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Punctures happen when you least expect – on your way to work, while driving late at night, or even in the middle of a storm. Thankfully, recent developments in tire design have reduced the risk of tires going flat.
While you can opt to join an auto club that offers roadside assistance when you get a flat tire or any car-related problem, you might have to change the punctured tire yourself on some days. This is why we have put together this guide to help you learn how to change a flat tire.
How to Change a Flat Tire
Any car owner should know how to replace a flat tire. It can get you out of a tight spot and save you time and money. Let’s say you’re on your way to pick up your kids from school, and you’re startled by a loud bang.
It doesn’t stop there. That loud bang is followed by a cranky sound from your left rear tire. What do you do?
1. Find a Safe Spot to Pull Over.
The first thing to do in such a situation is to pull over. Slow down your vehicle as you try to locate a good spot to park. It should be as far away from the road as possible.
To prevent your car from rolling when you change your tire, you will need to find a spot with firm, level ground. Don’t stop near corners or bends, as you may impair your visibility and that of other drivers. And always take note of your surroundings before you stop, ensuring the area you’re in is safe.
If you’re driving in the dark and your tire gets punctured, drive carefully until you get to a secure location before pulling over.
2. Use Your Hazard Lights and Parking Brakes.
Once you realize your car has a flat tire, you need to inform other drivers that you intend to pull over for an emergency. You can do this by turning on your hazard lights. Not only will this alert other motorists that you have a problem, but it will also allow you to change your flat tire with minimal disturbance.
Ensure you properly apply your parking brakes when pulling over to prevent your car from rolling over when you’re changing the tire.
Remember to place your reflective warning signs about 100 feet behind your car to warn oncoming vehicles of your presence. Now that you’re in a safe location, you need to figure out the tools you need to replace your flat tire.
3. Make Sure You Have the Supplies You Need
You will need a few tools to change your punctured tire successfully. These include:
● A car jack
● A lug wrench
● An inflated spare tire.
However, these three tools won’t be enough in some situations. For example, these devices won’t sufficiently help you out during a storm or when you’ve driven through a muddy road.
Therefore, these additional items will come in handy for most situations:
● A mat for kneeling
● A pair of gloves
● A tire pressure gauge
● A flashlight
● A rain poncho or raincoat.
● Your car owner’s manual.
You can buy most of the required items at your local service station. It’s a good idea to have the essentials packed in a compartment in your car trunk in case of an emergency.
Once your car is parked, you need to inspect the flat tire and note the cause of the puncture. It may be due to a sharp object on the road, improper inflation, vandalism, or valve stem damage. The intensity of the puncture depends on the nature of the damage.
Next, you need to remove the flat tire before installing the spare tire. Here are the steps you should follow.
4. Wedge Your Vehicle’s Tires
Before unscrewing your lug nuts, make sure to wedge the tires opposite the flat tire. You can use a large rock or stick placed behind the wheel to wedge it. This step will help secure your car, preventing it from rolling as you change your flat tire.
If the flat is on the rear side, remember to wedge the tires in the front.
5. Loosen the Lug Nuts
The next step is to pry open your hubcap or wheel cover to reveal the lug nuts. Once the cover is off, use your lug wrench to unscrew the lug nuts. Secure the wrench onto the nut and turn it counterclockwise until it is loose enough to be unscrewed by hand.
Repeat this step with all the lug nuts. Remember, you don’t want to remove them at this step. You’re just loosening them up first.
6. Lift Your Vehicle Off the Ground
Next, you need to raise your car off the ground using a jack. Locate the jacking points of the vehicle and then position the jack underneath them. If you can’t locate the jacking points, check your vehicle’s manual for the precise location.
Locating the right jacking points is crucial to avoid wrongly positioning your jack, which may damage your car’s bodywork. Different cars have varying jacking points, but the most common positions are just behind the front wheels or slightly in front of the rear wheels.
Once the jack is in place, slowly turn the crank to raise the flat tire off the ground. Keep turning until there’s a clearance between the tire and the ground. Then you can proceed to remove the loose lug nuts.
7. Remove the Lug Nuts and Flat Tire
Unscrew the lug nuts, remove them altogether, and place them in a safe place. You’ll need to screw them back on once the spare tire is installed, so keep them within reach.
If you have an assistant, you can ask them to hold onto the nuts as you switch the tires. Next, hold the flat tire with both arms and pull it towards you to remove it. Set it aside carefully and get ready to install the spare tire.
8. Place the Spare Tire on the Car
If you jacked your car correctly and lifted it high enough, you should have enough clearance to install the replacement tire. Raise the inflated tire and position it on the lug nut posts carefully.
Lining up the holes on the spare tire with the studs on the wheelbase might be challenging, but take your time until you get it right. You want to push the tire as far back on the wheelbase as you can before securing it with the lug nuts.
9. Replace the Lug Nuts
Once the spare tire is in place, start screwing on the lug nuts one by one in a clockwise manner. However, you don’t want to tighten them immediately, so you should do it by hand at this stage. Once the nuts are snug and the wheel is a bit sturdy, lower your vehicle to begin tightening your lug nuts fully.
10. Partially Lower Your Vehicle and Begin Tightening
Next, start unwinding your car jack to lower the spare tire until it just touches the ground. It is advisable to tighten the lug nuts when your spare tire is on the ground to keep the tire in place as you tighten the nuts. Tighten the nuts one at a time, alternating between different nuts.
Assign numbers to the lug nuts in order from one to five and tighten them in the following order: one, three, five, two, four, one, three, five, two. Repeat the process until the tire fits right against the brake hub.
11. Lower Your Vehicle Entirely and Finish Tightening
To achieve the required torque for the lug nuts, you will need to tighten them as much as possible. To do this, lower your car to the ground and pull out your jack from underneath the vehicle. Now tighten the nuts one at a time until the lug wrench can’t budge any further.
Now that your spare tire is securely in place, it’s time to hit the road. But, first, put away your tools properly.
12. Packing Up
Roll away your flat tire and place it in the trunk of your car where your spare tire was. You should also remember to put back your tools where you got them from to avoid losing them. This step is essential and should not be skipped.
Remember to remove the wedges from your other wheels before you drive off.
Recommended Tools
If you’re a new car owner, it might be confusing to pick the right tools to prepare yourself for a flat tire. To make the shopping process a little less overwhelming, focus on two important tools: the car jack and the wrench.
You can choose from a wide variety of car jacks today, each with unique features. For instance, a heavy-duty jack might come in handy if you own a truck or an SUV. Meanwhile, a wrench is crucial for removing the flat tire from your car. You can get a folding wrench if you have limited storage space in your trunk.
The Bottom Line
Your flat tire is now replaced, and you are ready to resume your journey. However, there are a few things to keep in mind. Your spare tire is often smaller than your original tire. Therefore, you don’t want to drive at high speeds on it.
You should maintain reasonable speed limits to avoid stressing your spare wheel. Remember to get your flat tire fixed at your next service station stop to ensure you have a spare just in case you get a flat tire again
Changing a flat tire is relatively simple. All you need to do is follow the steps above to get it done in no time.
