Changing A Tire

Everyone should know how to change a tire. You may think that you have an auto club membership and you don't need to know how but what happens if you are not near a phone. You might have a cell phjone but batteries die and cell phones can get out of range. This article will give you the basic procedure for changing a tire. Remember to always consult your owners manual before changing a tire. It will give you any special procedures that you need to know for your vehicle.

Tire Changing Safety

You need to be in a safe and level place to change a tire. If possible move the car so that you are away from traffic and on level ground. If you cannot get on level ground, call a tow truck. If you cannot get off the highway, call a tow truck.

Tire Changing Steps

Step 1
Put the car in park or first gear for manual transmissions. Engage the emergency brake and turn your car or truck's engine off.

Step 2
Pull out your vehicles jack, lug nut wrench and spare tire. In a car, these items will usually be in the trunk under a false floor. In a truck, the tire may be under the truck bed and the jack and wrench will be under a seat, behind the seat or even under your hood.

Step 3
If you have hubcaps you will need to remove them first. You can do this by prying them off with your lug wrench. It should have a flat end for this purpose. Be sure to read your manual for special instructions.

Step 4
Now you need to loosen the lug nuts. If you wait until the car or truck is in the air, the wheel will just spin when you apply pressure and the nuts will never come off. Remember to turn them counter clockwise to loosen them. Do not remove the nuts, only loosen them at this time.

Step 5
Next you need to jack up the car. Consult your manual for the designated lifting points on your vehicle. After you make sure that the jack is on level ground, slowly raise the vehicle. Raise the car or truck only as far as you need to to get the old wheel off and the new wheel on. If you are changing a flat remember that the new wheel will be taller since it is aired up.

Step 6
Remove the lug nuts and set them aside in a safe location. Now you can take the wheel off. Be careful, it may be heavy.

Step 7
Put the new wheel on the car and tighten the lug nuts as firmly as you can. You will tighten them all of the way once the car is on the ground so just get them snug.

Step 8
Now lower the jack slowly. Consult your manual for the proper tightening sequence. There is a specific order that you need to tighten the lug nuts.
For example if you have four lug nuts you will tighten one and then tighten the nut on the opposite side. You then tighten the other two in any order.
If you have five lug nuts you tighten a nut and then skip the next until you are done. In other words going clockwise you would tighten number one, then number three, then number five, then number two and finally number four.

Step 9
Now put your hub caps back on if so equipped and put up your jack, lug wrench and bad tire.

That's all there is to it. Have your bad tire repaired or replaced as soon as possible. If you do not have a full size spare, remember that the smaller doughnuts are not designed for high speed. Keep your speed under fifty miles an hour until you have it replaced.