, once I realised that standing on the wrench gave it enough oomph to unlock the nuts

In my experience, women know to do this instinctively and men have to learn it. All the chicks I know stand (and sometimes bounce a little) on the wrench to loosten the lugs.

Men don't seem to think to do this. I think because they have enough upper body stregnth that they can usually undo them without utilizing this trick. I've seen men sweat and grunt and curse a lug, only to have me step on the wrench and undo it without even getting my hands dirty.

[greek_jester]

I'm 5'3" and I can lift a tire. What happens when your phone is dead and no one is around to help you?

I actually have 2 phones. I never got rid of my old pay-as-you-go, 'cos it's got some good games on it. Every so often I'll use it to keep the sim active, as mobile coverage is bad in our area so having 2 different phones on 2 different networks means that I am rarely in a dead-zone.

And what will I do? If I'm in town, I'll knock on doors until someone lets me pay them to use their phone, & if I'm commuting between the towns where I work & live, I'll walk the 2-3 miles to the village half-way between where my aunt lives & beg her for use of her phone/a cup of tea/sympathy.

Anywhere else usually involves me being with my sister (since I usually take public transport when it's just me), which means there's yet another phone in the car.

So far, I've been really lucky *knocks on wood*

You should have been able to crank the car down a bit so the bolts were in line with the wheel on the ground. No need to lift the car as high as the jack will go unless you need to work on the underbody. Just take it high enough that the tyre isn't being pressed into the ground by the weight of the car.

I tried fiddling it up & down. Unfortunately, getting it low enough for me to slide it on meant getting it low enough that the tyre would be pressed into the road. I genuinely couldn't lift the thing more than a few millimetres long enough to finess it onto the bolts. After 15 minutes of trying (& swearing) I gave up & decided to call my stepdad.

[Der Cute]

I will agree with the OP.

My honey was coming to visit me one day. Driving in a beater car, coming down a circular off ramp, took it too fast (cold wet weather) and fishtailed A LOT and barely kept the car on the pavement.
He said the adrenaline rush was scary and he had had 3 ciggys before he got to my place.

I then looked @ the tires on his car and scolded him immensely for the quality/condition. We then went to a Tire Place in the next few days. I had to explain which tires did what for his car, and he paid for 4 new tires. He was AMAZED at the difference. We also found out later that the tires he had been driving on were ORIGINALS from factory, and that they were over 10 years old at the time of fishtailing.

I about strangled him.

Skills to have with car: oil check, windshield fluid check & fill, tire change, jumper start and How To Flag For Help.

[Shalom]

In my experience, women know to do this instinctively and men have to learn it. All the chicks I know stand (and sometimes bounce a little) on the wrench to loosten the lugs.

Men don't seem to think to do this. I think because they have enough upper body stregnth that they can usually undo them without utilizing this trick. I've seen men sweat and grunt and curse a lug, only to have me step on the wrench and undo it without even getting my hands dirty.

The old bumper jacks, like the one that came with my father's old '76 Impala, had a hollow core, and the old lug wrenches had one end that was flat (for prying off hubcaps). I've encountered lugnuts that were so tight, because the gorilla at the last tire-change place thought that more was always better and therefore set his impact wrench for the highest torque it could deliver, that even standing on the end of the wrench (which would yield something over 200 lb-ft of torque, given my body weight and the length of the arm on the wrench) wasn't enough to bust it loose, and the AAA guy was making noises about having to tow it to the station to get the wheel off. I took the car off the jack, slid the core over the arm (thereby giving me a 4-foot "cheater"), and stood on that. Got those nuts loose without any further problems...

I couldn't do that today, though, unless I started carrying a length of iron pipe in the car. My current vehicle has a scissors-jack that goes under the frame, in a specific place (and if you put it in the wrong place, you will raise up the car just far enough to get the flat off, but not high enough to get the spare on. I found this out the hard way one morning at 3:00).

[protege]

I nearly always have to stand on the lug wrench with the MG. Not sure why...perhaps it's because of the heat from the brakes? But, the nuts always come off.

One thing I don't do with that car...is to use the original-style jack. It's a vertical-style jack, with a peg that fits into a tube underneath the car. Problem is, that although it works, it's a bit dangerous. It's not unheard of for the jack to slip, or (if the car isn't 100% solid) for the tube to *collapse* under the car's weight...leaving a huge gash up the side of the car Mine's no wreck by any means, but I'm not about to take a chance. Instead, I use a trolley jack from Sears. Fitted under the front cross-member, or rear axle 'pumpkin,' it's much safer.

I should mention too that you should *never* lift a car by putting the jack under the oil pan. Doing so could either puncture the pan, or possibly damage your engine mounts, simply because those items aren't designed to withstand the stress.

[Shalom]

I should mention too that you should *never* lift a car by putting the jack under the oil pan. Doing so could either puncture the pan, or possibly damage your engine mounts, simply because those items aren't designed to withstand the stress.

Unless you're replacing the motor mounts; then the only way to get the weight off them is either to jack under the oil pan, assuming it's not made of aluminum, or to use a hoist from above.

99 Chevy Blazer. Needs new motor mounts. Oil pan is aluminum, hoist not available. What do you do? Well, GM was nice enough to cast jacking points into the bottom of the block. One of which is conveniently located above and behind the starter.

[XCashier]

We also found out later that the tires he had been driving on were ORIGINALS from factory, and that they were over 10 years old at the time of fishtailing.

The HELL?! Ten year old tires, and he wonders why he was fishtailing?! That just...guh. I'm no car expert, but even I know that you have to make sure your tires are in good condition with respectable tread. Same reason you don't wear bedroom slippers to go mountain climbing.

Skills to have with car: oil check, windshield fluid check & fill, tire change, jumper start and How To Flag For Help.

QFT. Really, it's just basic common sense.

Reminds me, I need to go to the auto parts store and see how much a decent jack would cost. The flimsy jack that came with the car, I wouldn't trust to lift a Hot Wheels! (Why did they even bother to put that thing in? Yeah yeah, cost effective, but I'd rather they left the jack out altogether than put in one that'll collapse in the middle of changing the tire!)

[Mikkel]

The flimsy jack that came with the car, I wouldn't trust to lift a Hot Wheels!

That reminds me of the first time I had a puncture in my old Toyota Hiace. The jack in the car was a nice, hydraulic jack, fine for the job. Except, it was too tall to get under the jacking point on the axle when there were no air in the tyre . I'm quite sure it was the jack that came with the car, it fitted precisely in the room for it under the doorstep.

[blas]

Let's not talk about tires. I've gone from having a Neon where I could get tires for $20 a piece, even used tires for my G6 are going to be at least $50 or more a piece.

FML.