Changing your flat tire

Changing flat is really not an easy and pleasant experience, and you should consider some things just to do it right and assure the safety of your passenger. You might unluckily encounter this situation, but of course if have some knowledge on how to do this things, you might realize its not that so bad.

Safety first. First thing you have to do is park your car on a level ground, make sure that you are on stable ground (avoid hills). If you can't, the surface should be as level as possible. Put manual transmission cars in gear. Make sure you have pulled off the road and apply the parking brake. Turn the engine off and turn on the hazard lights. You may want to open the hood to indicate to other drivers that you are stopped for repairs. If you happen to have a piece of wood or something similar, place that in front of and behind the tire opposite the one you are changing to help keep the car from rolling.

Now its safe to change your tire. Most car manufacturer's have the essential tools and a spare tire under the floor of the trunk. You can start remove the hubcap, if necessary. Loosen the lug nuts, you have to use wrench to loosen the nuts. Turn the wrench counterclockwise to loosen the lug nut. Don't remove the lug nuts at this point; simply loosen them.

Now its time to jack your car, jack is a tool to lift your car. Carefully jack up the car, place the jack at the correct location under the vehicle. Make sure that you place it where it will meet the metal portion of the frame. Many cars are made from molded plastic, and if you don't place the jack in the right spot, it will crack the body when you start lifting. If you don't know where the proper jacking points are, look them up in the owner's manual. Jack the car up a little higher than is necessary to remove the old tire so there is room to put the new. Remove the lug nuts all the way and set them aside in a place where you won't lose them. Remove the flat tire and set it aside.

Get the spare tire, align it over the holes on the rim with the bolts on the car. After you have the spare tire hanging on the wheel studs, screw each of the wheel lugs back on. Tighten them the same way you loosened them. Make sure you do not cross-thread them. Once the spare tire is on slowly lower the jack and remove it. Now that the car is back on the ground, you can finish tightening the nuts as much as you can. It's important to note that the nuts should be tightened in a diagonal pattern, meaning that after you tighten the first nut, then tighten the nut diagonally across from the first nut. To ensures that you are tightening the tire evenly. And you can now pack things up and get on the road again. If you are not satisfied on what you did, better to drive directly to nearest repair shop to make sure.

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