The other day while I was travelling down a busy road, the car in front of me blew a tire.  The sound was quite loud and immediately, the car began to swerve into the right lane of the 4 lane road we were on, but the driver gained control, put on his hazard lights and eased his car over to the shoulder. 

Changing a tire need not be a harrowing experience in fact, the worst part is probably coming up with the elbow grease it takes to get the lug nuts off, but I know you can do it and I’m going to walk you through it right now {feel free to print this page and tuck it in your glove compartment for future reference!}.

All set?  Let’s get started:

There are two kinds of flat tires a slow leak and a sudden blowout.  The slow leak is easy to detect since while driving, you’ll begin to notice your car will pull to one side, while the blowout is sudden and comes with a loud noise.  You’ll then feel your car swerve and hear a thumping  or thwacking noise – which is the flat tire whirling around on the rim.  While the sound may alarm you and the sudden jerk of the car may startle you, try not to panic; gain control of the steering wheel, flip your hazard lights on and ease your car onto the flat shoulder of the road.  If you’re on a city street, turn your wheels toward the curb. If you’re on a hill, you’ll want to turn your hazard lights on, coast to the bottom and then ease over onto the shoulder of the road.

Once you’ve eased over, put your car in park and set your emergency brake.  If you have passengers, move everyone out of the car, away from traffic and away from your vehicle.  Try to block the wheels if you can by using a brick, a bag of rock salt from your trunk, a piece of wood or anything you can find that seems handy and heavy.  You’ll want to wedge it against the wheels at the opposite end of the car.

Your jack and spare tire should be located in the trunk {never leave home without a spare tire, lug wrench and a jack}, probably underneath the carpet in a special area reserved for stowing your spare.  Remove the tire, jack and lug wrench from the trunk, place them alongside the tire to be changed and then position the jack under the car, touching either the car frame or the bar that supports the front or rear suspension - whichever is closest to the tire you’re changing.  

Using the flat end of the lug wrench, pry the hubcap off and then loosen the lug nuts that hold the wheel on – but don’t remove them just yet.  Loosening the lug nuts may take a little time and elbow grease, especially if they’ve been previously secured with a power tool.  Don’t be afraid to put your weight into it to loosen them up, standing on the lug wrench if you have to.  Once the lug nuts are loose, jack up the car slowly, stopping when there looks to be enough room to remove the wheel.   Now, remove the lug nuts and place them in the hubcap or in your pocket, so they don’t get lost.

Grab the flat tire on both sides, pulling it towards you until it slides off.  Put the spare on and replace the lug nuts, getting them as tight as you possibly can.  Lower the car, replace the hubcap {if it doesn’t fit the spare, that’s okay}, put everything back in the trunk – and you’re done!

Remember that the spare is just that a spare and it isn’t intended to be driven for long periods, so you’ll want to replace it with a new tire as soon as possible.

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