How to Change a Flat Tire
When emergencies happen, it is important to be educated on how to resolve them quickly and safely. Many people never learn basic vehicle maintenance tips and safety, and that’s why we like to use our blog to help you stay safe in your vehicle! Changing a tire is a useful thing to know how to do, because you never know when you will need that knowledge, and flat tires rarely happen at a convenient time (say, right in front of an auto shop!). Learn how to change a flat tire here!
Read More: Stay safe driving through severe weather with these tips!
Materials Needed to Change a Flat Tire
Your car should come equipped with everything you need to change a flat tire, so double check that you have all of the following items:
- Jack
- Lug wrench
- Fully inflated spare tire
- Vehicle owner’s manual
If you don’t have any of these items, you should get them stored in your vehicle as soon as possible. You should also have an emergency car kit stored in your vehicle that contains items like a flashlight, gloves, and wheel wedges.
Steps to Change a Flat Tire
Follow these steps to safely and efficiently change your flat tire!
- Turn on your hazard lights.
- Pull your vehicle over in a safe location: Try to find a straight, flat stretch of land and pull as far off the road as possible.
- Utilize your parking brake and apply the wheel wedges to stabilize your vehicle.
- Remove the hubcap or wheel cover.
- Loosen the lug nuts: Do not remove them completely, leave them about ½ turn in.
- Place the jack under your vehicle and raise it: Make sure your tire is about 6 inches off the ground.
- Take off the lug nuts and remove the tire.
- Place the spare tire on the hub.
- Tighten the lug nuts by hand: You will finish this step after lowering your vehicle.
- Lower your vehicle: make sure the spare tire is on the ground, but don’t let the full weight of the vehicle fall on the tire
- Finish tightening the lug nuts using the lug wrench.
- Lower your vehicle completely and replace the hubcap.
There you have it! You should be sure to get your flat tire to a mechanic right away so that you can get it fixed and back on your vehicle. Spare tires are not meant to drive long distances, so remember it is only a temporary fix. If you have any questions, the staff at Queens Auto Mall would be happy to help you out!
Some of your car maintenance you can do it on your own. You can say it change of engine oil or a flat tire. We generally like to do such maintenance which needs minimum skill and equipment. We cannot make our home garage as a car service center. But we should have few necessary tools which are also not too dear. You can do the tire change by following the given tips here. But diving directly into the job sans proper training would lead you to great trouble. You should take live tips from a professional mechanic.