There’s nothing worse than getting a flat tire. Whether you walk out to your car to find out one of your tires has gone flat or it happens while you’re driving, you’ll need to change it right away. If you have never had to change a flat tire before, you might be wondering how to do it. Keep reading as we show you how to change a flat tire.
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A Simple Process to Help Get You Back on the Road
Time needed: 20 minutes.
Before you change a flat tire, you need to make sure that you are pulled over in a safe place with your parking brake and hazard lights on. Make sure you have a spare tire, jack, and wrench. Let’s get into the steps of changing a tire:
- Loosen the lug nuts.
If your vehicle comes with a hub cap, take it off. Then, use the wrench to loosen the lug nuts until they can be turned by hand.
- Raise the vehicle.
Place the jack under your car and raise the vehicle until the tire is about six inches off the ground. Make sure the jack is perpendicular to the ground for more security.
- Fully loosen and remove lug nuts.
Once the tire is off the ground, loosen and remove the lug nuts and put them somewhere safe. Pull off the flat tire and set it out of the way.
- Put on the spare tire.
Put the spare tire onto the bolts as far as you can and put the lug nuts back on. Tighten the lug nuts just a little bit but don’t tighten them fully yet.
- Lower vehicle and start to lower vehicle.
Slowly lower the vehicle until the tire is touching the ground but the vehicle isn’t fully lowered. Fully tighten the lug nuts by tightening every other lug nut in increments to keep the tire on straight.
- Finish tightening lug nuts.
Lower your vehicle completely and tighten the lug nuts again. Tighten the lug nuts until they no longer budge.
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