Uh-oh, you’ve got a flat! Much like learning how to drive the right way, knowing how to change your tire quickly and safely is a critical life skill. Follow these five easy steps, and you’ll always be able to change a tire confidently when you need to.
- Stop the car away from traffic on the level, solid ground. This will help keep the jack steady and your vehicle from sliding off. Shift into park or reverse gear and put on the parking brake.
- Locate and keep your spare tire, jack, and lug wrench ready. These are usually in the trunk or cargo area of a car. Using the wrench, loosen (without removing entirely) the lug nuts that hold the wheel in place. Find the reinforced jacking points. These are usually underneath the car, just behind the front wheels, or in front of the rear wheels.
- Place the jack in position beneath the jacking point closest to the flat, lift the car until the tire moves clear away from the ground.
- Now remove the lug nuts. Take the flat off and slide on the spare tire. Make sure the wheel’s valve stem is facing out towards you. Now, you can place the lug nuts back and tighten the nuts by hand. Next, use the wrench to tighten slightly. Lower the jack until the tire touches the ground and tighten the bolts a little further.
- Now, you lower the vehicle, remove the jack, and give the lug nuts a final tightening. If there are five nuts, work on tightening every alternate one until you’ve covered them all. If you have four, work in opposing pairs. Remember, once they feel tight enough, put the jack, wrench, and flat tire back into the trunk.
Hopefully, all these steps won’t take very long, and you can get back on the road quickly enough. Before you go, make sure you take your civic responsibility seriously and do a quick clean up. Every time you change a tire, you get more confident at it. Besides saving you a few dollars, you also get a sense of self-satisfaction from a job well done.