What percentage of flat tires can be saved?

Not much chance of losing a limb, but losing en eye is possible. The process does require a good amount of pressure to get the tire off and an inexperienced person can have an accident. Could damage a finger getting caught in there too.

There is always risk using tools, never 0%

Better and cheaper rarely travel together. Why should I buy Kraft Parmesan cheese when Parmagiano-Reggiano is available?

My husband is a retired engineer, in the 99th percentile of mechanical aptitude. He certainly understands what he's buying. He is so rarely wrong, I've just gotten into the habit of trusting him, no matter how outlandish his proposal sounds.

No. You're an arrogant ass.

I think Ron wrote that you can get a real lift at Harbor Freight for cheap. It's hydraulic but not electic. It comes wth a hand pump. Easy Peasy.

They have floor jacks, jackstands, transmission jacks, engine hoists

They don't offer a "real" lift, either centerpost or four poster.

Okay, I'll spell it out. The version of CO2 cartridges that hold 12g. They are not threaded.

Then the whole contraption will be bulky like the handle of a handgun.

Or you get out the sledge hammer.

No. Years ago I build a pad out of pavers for a motorcycle center stand but that's long gone.

I tend to use these, particularly on the dirt bike. No hunting for the core remover tool and like it says it can be cumbersome to get some of the screwdriver types in between the spokes.

Or if you like bling

I definitely wasn't going to buy what was on the car. Toyota used LRR tires to get the mileage up. I don't have a problem with that except they were worn out in a little over 20,000 miles which I consider unacceptable on a 2300 pound car. The current one came with Goodyear Assurance tires so I'll see how that goes. The CS5s had good reviews both for tread life and traction.

I'm used to tire buying. When you ride bikes that get 8,000 miles on the rear if you're lucky you get to try a lot of different tires. With a dual sport in particular you're always looking for that ideal balance of on and off road performance.

Make an appointment, drive out of my way, and hang around waiting? No thanks. I drive in, pull the plug, and go do something else while it drains. Go back when it's cooled a little and change the filter. Put the plug back in, fill with oil, start the engine, check for leaks, and I'm done.

75 and still crawling under cars...

I run studs in the winter on 14" wheels. It helps if I jack up the front passenger side to get the body a little higher. It isn't a problem with the 15" summer tires.

I can usually reach down from the top to unscrew the filter. One of the things I look for when shopping for cars it the location of the filter, plugs, and so forth to make sure it is serviceable without agony.

otoh, on a bike where the engine oil also fills the gear box, Rotella is just the thing.

That's why you look under the hood before you buy it.

I figure Kirkland is about the same stuff. The 5 quart bottles are a bit of a pain for a car that takes 3.75 quarts.

They come in 3 styles, threaded, unthreaded and refillable:

to fit various brands of inflator.

They are not big nor unwieldy at all:

Some people prefer that style as the bare steel CO2 cartridge can freeze fingers in use (rapid pressure drop = rapid temperature drop).

Thanks for that suggestion. It's nicer conversing with you than trying to shoot down the absurd and arbitrary never ending myriad excuses others are bandying about for why they don't want to work on their cars at home.

Those caps are nice in that they'll always be there when you need them as the best tool for the job, sometimes, is the tool that is in your hands.

It doesn't really matter how you remove & replace the core. Just that you have a tool to remove and replace the core.

A lot of people seem to use this cross type of core replacing tool.

Most of the time the valve is blowing air like a banshee while you're twisting on the core so I use the screwdriver type that is shown here. Take for example when you've just managed to set the bead and the air is rushing in. Now it's time to replace the core without the tire deflating.

You get pretty good at screwing in the core with your right hand while you hold the core from blowing away like an artillery shell in the other hand.

You feed the core to the right hand and line it up on the tool and then while the air is blowing in your face, you push it down & start screwing.

Those are a good idea, especially for bicycle use as they're convenient. Everyone loves great engineering, and those 'lil blue caps sure are 'purty.

Some tools I don't really need but I would like to have are a tire spreader

would just make it easier when scraping & patching inside the tire.

And some kind of chickenpox rasp, instead of using the flat hand rasp.

And sometimes I wonder if it matters had I bought dedicated weight tools a regular pair of pliers & hammer works so I can't justify the tool.

Other times, I wonder why they have so many tools, but I forget they're mostly working on truck tires, which are a different type of animal.

But it would be interesting to see how this special hammer is used. And it would be interesting to see how a "curved" tire iron works in use. I'm still trying to figure out how a curved bead breaker can possibly work. My last "luxury tool" was the bazooka gift to myself after a stuck tire. Sometimes I need a "stuck tire" to justify, to myself, these luxury tools!

Are you the same?

I like the way you think, because most of the others are wasting my energy throwing audaciously concocted scare situations at me so that they can justify why they don't like working on their cars at home - while you throw solutions!

There will always be a need for a better way to break a recalcitrant bead.

Mainly it either pops on you, and you breathe a concurrent sigh of relief, or, you're squeaking the bead by half millimeter distances, down the rim (and then, when you turn your back to rotate the tire, it squeals back up)!

Maybe that's where the suggested sledge hammer is supposed to help out?

I noticed while looking up the schrader valve removal tools you had suggested in a prior post that they do make a bead breaking hammer wedge.

And I saw when I was looking up the tools that I'd like to have, this tool which I had never seen before anywhere, for breaking the bead supposedly. I can figure out how the bead-breaking hammer works - but that curved tool? Any idea how that curvy thing is supposed to break the bead on a car tire?