How to Change a Tire

You are driving back after a hectic day at office and eagerly looking forward to be home to be with your family. The thought of spending a comfortable and relaxed weekend occupies your mind as you quietly smile to yourself. Suddenly, you hear a hissing sound and your vehicle comes to a staggering halt. Of all the things, it is what you had feared since a long time. Stuck with a flat tire in the middle of the road with no mechanic in sight! To avoid being helpless in such a situation, here are some simple instructions for replacing a flat tire on your car. Changing a flat tire is not that difficult and with clear-cut steps, even you can learn how to do it.

Image: By English: Cpl Brian Reimers [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

What You Need

Car Jack
Flashlight (in case its dark)
Lugnut Wrenches
Spare Tire

Instructions to Change the Tire

The car should be parked on a flat surface rather than a sloping one. If there is a slight slant, consider placing a brick or small rock behind the other tires, so that it doesn’t move. Apply the parking brake, put the car in gear and turn off the engine. Turn on the hazard lights to let other people know that you are doing some repairs.
Take out the spare tire, lug-nut wrench (tire iron) and the car jack. If necessary, remove the hubcap. After this, loosen up the lug nuts that hold the tire in place. The lug nuts should be loosened in a star pattern. When you loosen one, next one to be loosened should be located opposite to it. Make sure all the nuts are unscrewed and slightly loose before you get the car jack.
Very slowly and carefully, lift up the car with the jack. Make sure there is enough room to remove the old tire and also put the new, full tire on. For this, the car should be jacked up a little higher than necessary. Now, remove the lug nuts away and place them where you won’t loose any of them and they won’t roll away. Slowly remove the flat tire, which should be hanging by the studded threads. Keep it aside.
Get the new tire, lift it and place it onto the studs. To cross check, whether you have placed it properly, check for the air valve. It always faces out. Now, place the lug nuts back the way you unscrewed them. Tighten up each one slightly in a star pattern. Don’t tighten lug nuts located adjacent to each other.
Slowly, bring down the car from the jack and remove it. Now tighten the lug nuts as much as you can. Place the hub cap back and you are ready to continue on your journey!

How to Cite

Related Articles

See also

More in 'Automobiles'