[E-EC-ECU]

This evening, after kids' dance practice, teen night at the pool, and soccer practice (I am the coach), we drop off my wife's Toyota Sienna (love the minivan) to get an issue looked at and we all drive over to the local Chinese Restaurant for takeout because it was so late. Ordered via phone, arrived a little early and waiting in the parking lot.

Picked up the food an began to back out and quickly realized there was a flat. Ugh. SLOWLY pulled back into an empty space and assessed the situation.

Sure enough, flat driver's side front. Darn, that was quick.

Anyway, here comes the excitement. Car is in park and shut off. (Remember, I didn't say the Parking Brake was engaged ) Get everything ready to put on the spare. Drop spare down, get the jack, get the tools ... yada yada.

Jack the car up, remove the flat and set it aside (yep, forgot to place it next to the jack under the car), lean the spare near the hub to see that I need to raise the care about 2 more inches. I ratchet the jack a few more turns with the spare in perfect placement up against the hub area .... and ... then ....

The car rolls back about 6 inches, pivots the jack over, the corner of the jack base (now on its side with the base pointing UP) rips a major hole in the spare tire that rotated with the car and hisses like crazy until it's dead. Oh man, the issues I was facing. The GREAT part was that the rotor was still 3 inches from the ground and the car was resting on the rubber from the flat spare tire. Lucky even when you aren't lucky?!?!?

Anyway, got a friend to take me and my tire home. Filled the tire with my compressor and found a decent nail puncture, but pretty clean. I used a plug repair kit (tried and true) to get the tire back to life. Got a ride back to my car, with the tire, hydraulic lift, and jack stand.

Got the car back up (had to use multiple jack placements because it was so low), removed the spare and jack to find the jack was fine, the spare wheel was fine, but the tire was shredded. Got the original back on and headed on my way.

Now, how expensive is it to get a new spare tire put on? I haven't even ventured a look yet!

 

[TheRaven]

Ouch! So sorry that all happened, but super appreciate you posting this. A very good reminder to all of us to not skip that crucial step.

 

[Newsub]

(Remember, I didn't say the Parking Brake was engaged )

Sorry for the mishap. Glad you are safe.
i have gotten in the habit now of putting the car in parking brake mode all the time.

 

[Packard8]

This evening, after kids' dance practice, teen night at the pool, and soccer practice (I am the coach), we drop off my wife's Toyota Sienna (love the minivan) to get an issue looked at and we all drive over to the local Chinese Restaurant for takeout because it was so late. Ordered via phone, arrived a little early and waiting in the parking lot.

Picked up the food an began to back out and quickly realized there was a flat. Ugh. SLOWLY pulled back into an empty space and assessed the situation.

Sure enough, flat driver's side front. Darn, that was quick.

Anyway, here comes the excitement. Car is in park and shut off. (Remember, I didn't say the Parking Brake was engaged ) Get everything ready to put on the spare. Drop spare down, get the jack, get the tools ... yada yada.

Jack the car up, remove the flat and set it aside (yep, forgot to place it next to the jack under the car), lean the spare near the hub to see that I need to raise the care about 2 more inches. I ratchet the jack a few more turns with the spare in perfect placement up against the hub area .... and ... then ....

The car rolls back about 6 inches, pivots the jack over, the corner of the jack base (now on its side with the base pointing UP) rips a major hole in the spare tire that rotated with the car and hisses like crazy until it's dead. Oh man, the issues I was facing. The GREAT part was that the rotor was still 3 inches from the ground and the car was resting on the rubber from the flat spare tire. Lucky even when you aren't lucky?!?!?

Anyway, got a friend to take me and my tire home. Filled the tire with my compressor and found a decent nail puncture, but pretty clean. I used a plug repair kit (tried and true) to get the tire back to life. Got a ride back to my car, with the tire, hydraulic lift, and jack stand.

Got the car back up (had to use multiple jack placements because it was so low), removed the spare and jack to find the jack was fine, the spare wheel was fine, but the tire was shredded. Got the original back on and headed on my way.

Now, how expensive is it to get a new spare tire put on? I haven't even ventured a look yet!

If you want to replace the temp spare, check out salvage yards. It appears that all trims of the Ascent use the same spare, whether equipped with 18" or 20" road tires. The temp spare has the same diameter as both the 18" & 20" originals.

I opted for a full-size spare to match the larger tires I'm running (Michelin CC2, 235/65R18). You don't lose any ground clearance, as the spare has slightly more clearance than the exhaust "Y" pipe, but you do lose a bit of ascending/descending angle. The full-size spare can be used in any position (temp spare can't be used on front axle), and isn't distance or speed limited like the temp spare.

 

[Steve70]

Good reminder about the parking brake ...especially if the flat tire is on the driving wheels. I think a RWD car should probably have a front tire chalked as the parking brake is binding the wheels you're lifting...not the free wheeling front tires.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

'Glad there was no human injury and not too much other damage. The parking brake thing is a really good reminder. I'll also mention that one can acquire a couple of hard rubber wheel chocks for only a few shekels at Harbor Frieght or your favorite box store and keep them in the cubby under the cargo area. Even with the parking brake set, the chocks will help make sure that the vehicle cannot roll when jacked. I recently added them to both of our vehicles.

 

[xydadx3]

Cool story bro

Just kidding. It sounded like the outcome was about the best case scenario considering what else could’ve gone wrong when a car falls off a jack with a wheel off! Glad to hear nobody was injured and I’m sure you’ll never forget the parking brake again.
I’ve forgotten the brake a couple times when rotating my tires. I usually lift the front end, place it on jackstands, then lift the rear end, leaving it on the jack as long as I’m not planning on going underneath. It’s quite annoying to remember after you’re on jacks that you didn’t break the lug nuts loose first, and a little scary when the back wheels turn when you try to break them loose!

Don’t forget you’re not supposed to use the donut on a front wheel. If you get a front flat you should move a back wheel to the front and use the donut on the back temporarily.

 

[E-EC-ECU]

Just an update:

First of all, @Discount Tire even provided the info that spare tires are not the cheapest thing to come across. A number of folks suggested junk/salvage yards and I called two of the local ones. They all use the same database and the only available spare (donut) tires on a salvaged Ascent were in Maryland or Pennsylvania (I am in VA).

Anyway, ordered a new tire from a third-party seller on Walmart.com and it arrived today. I got mine from a different seller and for $87 w/ free shipping!

My local tire place mounted the tire for $13 and I am back on my way.

Morale(S) of the story? 1.) USE THE PARKING BRAKE WHEN CHANGING A TIRE!!! 2.) Remember that the spare can only be used on a rear tire, and 3) Don't think getting a new "donut" tire is super simple and cheap. It isn't and they aren't! Even my dealer quoted me at $176 for the tire alone and @Discount Tire also said they had to be special ordered, and sometimes quite expensive.

Good luck!

 

[TheRaven]

Just an update:

First of all, @Discount Tire even provided the info that spare tires are not the cheapest thing to come across. A number of folks suggested junk/salvage yards and I called two of the local ones. They all use the same database and the only available spare (donut) tires on a salvaged Ascent were in Maryland or Pennsylvania (I am in VA).

Anyway, ordered a new tire from a third-party seller on Walmart.com and it arrived today. I got mine from a different seller and for $87 w/ free shipping!

My local tire place mounted the tire for $13 and I am back on my way.

Morale(S) of the story? 1.) USE THE PARKING BRAKE WHEN CHANGING A TIRE!!! 2.) Remember that the spare can only be used on a rear tire, and 3) Don't think getting a new "donut" tire is super simple and cheap. It isn't and they aren't! Even my dealer quoted me at $176 for the tire alone and @Discount Tire also said they had to be special ordered, and sometimes quite expensive.

Good luck!

Super appreciate the update, as well as your original post. Any of us are capable of an "Oops" every now and then, and so reminders are indeed a good thing. And info like the spare only being for the back tires is definitely something I doubt all of us knew. I didn't know about that the one time I've changed a flat on my Ascent, only found out about that a day or so afterwards, but luckily my flat was on a back tire anyway so I hadn't "oops"d that.
Anyway, glad you got a new spare and are all set now, hopefully you won't have any more issues for a goodly long while.

 

[packout]

Cool story bro

Just kidding. It sounded like the outcome was about the best case scenario considering what else could’ve gone wrong when a car falls off a jack with a wheel off! Glad to hear nobody was injured and I’m sure you’ll never forget the parking brake again.
I’ve forgotten the brake a couple times when rotating my tires. I usually lift the front end, place it on jackstands, then lift the rear end, leaving it on the jack as long as I’m not planning on going underneath. It’s quite annoying to remember after you’re on jacks that you didn’t break the lug nuts loose first, and a little scary when the back wheels turn when you try to break them loose!

Don’t forget you’re not supposed to use the donut on a front wheel. If you get a front flat you should move a back wheel to the front and use the donut on the back temporarily.
View attachment 17652

In all my many years of driving I never heard of that. Of course during most of those years full size spares existed.

 

[Packard8]

Super appreciate the update, as well as your original post. Any of us are capable of an "Oops" every now and then, and so reminders are indeed a good thing. And info like the spare only being for the back tires is definitely something I doubt all of us knew. I didn't know about that the one time I've changed a flat on my Ascent, only found out about that a day or so afterwards, but luckily my flat was on a back tire anyway so I hadn't "oops"d that.
Anyway, glad you got a new spare and are all set now, hopefully you won't have any more issues for a goodly long while.

I assume the proscription on using the donut spare on the front axle is a safety issue. I can see how the car's steering and braking could be negatively affected due to two tires having a radically different contact patch.

 

[Jim_in_PA]

J, I do believe that the "donut on the back only" is for exactly the reason you cite...steering and braking which are both predominantly "up front" functions. (Yes, the rears have brakes, but the front brakes are always heaver 'cause they work harder. The donut might not like hard braking in a sharp turn, for example.