Eventually, every person that owns or drives a car is going to have to have a car tire changed.
Do it yourself in about ten to fifteen minutes.
When you have a car tire problem, You can call a tow truck, your husband, or your father to come out and help you. Or, you can do it yourself in about ten to fifteen minutes.
Okay, let’s start…
Step 1: Park Somewhere Safe
The shoulder of the road is fine, IF it isn’t night when you need to change the tire AND if there is ample room on the shoulder for you to park the car completely off the roadway. If not, drive slowly on the shoulder until you can get off the road. A parking lot or rest area is a safe place to change a car tire.
Step 2: Set the Parking Brake
Once you find a safe place to change the tire and have parked the car, set the parking brake as firmly as possible. If you can find two rocks or pieces of wood, use them to cradle the tire at the far corner of the car from the tire being changed. For example, if you’re changing the right rear, cradle the right front. This adds an extra measure of safety for keeping the car from rolling.
Step 3: Loosen the Lug Nuts
Remove the spare tire, jack and tire iron (also known as a lug wrench) from the vehicle’s storage area. This will vary from car to car, but most passenger cars will have everything in the trunk. Loosen the lug nuts by turning them counterclockwise with the tire iron. Don’t remove them.
Step 5: Raise the Car Off the Ground
How this is accomplished will depend on what kind of car you have. Many German cars have a special receptacle on the side of the car for the jack. Most other cars don’t have anything special like this and you’ll need to place the jack under the frame or control arms. Raise the car enough for the wheel to clear the ground by about an inch.
Step 6: Remove the Lug Nuts and Wheel
Once the wheel is clear of the ground, remove the lug nuts completely. If you have a Volkswagen, you will have lug studs, not lug nuts. The difference being that lug studs thread into holes in the hub, while lug lugs thread onto studs mounted to the wheel hub. With the lug nuts/studs removed, slide the old wheel off and set it aside.
Step 7: Mount the Replacement Wheel and Tire
Align the center hole with the hub center on the car and slide the wheel on as far as it will go. This won’t be very far. Thread the lug nuts/studs on as far as they will go by hand and tighten them as much as possible with the tire iron.
Step 8: Tighten the Lug Nuts
Lower the jack until the bottom of the tire begins to expand from the weight of the vehicle. Tighten the lug nuts in a star pattern. Start at one lug nut, tighten it, then move the lug nut opposite and keep moving until all the lugs are tightened.
Lower the vehicle and replace the tools and old tire
Congratulation, you have successfully change you car tire.