it's never a good situation when you're out on the road and you have a flat tire. you have to pull
over somehow and put on your spare. but there are some things you can do and some preparations you
can make to make that whole process safer and go faster. but why did we decide to make this video
in the first place Donna? because it happened to us. yeah and we were driving home from Nashville
a couple months ago. and it was not fun. we were on the interstate. we ran over something and we
heard a thump. and then I yelled, what was that? and you said I don't know. I didn't see anything.
we kept driving okay for a bit. you started to go, uh oh. and I was like what is what is uh-oh while
you're driving mean? nothing good. the warning light on the dashboard came on for tire pressure.
said low tire pressure. and then it came up low pressure right rear tire. and it said like eight
pounds of pressure. that's really low. and at this point you were like driving slower, and I was like
what is going on. so then you put your flashers on the minute you started doing that. because It All
Happened Really Fast. then I just concentrated on getting off the road. so I checked my mirrors. the
rear view mirror. the side mirrors. saw there was an opening and I got over to the right shoulder
as quickly and as safely as I could. so it could have been a lot worse. yeah well we had to deal
with was. we were beside a busy Interstate, cars going fast, sun was going down, it was a
dusk. and we had to make sure we had everything we needed to change the tire and stay safe. anyway we
learned a lot from that experience. we found out we were prepared in some ways and not prepared in
others. so it helped us and through helping us now hopefully we can help you. we want to help
you guys because I felt like it was almost like we needed to share it with you guys ,so that you
don't fall victim for like an accident only after just having just a flat. because those things like
other drivers you have no control over. we'll show you some of the things we used that made it safer
for us. and even Donna was involved in making that safer for us and for me changing the tire.
there was some things though in his tire changing emergency kit, well I guess it was
like a like emergency roadside kit that you had that really came in handy. like the flashers,
that was like immediate that he thought of. or if you had orange cones to put out to kind of
warn people ahead of time. if you have a flat tire at night you need some way to make other vehicles
see you. for that you can get some regular road flares that you strike and light, and they burn
for 15 or 30 minutes, or however long they're rated. I have some of those. you can also get
Flashing LED electronic road flares. these are either battery operated or they're rechargeable.
reflective triangles are good because when other drivers pass, their headlights will make these
triangles show up very brightly. I just happened to be wearing an orange T-shirt that day. which
is weird, because like all of the road personnel that you see in construction sites, they always
have either an orange vest or an orange T-shirt on. and so orange is like the color of I guess to
make people recognize or someones right here don't hit them. so I was thankful that I wore that shirt
that day. and then um oh the other thing was I had my walking stick with me. so I was kind of trying
to attract attention to get people to move into the next lane so they just wouldn't be so close to
the car. but because she was standing there moving her stick around and kind of going like that,
people saw that and noticed that a little ways ahead. so I think that helped. and for your own
safety while you're out by the side of the road changing a tire, you should get a reflective
vest of some kind. the one I have cost about $16 at Walmart. if you have a flat tire during the
daytime you also need something to alert other drivers to the fact that you're stopped by the
side of the road and not moving. for that you can use orange safety cones. you can also use
the triangle reflectors. you also want to wear the safety vest. and be sure you get one that is
a bright color that's very visible in the daytime and is also reflective for nighttime use. let's
say my car here is on the right shoulder of a 2 two-lane Interstate with both lanes going in the
same direction. when you're placing your flares, triangles, or cones along the side of the road,
you want to spread them out so that they give approaching drivers an early warning that you're
stopped up ahead. it's good to use three markers of some kind placed at 10 feet,100 feet, and 200
feet behind your vehicle. that roughly relates to 8, 80, and 160 walking steps behind where you're
parked. I have three cones, so I'm going to place my first marker 10 feet (eight steps) behind my
car and even with the side of it that is next to the roadway which is on the left. I keep counting
my steps and place the next cone about 100 feet (80 steps) back and line it up with the middle
of my vehicle. and I walk 80 more steps to place the last cone about 200 feet back and also line
it up with the middle of my car. this forms an angled visual indicator that lets drivers know
they need to keep to the left to avoid my vehicle. if you don't have three markers use whatever you
have by placing them spaced out behind you to warn oncoming drivers that you're stopped. and
the distances don't have to be exact. placing any safety markers somewhere behind your vehicle will
only help. I have some wheel chocks, they're also known as wheel blocks. get at least get
two. and place one in front and one in back of the tire that's on the opposite axle and is diagonal
from the flat tire. but if you're stopped on an incline, place one block on the downward side of
both tires that are on the axle opposite the flat tire. but it just so happened, just my luck, that
where we pulled over right by the tire the right rear tire that was flat, there was a big nest of
fire ants. and as soon as I knelt down to check the tire and look to where to place the jack,
I was getting bi.t oh my gosh, I bet there was like at least 30 to 40 ants on his back that
I was brushing off of his back so they wouldn't keep biting him. I had bites on my legs and arms
and my neck. so it made me work a little faster I think. that had never happened to us when changing
a tire. I've never heard of that happening to anybody either but I'm sure it has. but I wished
I'd had a mat at that point to put down that would have kept the bugs off and it would have protected
my knees. I keep a mat and a rug in my trunk also. these are for kneeling on when changing
a tire. because often when you pull over to the side of the road to change your tire, it's dirty,
it's rocky, it could be muddy, it could be wet. and a mat or a rug can make changing a tire a lot
more comfortable and it can make it easier on your knees. normally I would use the small throw rug to
kneel down on, but if it's raining or snowing I would use the mat instead. you want a flashlight
light in case you do have a flat at night time, preferably get one that can be stood up
and pointed at your work area or one like I have that has a magnetic base and you can attach that
to the side of your vehicle and point it to where you're working. I make sure I have spare batteries
for the flashlight & for my battery operated electronic flares. and I keep those batteries
sealed in a Ziploc bag. I keep a rain poncho with me in case I have to change a tire in the rain. I
have a couple of pairs of gloves because the flat tire you're going to be taking off your vehicle
is going to be dirty. gloves with grippers on the palms and fingers can also give you more grip when
loosening and tightening lug nuts. I also bring a can of Fix-A-Flat as a last resort. fix-a-flat can
help seal a small leak or a hole and add air to the tire at the same time. and you should always
have an owner's manual in your vehicle. because this manual has instructions on how to change
your tire and how to use your jack. and it shows you where your safe jack points are underneath
your vehicle. and if you don't have one you can usually search for your owner's manual online on
your phone. and they're usually available there for reference. something you can do that can help
prevent tire problems down the road, literally, is to make it a habit to periodically check the
air pressure in your tires. you can start by visually checking your tires for obvious damage
or low pressure when walking to your vehicle before driving away. once a month or as often
as you think about it, use a tire gauge or your TPMS system to check the air pressure in your
tires. TPMS stands for tire pressure monitoring system and most newer Vehicles would have this.
with a press of a button you can see what the tire pressure is in each of your tires. before a road
trip of any length make sure you check the air pressure and condition of all your tires including
your spare. a flat spare or one with very low air won't do you any good. check your spare tire at
least once every six months. you want to make sure you have a working jack and jack handle.
I've known of a few cases where people went to change their tire usually in an older vehicle
and they didn't have a working jack or the jack handle was missing. and something that can help
you if you're out on the road and have a small leak in a tire is a portable air compressor. with
that you can sometimes put enough air in a tire to get down the road to a place to actually get
your tire repaired. thanks for watching and make sure that you comment down below if you've been
in this situation. and if this has been helpful to you if you would also share this video to help
save other people's lives and to help them out. that would be great. yes thank you. thanks. bye.