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How to Change a Flat Tire
By Stephen Bucaro
Few things are as inconvenient as getting a flat tire. It
can make you late for an appointment, and when you do
arrive, you are either frazzled or filthy from the
experience. If you don't know how to change a tire, the
experience is made much worse by having to wait for
someone to come to your assistance.
Most women couldn't care less about the workings of a
motor vehicle and how to change a tire. Unfortunately most
modern men are as helpless in this respect as most women.
I refer to men who can't change their own flat tire as,
pardon the expression, "girly-boys".
In this article I will provide simple instructions to
prepare you for the inevitable inconvenience of getting a
flat tire. Anyone can easily change a tire, even a woman
or a girly-boy. But first lets talk about how to avoid
getting a flat tire in the first place.
One way to get a flat tire is when a nail or other sharp
object penetrates your tire. In the old days this would
cause your tire to go flat within seconds. Today's modern
steel belted radial tires usually just develop a slow leak
when penetrated. Even if not penetrated by a sharp object,
a tire will gradually lose its air pressure. The way to
avoid the inconvenience of getting a flat tire is to check
all your tires air pressure regularly.
Today's modern steel-belted radial tires bulge out at the
side a little even when they have proper pressure, so you
can't tell by just looking at them if they have proper
pressure. You need to use a tire pressure gauge. Gauges
come in two main types. One type has a rod that comes
jetting out at the end. The other type has a dial. In
either case you use the gauge by removing the little
plastic cap from the tire's air valve and quickly pushing
the valve end of the gauge onto the tire valve.
You will get a little "hiss" when you do this. If you did
it correctly, the gauge will give an accurate indication
of the tires air pressure. Sometimes it takes a little
practice to get an accurate reading. Compare the reading
you get with the maximum psi (pounds per square inch)
written on the sidewall of the tire. Car tires usually
have a maximum of 32 psi. Full size light truck tires can
have a maximum of 80 psi.
If the air pressure is too low, there is a risk of the
tire breaking lose from the wheel. This would cause
dangerous rapid deflation of the tire. When a car tire's
pressure gets below about 24 psi you risk rapid deflation.
If the pressure is too high, there is a risk of the tread
separating from the steal belt. This can also cause rapid
deflation, but usually it just gives you a very bumpy
ride.
The way to avoid getting a flat tire is to check the air
pressure in all your tires regularly. By "regularly" I
mean at least once each month. By "all your tires" I mean
including the spare. It is very common for a person to
remove a flat from their vehicle just to learn that their
spare is also flat.
If you find one of your tires has low pressure, you need
to pump it up to the proper value. Air pumps come in two
main types. One type has a cord with a plug that goes into
your cars cigarette lighter. The other type has a cord
that plugs into an AC outlet.
The cigarette lighter type has the advantage that you can
carry it in your car and possibly re-inflate a flat tire
at the side of the road, saving the messy job of changing
the tire for later. The disadvantage is that they work
very slowly and can draw down a cars battery. The AC power
cord type has the advantage that it can fill tires more
quickly, but it ;s rare to find an AC outlet at the side of
the road.
Possibly the most important thing to know about tires, is
what to do if you get a flat while speeding down the
expressway. The most important thing NOT to do is slam
on the breaks! This is a common cause of roll-overs. Just
let your foot off the gas and look for a level area at the
side of the road to pull off.
People that don't know how to change a tire frequently
keep driving on the flat tire, in search of a service
station, until the tire is totally shredded. Then instead
of paying ten dollars to fix a flat, they have to pay a
hundred dollars for a new tire. Fortunately after you use
the information in this article, you won't get caught in
that situation.
To fix a flat tire you have to jack up the car and replace
the flat tire with your spare tire. Unfortunately many
people don't even know where the jack is, and some don't
even know how to get the spare out. Don't wait until
you're stranded by the side of the road to start looking
for your jack and figuring how to get the spare out.
In the old days, the spare tire and jack where always in
the trunk of the car. Now with mini-vans and SUVs, vehicle
manufacturers have become very creative with hiding the
spare tire and jack. Below is a list of places where you
might find the jack.
- in the trunk
- under or behind the seat
- hidden behind a panel
- under the hood
Below is a list of places where you might find the spare
tire.
- in the trunk
- under the vehicle
- hanging on the back of the vehicle
- hidden behind a panel
Go out to your car right now and locate your jack and
spare tire. You may need to locate your owners manual
first to learn how to locate and use your specific jack
to change a flat tire. It's better to figure it out now
rather than waiting until you're stranded by the side of
the road.
If you have never jacked up your car, now is the time to
practice. As mentioned earlier, the vehicle should be on
level ground. The jack usually needs to be positioned at
a "peg" or "slot" under the chassis near the tire to be
removed. At first don't jack the car up so high that the
tire leaves the ground. Just jack it up to take most of
the weight of the car off the tire.
Then use the lug wrench to "break" the lug nuts lose. To
break them lose you have to turn them counter-clockwise.
Breaking the lug nuts lose might take a little muscle. If
you left the bottom of the tire on the ground, this will
help by preventing the tire from spinning or the vehicle
from rocking. "Breaking" the nut lose means loosening it
enough so you can get it off easy, kind of like a jar
with a stuck lid. Just break them lose at this point,
don't remove them.
If you're not strong enough to get the lug nuts loose,
now is the time to find that out. It is also not uncommon
for a tire mechanic to over-torque lug nuts, or strip
treads so the lug nut can't be removed. To get the lug
nuts off you may have to use "leverage". That is, make the
handle of the wrench longer, for example by putting a pipe
over it. In any case now is the time to learn about
problems with getting the lug nuts off - not when your
stranded at the side of the road.
After you have broken the lug nuts lose, jack the vehicle
up higher. Jack it up just high enough so that the tire
leaves the ground. Then remove the lug nuts and the tire.
There are two types of spare tires. You are lucky if you
have a full-sized spare. Most cars today have a "space-
saver" spare. A space-saver is thinner than a regular
tire. The space-saver works like a regular tire, but there
are two things to be aware of. First, space-savers are
rated for only 50 mph. They are intended just to get you
to the service station. Second, the air pressure
requirement for a space-saver is usually much higher than
the regular tires for your car. Make sure you keep it
filled to the proper pressure.
Next put the spare tire over the lug studs and put the lug
nuts back on. Start the lug nuts with your fingers to make
sure you don ;t cross treads. After you have the lug nuts
started, use the wrench to turn them on all the way. After
the lug nuts are all the way on, jack the vehicle back
down until the tire touches the ground. Now you can torque
the nuts down tight.
There is always the question; how tight do I make the lug
nuts? There is actually a specification (which tire
service personnel usually ignore). For example; 95 ft.
lbs. as indicated on a torque wrench. But for the average
person without a torque wrench, it's a matter of feel.
You want to tighten the lug nuts tight enough so that you
are confident they won't come lose while you are driving,
yet not so tight that you can never get them off again.
Don't be a super man and tighten them until you strip the
threads or break the stud. Just make them tight enough so
that you are confident they won't come lose while you are
driving. It's a matter of feel. After you have tightened
the lug nuts, remove the jack.
Fix or replace the flat tire ASAP. Murphy's law number 66
states that if you don't have a good spare tire you will
immediately get a flat tire. Fix or replace the flat tire
on the next weekend if you can't do it sooner.
If you don't know how to locate the jack, access the
spare, and replace a tire on your vehicle, I suggest you
go do it right now for practice. If you are prepared and
confident, getting a flat tire will be a minor
inconvenience, rather than a bad experience that screws up
your entire day.
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