So, yesterday on my way to work, the front left tire blew.
not just, 'it was flat'. No, it ripped; shredded, actually. By the time I got the van off the road, all but six inches of the sidewall had torn away from the rest of the rubber, and the rim of the tire was dangerously near the asphalt.
But there as hardly much smoke, and there were no sparks. And, despite my forgetting to put blocks in front of the wheels before jacking it up to change the tire, nothing bad happened. That is to say, after I had removed the shredded tire, and attached the spare (which, being 10 years old, was in horrible condition: there were cracks in the rubber in the sidewall, which looked like they'd follow the example of the previous tire if put under much pressure) there was a creaking noise, and the van rolled forward a few inches.
But that was all. Now the van has a new front left tire, and a brand new spare.
Not that it will need it any time soon.
Comments (2)
You can always just put the parking/emergency brake on in lieu of blocks by the tires.
Not really, actually. I tried that, hence why I didn't think to put blocks. But as it turns out, the parking break allows the vehicle to roll a few inches, which is plenty to overwhelm the lowly jack.