Quick and Safe Guide to Changing a Car Tire

When driving on the road, a flat tire or a sudden tire explosion is something no one wants. However, in some emergency cases, the car owner must remove and install the tire himself so that the travel schedule is not interrupted.

Below is the detailed and correct way to change car tires that Dealnew.co.uk wants to share with you.

Detailed step-by-step guide on how to change a car tire yourself

1. Find a Safe, Flat Place to Change the Tire

First, you need to find a safe, flat, and sturdy place to park your car so that it won't move during the tire change. You should not stop your car on bends that block your view because this will endanger you and other road users.

Also, if your tire breaks on the highway, you need to pull over to the emergency lane and turn on your hazard lights before changing the tire.

2. Engage the Handbrake and Put the Gear Lever in “P”

When starting to change a tire, you should put the car in 1st or reverse for manual transmission cars, and “P” for automatic transmission cars. In addition, to limit the situation of rolling wheels, you should also pull up the handbrake.

3. Secure the Vehicle with Heavy Objects

To secure the vehicle's position, use a hard object to block the front and rear wheels, even if the vehicle is parked on a flat surface.

If possible, you should prepare a specialized car stopper and keep it in the trunk for use when necessary.

4. Get the Spare Tire and Jack the Car

Next, take out the jack and the spare tire that you have prepared. Gently remove the punctured tire by loosening the screw, then place the jack under the car, right at the position of the tire that needs to be replaced so that the jack contacts the metal part of the car frame.

Additionally, with some modern vehicles, the tire that needs to be replaced may be in front of the rear wheel or behind the front wheel.

Older cars or trucks will have the jack located at the frame beam or similar to the chassis of modern cars.

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5. Raise the Jack to Touch the Car Body

Raise the jack until it touches the body of the car, making sure the jack is always perpendicular to the ground.

6. Remove the Hub Cap and Loosen the Nuts

To ensure the process of changing a car tire is effective, you need to use car accessories  to keep the tire in contact with the ground when loosening the first screws.

Next, use a wrench to open or remove the screw in the correct direction of rotation to help remove the wheel hub cover more quickly. This can take a lot of effort as you have to use your body weight or foot to step on the wrench. 

7. Raise the Jack to Lift the Wheel Off the Ground

You should raise the jack high enough to easily remove the wheel from the ground and replace the spare tire. In particular, during the process of raising the jack, you must ensure that the car is firmly fixed, without any shaking. 

8. Remove the Nuts

You proceed to remove the nut counterclockwise until the nut is completely loosened, then remove the whole thing. 

9. Remove the Tire

Remove the old tire and place it under the vehicle to prevent the jack from breaking and causing the vehicle to collapse, which could be dangerous for the person changing the tire. Therefore, you should place the car jack on a flat and sturdy surface to minimize this risk.

Additionally, if the tire is stuck due to rust, you can use a rubber hammer to hit the inside of the tire to loosen it.  

10. Install the Spare Tire

When installing a car wheel onto the axle, you need to install it in the correct direction, avoid turning it backwards, and the tire valve head must face outwards.

In case the vehicle uses crown nuts, you need to pay attention that the beveled part of the nut must face the wheel.

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11. Tighten the Lug Nuts

Once the wheel is mounted on the axle, use a wrench to tighten the lug nuts to ensure the tire is balanced.

However, you also need to limit using too much force to avoid knocking the jack and tighten the screws in a star shape and slowly turn until the screws are evenly tight.

12. Lower the Vehicle and Remove the Jack

Next, lower the vehicle slowly but not completely. Then tighten the lug nuts, install the hubcap, lower the vehicle to the ground and remove the jack and wheel chocks.

13. Check the Wheels

After completing all steps of the car tire replacement process, you put the damaged tire in the trunk and check the new wheel before operating.

3 Test steps:

• Check if the bolts are tightened securely. If not, tighten the bolts again with a specialized tool until you hear a "click" sound. 
• Check tire pressure and use pump to adjust to most suitable pressure level.
• Start the engine, move the car slowly and observe if the car vibrates or makes noise. If you feel that the car has any unusual signs, you should take the car to a repair shop for re-inspection.

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Changing tyres: Things to note

When changing a car tire yourself, you should read the instructions carefully and understand the process to avoid mistakes. In addition, you should also note the following:

• Check the quality of the tires carefully because if you use poor quality tires, you can easily encounter problems while driving. In addition, using poor quality tires also makes the driver prolong the time and distance when slowing down or braking and makes it difficult to control in an emergency.
• When changing a tire on the highway, you should use a wheel chock and turn on the warning lights so that other vehicle owners can detect and proactively reduce speed to avoid causing traffic accidents.
• Tighten the nuts evenly and tightly in an X or star shape, then use a specialized tool to lower and remove the car jack and tighten the nuts again.
• When you finish changing the tire, find a quiet place to test drive and check if the quality of the wheel is up to standard.
• Regularly check tire wear and quality to ensure tires are still in good condition.

Above is some information on how to change car tires that you can refer to. Dealnew.co.uk hopes that the above sharing will help you understand the necessary steps when having to change tires yourself as well as the notes to make the tire changing process take place safely and most effectively.