An old memory that still haunts me goes back to 1961. I had a Harley and a buddy of mine had a car and for one day we traded.
I was enjoying a nice ride in the country, when the left-rear tire went flat. CRAP!!!
The old rusty bumper jack would not lift the car high enough to get the tire off and Oooops, there was a cross-type lug wrench and when I stomped on the cross bar, to break a lug nut loose, the cross bar came off and went sailing high in the air.
So I was left with NO lug wrench. I had to walk about a mile to a farm house where I was able to borrow a lug wrench.
Since I couldn't get the car up high enough to properly change the tire, I had to dig out the dirt under the tire to make room for the spare. Thank goodness, it actually had air in it.
So whenever the subject of tire changing comes up, I get a Flash Back to that day, so many years ago now, and I've vowed to never get in a fix like that again.
On my last two cars, over seven+ years of driving I've not had one flat tire. (knocking on wood), but on my 2000 Grand Vitara, I had a flat about once a month. I became very adept at changing those big Goodyear Eagles, on Chrome rims.
The spare was bolted to a rack on the back of the car. I got to where I could change a tire in ten minutes flat and in most cases, it was raining when I'd get a flat.
Even though I've not had a flat tire on my own car, I have stopped to help two other drivers who had a flat and their little scissor jack had broken and jammed under the car. With my 2-ton floor jack and my breaker bar, I had the car up and the tire changed in no time at all. I rejected any payment for my effort, but I did get them both to promise me that they would go to a local Auto Parts store and get a small floor jack, and a better lug wrench.
I shudder every time I see this Subaru commercial on TV, where a dad is teaching his daughter how to change a tire.
It's a new car, so the lug nuts probably come off fairly easy, but the little gal is struggling with that little Mickey Mouse lug wrench that came with the car, pulling on it, jumping on it, etc. There's hardly any mechanical advantage at all with a little 12" long lug wrench.
Give that same girl, a 24" breaker bar or Torque Wrench and a deep-well socket and she'd have no trouble at all removing the lug nuts and getting them back on tight enough too.
On the Kia Soul, with 15" wheels, the torque spec on the lug nuts is around 65 ft/lbs.
When I first got my Soul, the lug nuts were not torqued to spec. They were all over the place.
That's one of the first things I'd check, on any new car. Having a wheel fall off, can really ruin your day. Eh?
Cheers Mates!