Changing a flat tire must be a requirement for those who have cars or those who drive cars since in certain unfortunate situations one must have to act to do the thing unless one chooses another to do it. Not being a very enjoyable thing to do, yet one must do it. It could happen sooner or later to anyone; one must at least be prepared for the contingency. In case getting a flat tire happens at the most unfortunate time such as when one is in a hurry, a person who knows how to do it has more options than those who cannot. In fact, some say that it is a skill that must be learned before a person reaches 30 years of age.1
This is however not to disregard the reality for some lucky owners who may have availed of a warning system for their flat or low-pressure tires as they could always avoid this unpleasant event. In this case, a driver may avoid this unpleasant process, by calling for assistance. As an added skill, it would seem there is a great advantage of really knowing how to change a flat tire.
Before one starts out it is practical to have the car thoroughly serviced before making a road trip where special attention should be given to tires considering that they could make or unmake one’s trip. This could be done by cautiously examining any spot so that risky tires must be changed into new ones even before the trip. This is with the wisdom that starting out safe is always better than having changed it later in the middle of nowhere especially in the case of long-distance travel. A wise car owner must know when his tires will not be used for long. This could do by knowing how long has the last change of new tires was done.
It must be made clear that one attempting to do this activity should be familiar with the set of tools that are used for a tire change. These tools include a jack, a lug wrench, and a spare tire which are normal parts of a running car. In addition, one must verify that the spare tire is in good shape. The tools must be present with additional items to afford the easier and more comfortable activity. These include the flashlight which same must be ready with extra batteries, mat or any good material to be used for kneeling on, globes, a plastic raincoat in case it will rain, a tire gauge, and warning signals normally in yellow colors to be used to suggest that one is emergency.
It is now possible to start the actual process of changing the tire in case a flat tire has just arisen.
The first step is to find the right spot which could be done by getting off the freeway that may even require one to do it by driving the car on a flat tire. This is of course to ensure security in changing the flat tire. This must be taken with realism since doing this for a long time may result in causing damage to the tire to be beyond repair. The car could be pulled on the shoulder of the road. After finding the right place that is most appropriate the parking brake of the car must be applied. To make it safer, one is advised to use at least two bricks in front and behind the tire in a position that is opposite the flat tire so as to prevent the car from rolling on.
The second step is to bring out the spare tire, the wrench, and the jack into the working area from the luggage of the car. If other tools are deemed needed one may use the same.
The next step is to loosen the lug nuts numbering about four to five, depending on the car model, with the wrench. In certain cases, these lug nuts are hidden under a hubcap in which case there is a need to remove the caps first before loosening lug nuts, but not remove the same. There are cases when the nuts are securely or firmly placed due to rust or passage of time, thus to remedy the same is to place the wrench on the nut while standing on the wrench arm to give more weight to help in loosening.
The next step now is to get the wheel off but before doing the same there is a need to lift up the corner of the car which could be done by raising the vehicle off the ground through the use of a jack2. One must be careful to place the jack where it is appropriate hence the owner’s manual3 should be consulted for guidance. After placing the jack properly in a fixed place, the car could not be lifted until car is about six inches above the ground.
The next step now is to remove the old wheel by now removing the nuts that were earlier loosened. The hand could just be used to remove the nuts and place them properly together in a proper place. The old wheel could just be taken by pulling on two sides of the tire using wheel straight position so as not to damage some parts of the car.
The removal of the old wheel now allows the placing of the spare4 the wheel on the car. One can return now the nuts that were earlier removed by matching the lug nut posts to their respective holes in the spare. This must be matched also with fixing firmly the spare tire in a wheelbase.
It is now time to tighten the lugs in order and properly by just making sure that the wheel can stay on the car for a moment. Thus nuts must be fixed not very tightly at this point.
The next step now is to bring the car lower to the ground level using the jack that was already there. The car now stands with the just placed new wheel, thus the jack from below the car could now be removed.
Tightening the lug nuts in proper order by starting with one nut is the next thing to do. After tightening the first nut by about half of a full, the next nut to be tightened must be the opposite one by about half of full also. The other nuts could now be tightened like what was done with the first and second by working on opposite using the circle as a guide. This will be done until all of the nuts as tight as they can be.
The last step is to place the removed flat tire and tools back into the luggage of the car and one can now resume driving after making sure that nothing is left on the place where the change of tire was done.
Works Cited
Adcock, S., 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30, Broadway Books 2003, Page 155.
Gowin and Alvarez ,The Art of Educating with V Diagrams Cambridge University Press, 2005, page 72.
Romans, B., How To Change a Flat Tire, 2008. Web.
Footnotes
- Adcock, S., 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30, Broadway Books 2003, Page 155.
- Romans, B., How To Change a Flat Tire, 2008. Web.
- Gowin and Alvarez,The Art of Educating with V Diagrams Cambridge University Press, 2005, page 72.
- Romans, B., How To Change a Flat Tire, 2008. Web.