How to Change a Tire

TLDR: Flat tires are no fun, and no one’s ever asked for one. Good news for you - This drop walks you through changing a tire, so you don’t need to rely on a roadside handyman to pop on your spare and be on your way. 

Key Takeaways:

• Anyone can change a flat tire, and you should have the tools to do it in your car
• Certain steps need to be done in order to make the process go as smoothly as possible
• Changing a flat tire with a spare fixes your issue temporarily, but you’ll still want to go to your trusted mechanic

How to Change a Tire:

By definition, inconveniences always seem to pop up at the worst times. Perhaps maybe none more so than getting a flat tire. Fear not friend, the days of relying on a roadside handyman are over. You yourself can easily change a flat, and it’s an important skill that everyone should know.

What you’ll definitely need: spare tire, jack, lug wrench.

We’re not all auto mechanics, so keep reading if that made no sense.

• Spare Tire: Extra tire in a motor vehicle that’s used in emergencies
• Note: Spare tires are not meant for long distances or high speeds. You’ll still want to replace your flat at your earliest convenience.

• Jack: This is the device that is used to lift vehicles from the ground. They come in various shapes and sizes. Odds are the one in your car isn’t the fanciest, but it’ll get the job done

• Lug Wrench: This is the metal socket wrench that is used to loosen and tighten those big bolts (aka the lug nuts) holding your wheel to the car. This could be one single socket, or sometimes they come in a cross (or T) formation with different sized sockets on each end.

You should have all these items in your car! Check your car’s manual or the internet for where to find them. Common places include: underneath the floor mat in the trunk, mounted to the back of the car, or for pickup trucks underneath the rear of the bed.

If they aren’t in your car, you should get them as soon as possible. You can find cheap options for what you need to get by online. Again, the internet is your friend. That’s why you’re here right?

Some more items that help: Flashlight, tire pressure gauge, sheet of heavy plywood (to act as a base sturdy for the jack if where you’re stopped is soft), heavy items or tire stops (to block other wheels from rolling).

Steps to Changing a Flat Tire:

So you’ve got a flat, that sucks. Here’s how to change it.

1. Loosening the lug nuts may take some extra torque (mechanic word for power) if they’ve been on there for a bit.
2. Note: If your car has hubcaps, you’ll need to pop those bad boys off so you can get to the lug nuts. If they’re giving you a hard time, a flat head screwdriver can be helpful to get hubcaps loose. Fancy tip: You can use the hubcap to hold the lug nuts so you don’t lose them while changing the tire.
3. Another note: If you had any fancy tire stops (or nice heavy rocks you found), you should place them strategically now. Common practice is to put them in front of the front wheels if you’re fixing a back tire, or behind the back wheels if you’re fixing a front tire.

Use the star pattern when tightening the lug nuts! This helps ensure the wheel goes on nice and even.

Depending on your situation, your tire could be salvageable. Regardless of your situation, you shouldn’t drive on that temporary tire for an extended period of time, and you should head to a trusted mechanic to get your car back to 100% (or whatever it was before).

 PS: If you like videos, check this tire changing one out one of our favorite sources in the Groop of Friends community for all things DIY, Rob Kenney.

Learn something new. 

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