My oldest daughter reached driving age not to long ago and one of the requirements for her license was for her to successfully change a flat tire on her own. I gave her a quick visual of where the equipment and tire was and then wrote down instructions for her to follow. I figured that if she could follow these instructions successfully then she was ready to be alone out in the car. By the way she was able to change the flat tire and stuck these instructions in the glove compartment in case of a flat tire later.
The steps below are the instructions I wrote up for her.
First make sure that you put the car in park in a level as possible area and set the parking brake. Make sure you have pulled off the road far enough to avoid traffic and turn the engine off. And don't forget to turn on the hazard lights (flashers).
Get out of the trunk the spare tire, the lug nut wrench and the car jack. I pointed these out to her before hand.
Before jacking up the car, loosen the lug nuts, which hold the wheel in place. Turn the wrench counterclockwise to loosen the lug nut. Loosen every other lug nut first, then go back and loosen the others.
Carefully jack up the car and reference the owner's manual for the correct and safe place to put the jack. Just Jack the car up a inch or so higher in order to remove the old tire and to be able to have room to put the new, full of air tire back on.
Continue by removing all of the lug nuts and set them aside in a place where you won't lose them. The flat tire should be able to slide right off now.
Lift and place the new tire onto the wheel studs. Make sure that the valve, where you add air, is facing out.
Replace all of the lug nuts and tighten them by hand. Then tighten them with the lug wrench the same way you loosened them. Finally, tighten each lug as tight as you can.
Put the hubcap back on or in the truck to be put on later.
Once she did this she felt a lot more confident and comfortable about how she would handle a flat tire. I told her that there may be a time that she did not feel safe getting out of the car and that she should put her flashers on and move to the shoulder and call someone, if no one was available to just drive on the bad tire until she reached somewhere safe.
Everyone should take the time to get familiar with where the spare tire is, how to get it out of the car, and at least change a tire for practice.
Stop straining yourself using those old tire irons to loosen lug nuts and buy yourself an impact wrench that will finish the job in half the time with half the effort. Imagine using a cordless impact wrench that could loosen and tighten all of your lug nuts in seconds with a push of a button and stores neatly anywhere. You'll be back on the road with no time lost when using impact wrenches.
Have you ever got a flat tire on your way to work and the delay made you late? When you use impact wrenches and not tire irons you can, with practice, change a flat tire in as little as five minutes and be back on the road. Your boss will never even know you got a flat.
Flat tires are a common daily occurrence on the road and most of us have experienced what it is like to change a flat tire on the side of a road. It can be very dangerous and if the conditions are bad it could even be life threatening.
Everyone should be prepared for next time they get a flat. Hopefully it is not on your way to work or an important meeting but it will happen to you sooner or later so please be prepared.
A good idea to prepare yourself for your next flat tire is to carry some important supplies in every vehicle that you drive. I would recommend carrying the basics like safety markers, spare tire, car jack, gloves, fix-a-flat for those small holes, tow rope, etc. because you never know what will happen on the open road.
Most importantly I would recommend carrying either a Cordless Impact Wrench or a 12 Volt Impact Wrench that you can plug into your cigarette lighter socket of your vehicle. Carrying either one of these will enable you to loosen and tighten all of your lug nuts in seconds so you spend less time on the side of the road changing a flat tire and less time in the danger zone.
Everyone that owns their own vehicle knows what it is like to change a flat tire. Some of us have done it in the middle of a snow storm and know how dangerous the side of the road can be. Using the mechanical advantages of impact wrenches will help you finish the job in half the time with half the effort to help get you back on the road as quickly and safely as possible.
Both Dennis Watson & Chris Nicholas 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.
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