A flat tire is a major inconvenience but easily handled when your vehicle is well-stocked for such a situation. Changing a flat tire is a relatively easy process that you can complete on your own when you know the basic steps.
Care For Your Spare
Image via Flickr under CC BY 2.0 by marioemiliano
Check the air pressure in your spare tire every time you check your other tires, which should be at least once a month. Inflate your spare to the manufacturer’s recommended PSI to ensure that it’s always ready to do its job.
Keep Your Car Stocked
You’ll need to have a few essential items on hand to change a flat tire. You should have:
- Spare tire.
- Lug wrench.
- Jack.
- Owner’s manual for your vehicle.
- Wheel wedges.
- Flashlight (with working batteries).
- 2×6 wood.
- Gloves.
- Rain jacket or poncho.
- Mat to kneel on.
- Reflective warning sign.
Find A Safe Spot
It’s important to find a safe location when you need to change a flat tire. Unfortunately, your options are typically limited to what you can access right after your tire goes flat. If you experience a flat tire while you’re driving, reduce your speed slowly, put on your hazards lights, and look for a flat, straight piece of road with a wide shoulder. A parking lot is ideal if you can access one. Avoid turning or braking suddenly, as this only makes it more difficult to control your vehicle.
You should always avoid:
- Areas exposed to oncoming traffic.
- Curves where traffic can’t easily spot you.
- Narrow shoulders.
- Hills.
- Soft ground.
It’s better to drive on your rim and risk the need for a replacement than to stop in a potentially dangerous spot to change your flat tire. In some cases, you may need to have your vehicle towed to a safer location before you can change the flat tire. Personal safety should always come first.
Secure The Vehicle
It’s important to properly secure your vehicle before changing a flat tire so it remains stable on the jack and there’s no risk of it rolling away. Put your car in park or shift to reverse gear if you have a manual transmission. Apply the parking brake once you stop, even if you’re on level ground.
Use wheel wedges to keep the tires from shifting. If you don’t have specialized wheel wedges, you can also use a rock, chunk of concrete, or brick. If you’re changing a rear tire, place the wedges in front of the front tires. To change a front tire, place wheel wedges behind the rear tires.
If you’re along the road, place a reflective warning sign a few feet behind your car. This signal will alert traffic to your presence.
Locate Your Spare
You can’t change your flat if you don’t have a spare or new tire handy, so the first thing to do is locate your spare tire and make sure it’s in good condition. The spare tire is typically in a compartment beneath the floor of your trunk. Lift the carpeting panel in your trunk to reveal the spare. If you’re having trouble finding the spare tire, refer to your owner’s manual for more detailed information.
Change the Tire
Changing a flat tire is a fairly simple process once you’re familiar with the steps. After finding the right spot and ensuring your vehicle is well-secured, you’re ready to remove and replace your tire. Follow these steps:
1. Remove the hubcap or wheel cover if present. If the lug nuts are exposed, you can skip this step. You should be able to pry the wheel cover off using the flat end of your lug wrench. If the wheel cover doesn’t come off easily, check your owner’s manual for more detailed instructions for proper removal steps.
2. Loosen, but do not remove, the lug nuts. Use the lug wrench to adjust them about a quarter to a half turn counterclockwise. You may need to use your whole body weight to get them to loosen. The goal is to get the lug nuts to the point where you can finish removing them by hand.
3. Position the jack. Place the 2×6 wood underneath the jack for added stability and put the jack near the flat tire and beneath a stable metal part of your vehicle’s frame. Many vehicles have a marking or notch, just in front of the rear wheel wells and behind the front wheel wells, that’s designed for just this purpose. Your vehicle’s owner’s manual will have additional details on proper placement. If you put the jack beneath a plastic part of the frame or in an otherwise inappropriate spot, you could risk damaging the car, so it’s important to know where to lift.
4. Lift the vehicle with the jack. Turn the jack clockwise until the flat tire is several inches off the ground.
5. Remove the lug nuts and tire. Unscrew the lug nuts by hand and pull the tire directly toward your chest to remove it from the vehicle.
6. Put the spare on the car. Line the lug nut posts up with the holes in the spare tire and push it straight forward onto the vehicle.
7. Replace the lug nuts and tighten them by hand.
8. Lower the jack until the tire just makes contact with the ground. Do not put the full weight of the car on the tire yet.
9. Tighten the lug nuts in small increments using the lug wrench. Alternate lug nuts as you work around the wheel, so you tighten one, three, five, two, and four. This keeps the tire straight. Repeat around the wheel until the lug nuts are secure.
10. Lower the vehicle to the ground. Tighten the lug nuts further if possible.
With the spare tire in place, you’re ready to pack up your flat and head to your nearest dealership or tire store for a repair or replacement. You shouldn’t drive on a spare tire for more than 70 miles, and space-savers tires cannot go any more than 50 miles per hour.
Our service center at Panama City Toyota can help you out after a flat. Just stop into our service center or contact us, and we’ll help you with all your car care needs.
