Would you be able to jump start a car or change a tyre?

Yes, I have done both more than once. So has my wife FWIW.

In the past I’ve done loads of things on cars — oil changes and brake pad/disc changes, replaced the power steering pump on my old mondeo etc.

Now I have neither the time or inclination to do any of those things, but something as simple as a tyre change or a jump start shouldn’t require calling out the AA.
 
Hmm well I've flowed 3 cylinders heads in my front room and made my own Carbon Fibre air boxes but I can never remember which ear I'm supposed to plug the red cable in when you jump a car!
 
Sure I can do both but then i'm 50 and from a generation who grew up knowing how to do this stuff. Then I joined Royal Engineers and this was my job more or less
 
I've never had a flat tyre where I've had to change the wheel at the road side but I've swapped front/back wheels around before so I know how to anyway + plus I keep a proper wheel wrench with the spare wheel as the supplied one is crap.

Starting the battery is easy with a portable jump pack.
 
I've changed tyres (was quite tricky without any of the appropriate tools) and wheels many times. I've bumped and jumped started several cars.

I used to try and fix quite a few things with some of the older cars I've had. These days I will attempt more simple fixes such as sensors, electrical issues or a hose but anything more complicated will go to a mechanic.
 
Jump leads are for pussies, i spend 2 months in the 80s living in fear of stalling my crappy Nova without a hill to bump it.
 
I'm pretty good with that stuff. When I got my license my parents made me learn basics like wheel change, fluid top ups, jump start, fuses, etc so if a car failed I had at least a chance of getting it going again.

FluffySheep
 
Yes. I've changed wheels, jump started cars and bump started cars. Mind you my first car had drum brakes, a manual choke and no power steering. My current daily is 24 years old.

Agree with the ealier comment about tyre fitters doing up wheel nuts that are almost impossible to remove though. While I don't carry it with me I have a long extending breaker bar for this in the garage. Put it on the end of the wheel brace and rock it back and forth and then lean on it until the thing loosens. I always torque my nuts to the correct setting after (ooh err missus). Ironically I just had a tyre replaced so I will be doing this later.
 
Yep, was skint and it was of the "parental lessons" :) it was either fix car or bike as any normal person would do i fixed the bike :)
 
Diddums said:
Obviously I meant wheel. Nobody's carrying a bloody tyre removal rig in the boot of their car, are they?


Are they?
Click to expand...

Ex Michelin Apprentice here - we used to have speed competitions changing tyres with just hand tools :)
Lots of soap.

and yes to your questions, I'm also responsible for basic maintenance on 4 cars and own ramps and lots of tools.
 
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