Roadside Maintenance - Fixing a Flat

I use a 20 ton bottle jack for both the truck and the trailer.

 

I fix my own flats. I get the jack and lug wrench out and put the spare on.

 

Air Jack? and what about the wrench? do you have it hooked to your air tank? any recommendations on brands for the jack and wrench?

 

I plan on changing my own I carry a spare. Seen a neat trick to help seal the tire to the rim using starter fluid and a lighter one tire guy jacked the trailer up put the tire on the rim keep in mind it was an out side tire with out removing it and used the starter fluid to seal and the trailers self inflation air system to air the up the tire.

I've changed tires in the army when we had a flat out in the field and no mechanic avaliable so I am no stranger to changing tires. My brother got a pneumatic jack a 20 ton from harbor freight they used on the trucks in iraq and made a quick disconnect on an air hose that hooks to the glad hand.

Ill get one of those maybe an air gun or just a manual lug wrench and cheater pipe army style a couple of tire spoons some grease and a can of starter fluid and a bbq lighter and change it myself. But be prepared to put the flame out quick. Then ill air it up and get back out on the road.

 

Harbor Freight has a 20T jack with an air motor for about $80. If you like doing it the hard way, there's a cheaper one without air assist. lugwrench dot biz sells a gear reduction kit for $160 that works pretty well. I bought one and have used it. It's a decent quality kit for chinese tools. Bad news is when I verified the link, he's sold out at the moment.

 

I have air at home I use MANUAL tools on road

 

I have both a Snap On 3/4drive ratchet with 36" handle/4' cheater pipe and 1/2 18v impact with 1/2-3/4 adapter. I have a steer tire mounted on a rim that can be used for a drive till I get to my local tire dealer.

 

The carrier may get a refund for the case if the tire was recently capped....faulty case/sub-par process didn't catch the bad case/etc....and they won't get ANY money back if the case doesn't make its way back to the shop. Even a new virgin tire may have some sort of warranty attached to it from the tire distributor in an effort to entice a large fleet to get their tires through them. In other words, it all boils down to money.

That or the company just wants to see the bad tire to determine if the cause was a defective tire or a defective driver.

Could be a combination of the two, too.

 

Everytime I blew a tire I have to turn in the rings to get a replacement spare or they charge me for a spare