Always, make sure you have the tools to change your tire and a spare in your trunk. You should have a spare tire, a jack and a lug nut wrench. Know where these tools are located and be familiar with them.
First thing to know is how to use a jack. If you have your owners' manual, read this section well. You should familiarize yourself on the jacks to all your vehicles.
Check to see if any of your vehicles have wheel locks. You will not be able to use a regular lug nut wrench, so make sure you have the "key" if your vehicle does have "wheel locks,"
A can of "Fix a Flat" is another great tool to keep in your car. This is something that will fill your tire with enough air, and seal the hole, long enough to get you to a station.
Another great tool to have in your vehicle, is an orange vest so that passing traffic will see you. Now lets teach you how to change a tire.
Once you have the tire lowered back to the ground, tighten the lug nuts with the wrench. Put away your tools along with your flat tire. Now you are ready, you know how to change a tire! Bit of advice, before you go anywhere else, best to go have your tire repaired. Happy and Safe Traveling!
Put the parking brake on and make sure the car is in park. If your car is a manual shift, put it in gear. Put your emergency flashers on to warn oncoming traffic.
Get your tools out and lay them by the flat tire. Get your spare tire and roll it over to your work area. Don't worry about trying to stay clean, you are going to get dirty doing this job. Ok, the next step is very important and often done wrong.
Before you start to jack the car, loosen each lug nut. If you try to loosen them after you have jacked up the car, the tire will just spin. Use the "star" pattern as your loosen them, this will keep the weight properly distributed. This is going to take a lot of strength, so use your body weight to help you. You will need to use your body weight to give you strength needed to loosen the lug nuts.
Your jack needs to be placed in the appropriate place for your car, may want to recheck your manual. Jack up the car so that you have a couple of inches under the tire.Remove the lug nuts and then the tire. Now time to remove the lug nuts and the tire.
Lift your spare and place it on the bolts and making sure the valve is facing you. Again, using the "star"pattern, replace the lug nuts. Before lowering the car, give each lug nut a few turns.
Now that you know , You can be confident that you will be prepared.
There is nothing worse than being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire. Sometimes, a gas station or car repair shop is many miles away. Other times, you are unable to contact help in a suitable amount of time and no one seems friendly enough to stop and offer help. All of these circumstances add more to the reason of learning how to change your own tires.
Before attempting to change a tire, it is suggested to practice before you actually have to complete the job in cases of emergency. Reading the owner's manual will help prep you for the task ahead. In order to change a tire, it is important to possess a spare tire, lug wrench, and jack in your vehicle. When it comes to supplying a lug wrench, you may want to invest in the type shaped like a cross, which provides better stability and less chances of slippage.
Flat Tire Change Preparation
Before changing a tire, it is suggested to place the car on level ground (located completely off to the side of the road). Making sure you are out of the way of traffic is quite important, even if you have to drive a couple of hundred yards on a flat tire. Next, you must apply your parking brake. Cars with automatic transmissions are placed in "park," while manual transmissions are placed in first gear or reverse. Additionally, the engine should be turned off, the hazard lights turned on, and the appropriate supplies and tools gathered.
Changing the Tire
1) Remove the wheel covers (when necessary) and depending on the type of car you posses, you may need to unlock them, while others are simply popped off or unscrewed.
2) In regards to the lug nuts, they should be loosened, but not removed. Most lug nuts respond with a simple half turn counterclockwise.
3) Using your owner's manual, you should decide on the proper positioning of the jack, which will raise your car to the point that the tire barely touches the ground. The point is to take the weight off of the tire, but not make it completely lift off of the ground.
4) Rotating the lug wrench counterclockwise, you should remove each lug nut. Next, you will pull the flat tire towards you by placing your hand at the "3 o'clock" and "9 o'clock" positions of the tire.
5) Next, you will replace the flat tire with your spare, which is easily accomplished by aligning the holes in your spare tire with the bolts first, followed by firmly placing the spare onto the bolts.
6) The lug nuts are then replaced and slightly tightened. Once you lower your car back to the ground, you should finish tightening the lug nuts in a cross pattern.
7) After you are done changing the tire, put your tools back in their proper place and drive to the nearest service station as soon as possible to have your flat tire repaired and reinstalled (if applicable). You may also need to get your lug nuts tightened with a torque wrench to match the appropriate specifications for your car.
Both Jessica T & Michael Murray are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jessica T has sinced written about articles on various topics from Food And Drink, Health and Home Businesses. Discover the tricks of the trade to save hundreds of dollars every year by doing your own at. Jessica T's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.
Michael Murray has sinced written about articles on various topics from E Books, Cars and Mileage and Fuel. Michael Murray is an author of automotive articles and owner of a blog all about how to beat