How to Change a Flat Tire

How to change a flat tire is another piece of information that you should definitely learn since it will allow you to handle a situation that you will not have expected to happen while driving on the road. A flat tire can happen at any point, when you are going to your office or doing some business. In this way, you will save your time, and there will be no necessity for you to ask for any help in changing the flat tire. Additionally, in case the trouble comes to you in remote areas, this knowledge will protect you from possible danger.

1. Lug Wrench
2. Spare Tire
3. Jack
4. Wheel Chocks (optional)
5. Owners Manual (optional)
6. Road Flares (optional)

If you are driving down the road and feel your tire start to go flat or your tire explodes, DO NOT PANIC!! When you feel this happen immediately start to slow down and find a safe place to pull over where you can work on your car.

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Whenever you get the car pulled over into a safe spot, you need to put your flashers on so it indicates to others cars to move over. You also need to engage your parking break so when your working on the car it doesn't start to roll back and forth.

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Most of the tools that you will need to complete the tire change should be located under a seat or in a compartment in your vehicle. Extra tools can be bought like wheel chocks and road flares. Bring all of the tools to the outside of the car where you will be changing the tire.

(picture citation) How to change a tire | parts matterTM. (n.d.-c). https://www.drivparts.com/parts-matter/learning-center/by-the-numbers/changing-flat-tire.html

If you have wheel chocks put one on the side that the messed up tire is on and one on the opposite side.

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Before you lift the car up, you need to loosen up the lug nuts. Many people believe that you can willy nilly take them off. That is incorrect. You have to loosen them up in a star type pattern that way the pressure/tension gets distributed evenly.

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Next you need to raise up the car to take the wheel and lug nuts completely off. To do this you slide the jack under the car to where it will raise up and lift the car on the frame. To raise the jack you attach the lug wrench and turn it clockwise.

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Finish unthreading the lug nuts and then slide the flat tire off of the studs. Then take the flat tire and put it in a safe place so you can take it to a tire shop so they can put a new tire on.

(picture citation) How to change my own flat tire. (n.d.-d). https://wrench.com/blog/how-to-change-my-own-flat-tire/

To easily put the spare tire on, sit on the ground and put the tire in between your legs. Use your legs and hands to raise the tire onto the studs and thread the lug nuts on a couple threads.

Like taking the lug nuts off, you tighten them up in a star pattern. Use the lug wrench to tighten all of the lugs pretty firmly.

(picture citation) How to Tighten Lug Nuts | YourMechanic advice. (n.d.-f). https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-tighten-lug-nuts-by-john-hege

After making sure the wheel is on firmly. Take all of your tools and put them up where you got them originally. Get to a tire shop as soon as possible because you are not supposed to drive more than 50 miles on a spare and no faster than 50 miles per hour.