Almost everyone who drives a car has experienced flat tires. It is a frustrating situation to be in, which is why you need to know how to change a flat tire. This is one basic skill that everyone who owns and drives a car should know about. If you know how to change a flat tire, you will save money on roadside emergency assistance and it can get you back on the road much faster.
So, here are the steps on how to change a flat tire.
First thing's first. You need to know about the rules when changing a flat tire. The first rule is that you should never go underneath a vehicle that is only supported by a jack. If you need to do so, you need to use an approved jack stand to support the vehicle.
The second rule is that you should always wear eye protection whenever you are working around your vehicle.
When you get a flat, you first need to park the vehicle on a hard and level surface. If you can't find any, you should find a surface that is as level as possible. If you are driving an automatic transmission vehicle, you need to make sure that you put it in the park position. Or, if you have a manual transmission vehicle, you need to put in reverse.
Next, you need to apply the parking brake or the hand brake. You also need to place a wheel chock, or a brick that is diagonally opposite to the wheel that needs to be changed. For example, if you are going to replace the left front tire, you need to place a chock or brick on the right rear tire.
If your car has separate wheel covers, use the pry bars to remove them. If you have a wheel lock key, then fit it to the wheel lock and place the lug wrench on it. After that, turn it in a clockwise direction until the wheel lock cracks loose.
It is important that you should place the wheel lock in a safe place in order to prevent it from rolling away. After that, you need to crack the other lug nuts loose. Just get the lug nuts loose but don't remove them just yet. If a lug nut is difficult to loosen, try placing a lug wrench on the lug nut until it is as close to horizontal to the ground as possible. After that, stand close to the end of the lug wrench and do a little jump. This will crack loose a difficult lug nut.
Now, after you loosen the lug nuts, you will now need to place the jack in position as stated in the instructions for your vehicle. If the ground is grassy or sandy, you might want to place a flat piece of wood under the jack. This will stabilize it and prevent it from sinking into the soft ground.
After this, you need to slowly but steadily raise the vehicle using the jack up until the tire is just barely touching the ground. Using the lug wrench, remove all the lug nuts and place them aside on a safe place in order to prevent losing it.
Then, raise the wheel further up until the wheel is free from the ground. Remove the wheel. Try kicking the wheel gently to loosen it.
With the flat tire out of the way, get your spare tire and place them onto the wheel studs. Place the lug nuts back on and tighten it with your hand as hard and as far as you can. After this, the wheel will now be secured in place. Then, lower the jack up until the wheel is just touching the ground. Using the lug wrench, tighten the lug nuts. There is a sequence that you need to remember when tightening the lug nuts. If you have five lug nuts on your wheel, you need to tighten one first then skip one lug nut and tighten the next one up until you tighten it all.
After tightening it, lower your car completely and give the lug nuts a final tightening. By standing on the lug wrench, use your body weight to tighten the lug nuts. After this, go to the tire store or repair shop as soon as possible to ensure that the lug nuts have the proper torque.
That's how simple it is. If you are experienced and follow the instructions, it will take only about 30 minutes to do everything.
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