JimboTex 1, Blown Tire 0

So, last night I was coming home from one of my weekly social outings. I was driving on one of the major freeways in town when all of a sudden, there was a loud pop and the sudden sensation of the right front tire deflating. Luckily, I pulled over to the side of the road before the tire went completely flat, and I got out to check the tire (but not before putting the hazard flashers on). Sure enough, the tire had blown out.

I have changed tires before on several occasions, but this would be my first solo spare job. After jacking up the car, I was pleasantly surprised when putting the spare on went much smoother than I expected. But then came time to tighten the lug nuts. I managed to get them hand tight and was able to get three of the four lug nuts secure with the tire wrench, but as I was tightening the final lug nut, the sudden movement destabilized the jack, tipping it over and pinning the tire wrench between the lug nut and the ground.

One frustrating montage of me having to re-jack the car without the aid of the tire wrench later, and I had the car suspended in air once more, and was able to secure the final lug nut. Not being sure of how competently I had done the job, I was very careful when driving home. Amazingly, the car made it home in one piece, and one trip to the tire store later, I'm now $31 lighter in the wallet, but have four working tires once again.

Some pics to accompany my harrowing tale of woe:

Spare tire secure!

My nemesis, the blown tire.

Closer inspection of the bane of my existence...