The Basics: How to change a tyre
Sunday, June 7th, 2009
Some people may laugh when they read this, and to those people I say, keep reading. But for many others, changing a flat tyre on the roadside can seem quite daunting.
If you are stuck on the side of the road, your priority is your own safety and for that you should always keep a roadside rescue phone number in the car. But maybe you are not a member of a vehicle rescue company; maybe you couldn’t afford the extra cost to your insurance policy, or simply just didn’t think to join. What will you do when you get a flat tyre far from home or in the middle of nowhere? Do you know how to change a tyre, probably yes, but would you prefer someone else do it for you, probably yes. This is a simple case of confidence. It’s not rocket science, but it’s just not that nice to be alone in a situation you’re not comfortable with.
Here I am going to tell you how you could avoid this predicament and give you 10 steps to get out of it if you are caught unprepared. The next time you leave home on your own, you should feel a little more confident that you can get yourself back home if you suddenly get a flat tyre! Oh, and to those people who are laughing…I am sure you wouldn’t be laughing if a relative or close friend was stuck on the side of the road and you knew they were not confident. You should have told them about this blog post or even shown them how to do it instead of waiting untill they got stranded.
Flat Tyre Prevention
1 - Periodically check the condition of your tyres. The legal minimum tread depth is 1.6mm. This webpage describes tyre law nicely and shows you a video of how to check tyre tread. http://www.kwik-fit.com/uk-tyre-law.asp
2 - Periodically check your tyres are inflated correctly. Tyre pressure values are sometimes shown on the inside of the driver’s door, or under your bonnet. But you should check your operator’s manual. Over or under inflated tyres can drastically reduce the life span of your tyres and create dangerous driving conditions.
3 - Check your spare tyre is inflated to the correct pressure and is in good condition.
4 - For simplicity, you can purchase a can of “tyre weld” from your local garage. If you have this handy in the car and you suddenly get a flat, this can help you avoid the 10 step procedure below. This little can has a tube that fits onto your air valve and re-inflates your tyre and at the same time the gas works its way towards the puncture and seals it. This is a temporary fix until you get yourself home and can change your tyre there. This won’t work for large holes or side tyre wall damage.
10 Step Tyre Change
1 - So you’ve got a flat tyre, the first thing is safety. If you have a warning triangle in your boot, put it out to warn oncoming traffic and turn on your hazard lights.
2 - Remove Spare tyre, wheel spanner and jack. The wheel spanner and jack are normally together and should be with the spare tyre, if not; check other car compartments, (in the boot or in the engine bay).
3 - If you are able to “chock” the wheel, which means something to place in front of one of your wheels to prevent the car rolling after you have jacked it up.
4 - Using your wheel spanner, “crack” the wheel nuts. This means, plug the end of the wheel spanner onto the wheels nuts and push anti-clockwise hard, only half a turn. If one of your wheels nuts looks different from the rest, it’s probably a “locking nut” to prevent your alloys getting pinched. You need to find your locking nut key to put on the wheel spanner, (it might be in the glove box).
5 - Locate the jacking point under your car. This point is normally 6-8 inches from the wheel arches. If you can’t find it, just look for a strong flat area that won’t damage your car.
6 - Place the jack under your jacking point making sure it is balanced and wind the jack up until you raise your car off the ground, enough so that you raise the flat wheel off the ground.
7 - Using the wheel spanner remove the wheel nuts and remove the flat tyre. It can sometimes be a little tight when pulling a tyre off the car, so don’t worry.
8 - Place the spare wheel on and screw on the wheel nuts, just with your hands.
9 - Lower the jack and remove it.
10 - Tighten the wheel nuts with the wheel spanner. JOB DONE!