Have you ever been driving along, and all of a sudden you start hearing that sound from your tires that doesn’t sound quite right? Sometimes that sound can get even louder. It’s a sound I can’t describe, and it makes you panicky wondering what’s going on, Folks, I had this experience recently. Twice, as a matter of fact. Obviously, I had a tire that went flat. You can be on a crowded busy street somewhere, and you know you shouldn’t be driving on this tire, so what do you do, Right?
A couple months ago I had a flat while I was driving down the road and I started to panic wondering what I should do, and more recently I had a flat again but luckily I wasn’t driving down the road the last time.
Today, I’m going to demonstrate to you the best I can what you need to do to change a flat tire, that way when you do have one you don’t have to be like me a couple months ago and get panicky wondering what to do.
First off, don’t panic and find a safe flat area to pull over at. Panicking will probably just leave you frustrated, and you don’t want to be frustrated while being on a busy road looking for a spot to pullover at. Find a spot as quickly as possible, and then make your turn into that spot.
When you find a spot, make sure it’s flat enough so that when your car is jacked up it doesn’t end up rolling over. Pull over and be sure to turn your hazard lights on, so that people passing by you can drive by with caution.
Second, you should grab all the tools that you will need from wherever they are stored in your vehicle. There should be 3 things in your car that you will need to change your flat: a jack, a lugnut wrench, and your spare tire. I personally wasn’t going to bring in the spare tire, because I didn’t want anyone in the school wondering why someone was walking around in the school with a tire.
Your next step is to take the flat tire off. First, Loosen the lugnuts most of the way using your lugnut wrench, but make sure not to loosen them completely. Since the lugnuts are usually on pretty tight, my suggestion is to use your foot on the lugnut wrench to start loosening them since your foot is probably much stronger than your hands are. – and be sure to remember that famous phrase: righty tighty, lefty loosy.
Next, find a sturdy spot under your car near where the flat tire is to place your jack, and then start jacking your car up. Jack it up just high enough so the tire is off the ground. Then take the lugnuts off the rest of the way, either with the lugnut wrench or your fingers, and then remove the old tire.
Now we’re ready to put our spare on. Take the spare tire and place it on the axle, matching the bolts on the axle with the holes on the rim of your spare, and be sure the tire is flush with your axle, this helps make sure it’s on straight and won’t damage your car.
put your lugnuts back on, and hand tighten them. Make sure the tire stays flush with your axle. When you tighten the lugnuts, be sure to tighten them in a cris-cross fashion so that the tire stays straight. In other words, tighten this one, and then tighten this one, and then this one, and so forth.
Now lower your jack, and then use your lugnut wrench to tighten the lugnuts the rest of the way, again making sure that you tighten them in a cris-cross fashion. Be sure to use your foot on your lugnut wrench when tightening them as well to make it even more tighter so that you don’t risk your spare tire falling off.
After you put all your tools away, and stowed away the old tire, you are now ready to be back on your way. Turn off your hazard lights, and then make your way back into traffic safely.
Today I demonstrated to you what you need to do to change a flat tire, safely and effectively if you ever needed to change one. If you get a flat, you probably shouldn’t just keep driving, you will risk a blow-out, endangering others. Just pull off to the side of the road and just change the tire. Just 10 minutes can save your car and lives. Thank you.
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