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jacking car up after [tire] puncture

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Z

zoros

Member
Aug 19, 2023
183
72
chester
#1
New here, just bought a M3LR'21 plate.

Having recently experienced a puncture on a busy dual carriageway with no safety lane, I was so glad I carried a spare in my Range Rover. From beginning to end: 8 minutes and we were on our way.
I feel ver exposed without a spare wheel onboard.
Now - I understand peeps are talking about this "RA" facility regarding the Tesla? Sounds like a bespoke breakdown service for Tesla which you call upon in times of breakdown. I also understand that waiting times range from 1 or 2 hours to several hours!!
I don't want this when I have kids onboard, so am making up my own 'spare' for the M3.
Wheel and tyre - no problems. Jack - no problems. Hockey puck - debatable. Problem lies with ground clearance AFTER a puncture?
Can I get a scissor jack under the car with a reduced ground clearance (post puncture)?
If not - what are the solutions please?
{Not happy lugging one of these heavy low profile hydraulic jacks around forever - either!]

Many thanks in advance
Z
 
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#2
zoros said:
[...] so am making up my own 'spare' for the M3.
Wheel and tyre - no problems. Jack - no problems. Hockey puck - debatable. Problem lies with ground clearance AFTER a puncture?
Can I get a scissor jack under the car with a reduced ground clearance (post puncture)?
If not - what are the solutions please?
{Not happy lugging one of these heavy low profile hydraulic jacks around forever - either!]
Click to expand...

Therein lines the problem.
To take advantage of a spare, you need all of the following (taking up significant space in the trunk:
  • Spare wheel+tire
  • low-profile aluminum rack jack (scissor and bottle jacks are way too tall for this)
  • torque wrench and 21mm socket
  • disposable gloves, trash bag (for old tire)
And even then, all of the above only work if you have a safe and level surface to work on, and it's you behind the wheel and not your better half.

Here is what I carry in ALL my cars instead:
  1. Leatherman pliers / multitool
  2. Dynaplug rire repair toolkit
  3. Tire repair kit with an pump and sealant goo
#1 removes the offending nail / bolt / screw
#2 seals the hole
#3 re-inflates the tire (can add some goo as a second layer of sealant, if necessary)

Between the above three steps, I've been able to get back on the road in under 20 minutes in all my cars over the past 30+ years of driving in 30+ vehicles.

YMMV,
a

P.S.: There were exactly 2 instances when the above was not sufficient, and all included either structural damage to either tire sidewall (caught a metal plank, tire was gone anyway, so I drove on it to a gas station), or the wheel itself (wheel bent badly enough to no longer hold air). Nothing you can do there, other than call AAA, or have someone come over with another set of (winter/summer) wheels and tools to swap them.
 
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#3
zoros said:
New here, just bought a M3LR'21 plate.

Having recently experienced a puncture on a busy dual carriageway with no safety lane, I was so glad I carried a spare in my Range Rover. From beginning to end: 8 minutes and we were on our way.
I feel ver exposed without a spare wheel onboard.
Now - I understand peeps are talking about this "RA" facility regarding the Tesla? Sounds like a bespoke breakdown service for Tesla which you call upon in times of breakdown. I also understand that waiting times range from 1 or 2 hours to several hours!!
I don't want this when I have kids onboard, so am making up my own 'spare' for the M3.
Wheel and tyre - no problems. Jack - no problems. Hockey puck - debatable. Problem lies with ground clearance AFTER a puncture?
Can I get a scissor jack under the car with a reduced ground clearance (post puncture)?
If not - what are the solutions please?
{Not happy lugging one of these heavy low profile hydraulic jacks around forever - either!]

Many thanks in advance
Z
Click to expand...
If you can't get a scissor jack under the tire with the flat, you might still be able to jack up the car from the other corner on the same side. I did that when I recently had one of my rear tires blow out from running over something. I have a scissor jack with a round nub that fits in the Tesla jack hole (came stock in a Ram Promaster). I had to jack it up from the front corner since it would not fit under the rear corner with the flat tire.
 
#4
Jacking it up from the other corner is thinking outside the box - nice!
Going back to the previous responder - Can't be doing with rotating the wheel every couple of inches until I discover where the nail/screw has gone into the tyre, at night in the rain on a busy road!
Having done more research since, it's looking 100% certain that a spare will be carried and probably a porsche lightweight scissor jack and plastic ramp to drive wheel up onto - to get the ground clearance I need.
Many thanks for your time guys.
Z
 
#5
locked in?
A local Tesla owner collided with the bridge pillar on a busy dual carriageway a while back. The M3 caught fire. Driver couldn't open the door?? Passing motorists stopped and smasged the rear window to extricate him.
I have also read about glitches where the car software locks the car doors preventing you from getting out or in.
Is this rare or uncomfortably becoming more common?
Z
 
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#6
zoros said:
locked in?
A local Tesla owner collided with the bridge pillar on a busy dual carriageway a while back. The M3 caught fire. Driver couldn't open the door?? Passing motorists stopped and smasged the rear window to extricate him.
I have also read about glitches where the car software locks the car doors preventing you from getting out or in.
Is this rare or uncomfortably becoming more common?
Z
Click to expand...
This type of thing gets knocked around by Tesla bashing pundits a good bit. It's a non-starter, IMO. First off, *any* car can experience jammed doors in a major crash. Hitting a bridge pillar sounds pretty major to me. It's very likely that the door wouldn't open because it was deformed in the crash. The jaws of life were invented decades ago before EVs were even a blip on the radar.

Secondly, if a total loss of power or software glitch occurred while the door was not physically damaged, there's a manual release for the front doors. That doesn't do much if you're incapacitated by the crash, but again, this same situation can occur with an ICE car with the doors locked and an incapacitated driver, so it's not necessarily only a Tesla thing.

The first I heard of this type of FUD was with a Model S that had crashed and the rescue workers couldn't open the doors 'because the door handles were retracted inside the door and the driver was incapacitated.' At the time, Tesla was pretty much the only manufacturer doing retractable door handles. so it was implied that this was a potentially dangerous design. How are you supposed to get the door open if you can't get to the door handle?? But it's the very same situation if the doors of an ICE car are *locked* and the driver is incapacitated. You're gonna have to break something to get them out either way.
 
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#7
zoros said:
Can't be doing with rotating the wheel every couple of inches until I discover where the nail/screw has gone into the tyre, at night in the rain on a busy road!
Having done more research since, it's looking 100% certain that a spare will be carried and probably a porsche lightweight scissor jack and plastic ramp to drive wheel up onto - to get the ground clearance I need.
Click to expand...
And you think that your wife and/or kids will know how to operate the scissor jack and plastic ramp "at night in the rain on a busy road" ?
😱

zoros said:
locked in?
[...]Driver couldn't open the door?? Passing motorists stopped and smasged the rear window to extricate him.
I have also read about glitches where the car software locks the car doors preventing you from getting out or in.
Is this rare or uncomfortably becoming more common?
Click to expand...

Total and utter BS.
Anyone can open the door mechanically, at any time.
There is no such thing as "car software locks the car doors preventing you from getting out or in."

'nuff said.

a
 
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#8
afadeev

Firstly = what makes you think my wife is less capable than myself in changing tyres, at night in the rain or anywhere else for that matter? Are you assuming women are less capable?
Secondly, IF, IF she chooses not to change the flat - in the rain and in the dark, she simply calls the breakdown service (other than TRA) out and gets them to do it for her.
Beats contacting TRA and being told to wait for several hours, or being dragged onto a flatbed and taken to god knows where, and waiting until a workshop opens.

Think before you respond.
Z
 
#9
"plastic ramp to drive wheel up onto - to get the ground clearance I need"

Great idea. I am buying accessories to get myself out of a flat tire situation. The plastic ramp could be a good one, but need to ensure it does the job by testing it first, many times, on all 4 wheels. Just hope that it does not break due to the EV car weight.
 
#11
kimwin said:
Did some search on Amazon, the light weight jack (29 lbs) below could do the job.


I plan to buy it, test it out on my Tesla at home to ensure it could lift up front / rear wheel. High enough to allow fixing the flat tire (if fixable).

No plastic ramp needed in this case.
Click to expand...
Did you look at the size? These types of jacks are typically huge and more suitable to be used at home. Most people carry a scissor jack for travel.
 
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#12
zoros said:
Having done more research since, it's looking 100% certain that a spare will be carried and probably a porsche lightweight scissor jack and plastic ramp to drive wheel up onto - to get the ground clearance I need.
Click to expand...

kimwin said:
Did some search on Amazon, the light weight jack (29 lbs) below could do the job.
I plan to buy it, test it out on my Tesla at home to ensure it could lift up front / rear wheel. High enough to allow fixing the flat tire (if fixable).
No plastic ramp needed in this case.
Click to expand...

stopcrazypp said:
Most people carry a scissor jack for travel.
Click to expand...

I don't know about you guys, but ~75% of the time I got punctures that required immediate intervention, it was on a rural road with a dirt or grass shoulder. I had to pull over and deal with the matter right there and then. Luckily, most punctures are on the the passenger side of the road (debris gets kicked to the edge of the road, or is introduced from the side). If it's on a driver's side, I would pull over on the opposite side of the road, so that I can work on the car where my back is no exposed to the passing traffic - good way to get killed.

Therefore, whatever tools you intend to rely on, or testing to do, please visualize (and practice) doing so on a slippery, wet, dirt/gravel shoulder of the road.
  • Ramp? Good luck getting it to lay flat on a sloping shoulder, especially as you try to drive onto it.
  • Scissor jack? Good luck getting it no to slide sideways over dirt/gravel. The base footprint is way too small.
  • Jack would be the only safe option. The wider the base, the better.
To each his own, but I find that the tools I described above have taken care of 90+% of my puncture emergencies over the decades of driving.
AAA took care of the other two.
IMHO, permanently giving up more than 1/2 the trunk space for the jack and a spare tire is simply not worth it, unless you regularly drive through the territory outside of the AAA service and/or cell phone coverage.

YMMV,
a
 
#13
afadeev said:
I don't know about you guys, but ~75% of the time I got punctures that required immediate intervention, it was on a rural road with a dirt or grass shoulder. I had to pull over and deal with the matter right there and then. Luckily, most punctures are on the the passenger side of the road (debris gets kicked to the edge of the road, or is introduced from the side). If it's on a driver's side, I would pull over on the opposite side of the road, so that I can work on the car where my back is no exposed to the passing traffic - good way to get killed.

Therefore, whatever tools you intend to rely on, or testing to do, please visualize (and practice) doing so on a slippery, wet, dirt/gravel shoulder of the road.
  • Ramp? Good luck getting it to lay flat on a sloping shoulder, especially as you try to drive onto it.
  • Scissor jack? Good luck getting it no to slide sideways over dirt/gravel. The base footprint is way too small.
  • Jack would be the only safe option. The wider the base, the better.
To each his own, but I find that the tools I described above have taken care of 90+% of my puncture emergencies over the decades of driving.
AAA took care of the other two.
IMHO, permanently giving up more than 1/2 the trunk space for the jack and a spare tire is simply not worth it, unless you regularly drive through the territory outside of the AAA service and/or cell phone coverage.

YMMV,
a
Click to expand...
I live in an area where the shoulders are paved and I have used a scissor jack no problem in my vehicles on the shoulder. Even with plugs, sometimes you have to unmount the wheel from the car to find and do the plug properly. A scissor jack and plug kit takes up very little space in the car and gives you more options. In another thread someone mentioned you can carry a 10x10" piece of plywood if you are worried about using it in the mud. That would create an even more stable base than the floor jack (more surface area on the mud).

I'm not sure what your disagree is for? It seems you agree that floor jack would be a bit big to keep in the car. It's also a fact that the scissor jack is the most common jack included in cars today and as such would be the most common jack people carry around. I have never seen or heard of a floor jack included in a car. Even the aftermarket spare tire kits include scissor jacks, not a floor jack.
 
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#14
I rotated my tires last month, using a scissor jack on grass, but I put a thin piece of Ipe wood, leftover when building my deck, underneath to provide a flat base. And yes, I carry a compact spare. Yes, I also have AAA Premier. I live in Maine, and ski a lot. While cell coverage and charging has improved over the last 5yrs of Tesla ownership, I still feel more comfortable with carrying a tire and tire changing equipment, just in case, I'm up north somewhere and need to do things myself.
IMG_0756.jpeg
 
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