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Blew the driver's side rear tire on the highway while driving to my sister's house.
Managed to get it safely from the inside lane to the shoulder ,( no thanks to the a$$holes that wouldn't let me over).

Once I got my 7 month old granddaughter and my wife out of the car and to a shady spot under the trees, I went back to change the tire. Got all the lug nuts off with no problem, but couldn't get the wheel off.
At this point, my wife told me I was going to have to put the baby back in the car with the air conditioning, as the 95 degree heat and extremely high humidity was really affecting her.
So there were my choices . . . put the baby back in the car, (that was up on a flimsy scissors jack on the shoulder of the road), so she could cool off, or keep her a safe distance from the highway and seriously risk her getting heat stroke.
I opted for the air conditioning .
I tried kicking the tire to free it up, but no success. I was afraid if I kicked it too hard it would fall off the jack, and then I would be REALLY screwed.
Called GEICO to get a service guy out, but they told me it would be a MINIMUM of an hour and a half to two hours before they could dispatch someone. That was unacceptable, so I went back to try my hand at freeing up the tire again.
A few minutes later, a nice young man stopped to offer help. I'm pretty sure he was a "freelancer" as he pulled a big hydraulic jack out of the back of his pick-up. He got the car up on it (and off that stupid scissors jack) and sat on his butt and kicked the tire 5 or 6 times before he finally got it loose. Put the temporary spare on, lugged it back up, and we were set to go. I offered him $15,(because that was all the cash I had on me), and had to argue with him to take it. He said he was a big believer in Karma and just wanted to be sure the baby was safely back on the road. It took some doing, but i finally convinced him to take the money.

Now safely back home, Thank God !

jes

When's the last time you rotated your tires..??

GEICO sucks.

Have both Farmers Farm Tow and AAA for all three cars but never used AAA. Wife used Farm Tow once for a dead battery and the guy was there in 12 minutes. Called her cell to say where he was and his exact ETA.

Wow, glad you're all OK. Bless the fellow that helped you out.

Traveling in the extreme heat or cold can easily go bad when the engine quits or you have to make an unscheduled stop in the middle of nowhere.

I'm not a fan of any insurance company, though State Farm has done us well and my wife used to work for AAA, that said, they are all subject to the performance of the people they contract for roadside service. Sometimes the closest service available is a long distance away or already answering calls.

Glad you are safe. Maybe next time Uber them somewhere and you stay with the car? Easy for me to say.

Sometimes at the shop we use the spare (or other tire/rim assembly if we are rotating) as a hammer. Take a big swing and hit the edge of the stuck rim with the tread of the spare.

Scary situation
Glad you're okay

I stopped and changed a lady's tire on the interstate a few years back. Was on the driver's side. Cars flying by me was really scary. Wish she would have pulled off a few more feet.

Did that last year almost to the day while towing the camper with the family, hit a semi trailer on the right and a landscape trailer on the left. Was not fun. Took a solid two hours to change it in 100 degree weather on the side of the toll road without even a full shoulder. Nobody stopped, wife saw two marked state police cars drive past. Thankfully it was the passenger side so I was mostly off the road. But the ordeal cost me $5k.

Too bad tripod wasn't with you... show him a little skin and there would be no need for a jack and that tire would have flown off

The best thing to do is slowly drive off of the highway onto any other road. Even is you ruin a rim it is only a rim, not your life. Glad you all are ok.

I pay $143 a year for 3 cars for AAA.

100 miles covered. Saved me many times. I recommend it.

There are less miles/cheaper options too.

Last flat I had was on da highway... Found the leak with some water I keep in an antifreeze bottle and plugged it with the plug kit I keep by the 12 volt air compressor... I was back on da road in about 20 minutes...

Tire was not repairable, (inside was trashed), because I drove on it too long before getting to the shoulder.
Was probably a good half mile or so because the a$$holes on the road WOULD NOT give me a break and let me get over.
$150 for a new tire, balanced and mounted on the car.

Huck is not a half way guy

Especially in 95 degree heat and high humidity, with a 7 month old baby.

Nothing more scary than being stuck on the highway shoulder with cars and trucks whizzing by.

Thank goodness for the “freelancer.”