Spare Tire pressure and headlights

But unless you're a contortionist sometimes you have to move things under the hood to make room to get your hand back behind the headlight, loosen that big nut, and change the lamp capsule. Like unbolt a washer fluid bottle and swing it out of the way, or loosen the battery and carefully slide it to the back of the tray to gain a few inches.

And read the instructions: NO FINGERS ON THE GLASS of the replacement lamp. The oils from your fingers will make the lamp pop after a few hours of operation. When in doubt about whether you or someone else has had their mitts on the glass, wash off the new lamp with rubbing alcohol before inserting it.

Find a new temporary spare tire and rim assembly at a junkyard, or at a tire shop that took it out to sell another car owner a real spare tire and a real rim. They want WAY too much money for those temporary spares for what they are - only good for a few hundred miles, and they're worn out...

If there's room in the back to store it, price out a matching full-size tire and a plain steel full-size rim. For a small car like a Corolla, unless you have fancy tires the whole thing should be under $100, and then there's no mileage restrictions on the tire.

Or be sure to carry one of the little 12-volt air compressors to top off the temporary spare tire when you need it.

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No fingers on the glass...the AutoZone guy put the bulb in for me, hopefully he didn't touch the bulb. I didn't notice him touch the bulb. Though I wouldn't be surprised if he did by accident.

I also got the spare tire up to 58psi and will continue to observe if it looses pressure. Actually, having a full-size tire sounds like a good idea. Not too expensive. But since the space may not hold both, what do I do with the spare? Give it away?

Some cars have the room in the storage well for a full-size spare and rim, but Toyota doesn't install one to save a few pounds of weight and increase the fleet Corporate Average Fuel Economy a tenth or two.

You own the car now, so the CAFE means nothing. And a regular spare means if you get a flat you don't have to stop your trip, make a bee-line to the nearest town, find a repair shop, and pay whatever they ask for a new tire if your old one is not repairable - and possibly be stuck there a day or two having it shipped in.

If they solve the slow leak (most likely a rim seal problem or a bad valve stem) you can put the tempa-spare in your local Pennysaver / Recycler / Thrifty Nickel classified ads newspaper or up on Craigslist / eBay and get a few bucks for it.

Then again, I'm one of those wierdos who would keep the tempa-spare at home and toss it in the trunk for a long trip *with* the regular full-size spare. Then you're good even if lightning strikes twice in rapid succession - and Bubba at the only "Eat And Get Gas" for 250 miles in any direction can't nail you $150 for a tire that's only $70 in any big city.

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