Changing a flat tire
-An AutoGoblin.com public service article-
Are you really prepared for the next time you get a flat tire on the highway? If not read on .......
This page was made for information purposes to educate the public on how to properly and safely change a tire. It serves as a guide for changing a vehicle's tire when a flat occurs. Every time you drive your vehicle, there’s the potential you may get a flat. It can happen anytime, so now is the time to become familiar and aware of the process of changing a flat tire. Don't wait until you're broke down on the highway to try to figure out how to change a flat tire.
The first thing you want to do to prepare yourself for changing a flat tire is to read your vehicle's instruction manual. Do it now before you take you vehicle for it's next drive. Why you ask? By doing this you can become familiar with the locations of the spare tire, jack, and the process of changing a tire on your car. This process will be detailed in a short while. It’s a good idea to keep in your car a working flashlight, flare, raincoat/poncho, a towel, and some sort of cushion or cloth that you can kneel on because lets face it, when you get a flat it’s going to be at a bad time and place, and odds are you will be wearing something nice so it’s a good idea to lay something on the ground before you kneel down. These are things that won’t take up much space and you will be thanking yourself later for having them.
Now let’s say you are driving down the local interstate on your way to work or to visit a friend or a family member. All of the sudden you get a flat tire. What do you do? Sure the first thing to do is pull over, right? But did you think safety first? The number one step to changing a tire is safety. Make sure you pull off the road into an area that’s safe for changing a tire. Do your best to avoid changing a tire on the interstate, even if you have to drive slowly for a small distance to the next exit, with your emergency flashers on of course. Now that you have pulled off to the side of the road you need to evaluate the situation. Assuming you have time to change the tire and that you’re not off to your wedding or to court, the next step is to become familiar again with your vehicles instruction manual. Re-read and know the process outlined in your instruction manual! Follow this process exactly how it is written, don’t skip a step because if you do, you may injure yourself or cause further damage to your car.
Usually the process looks something similar to this: First you need to locate the jack, spare tire, etc. The next step will be to locate the position of a lift point near the flat tire. This “lift point” is usually along the frame of the car. It’s the strongest point under a car where the weight of the car can rest on the jack. Make sure you’ve located this lift point and position the jack under it because if you don’t you’re putting yourself in danger. The weight of the car can shift, causing the car to fall of the jack. Also a falling jack can have damaging consequences to the mechanics of your car. Before you lift the car with the jack, make sure you have all the necessary tools and the spare tire close by. Also, break the lug nuts loose with the lug nut wrench while the wheel is still on the ground. That will keep it from turning as you try to force the nuts loose. Next you want to use the jack to elevate the car high enough that you can remove the flat tire, while leaving room to mount the new tire. Once the car is elevated and safe to work on, begin to remove the hub cap (if you have one). This is done by prying a wedge between the hub cap and the wheel, usually found on the tool used to remove the lug-nuts. Next you want to remove the lug-nuts. When you’ve positioned the wrench on the lug-nut turn the wrench in the counter-clockwise direction. Do this until you have successfully removed all the lug-nuts. Now that you have completed this step, the flat tire is ready to come off. Once again make sure the car is balanced correctly on the jack. You can now remove the flat tire and set it down, out of the way. Now you are ready to mount the spare tire. Position the spare tire correctly onto the car. Replace the lug-nuts, but this time turn the wrench in a clock-wise direction and fasten the bolts snug. Since the tire is elevated it will spin if you attempt to tighten the bolts with force. So just put them on snug and then lower the jack slowly. With the load completely off the jack, tighten the lug-nuts in a cris-cross pattern until each is fastened securely. With this step completed you have now successfully changed a flat tire.
Make sure you put back the tools you needed and put the flat tire in the car. You can now continue on to your destination. But keep in mine that most, but now all, cars have what’s called a “mini spare”. This spare is designed for slower speeds and short distances. Really, it’s meant to get you to a service station when a proper replacement tire can be mounted. So while you are driving on this mini spare, limit your speed. You may want to consider taking an alternative route to your destination, say back roads. But make sure you replace the mini-spare as soon as possible.
As always, keeping you vehicle in proper working condition will save you many headaches. Be sure to check the wear of your tire. Each tire has a set of ridges located across the tread. This is an elevated piece of rubber that is an indicator for when it’s time to replace your tire. When the tire tread wears down to this indicator, it’s time to get a new tire. Also tires tend to wear along the edge because of the constant turning of your vehicle. This can cause uneven wear of the tire and thus increasing the odds of a blowout. If this is happening, make sure to get new tires to avoid a potential flat. Keeping you’re tires in excellent condition will help prevent blowouts.