ALT-2 Diy Automotive Repair how to Change a Flat Tire
With many states pulling funds from their road maintenance budget, unfortunately it is becoming more and more likely that many people will be dealing with the unfortunate crisis of a flat tire. Luckily for the consumer, most vehicles are equipped from the factory with the means to deal with such a predicament. For this task, all the driver needs is a way to lift up the vehicle, a spare tire, and a wrench capable of removing and reinstalling the lug nuts.
Assuming all of these things are accessible and the driver has successfully navigated their way out of traffic and into suitable work space, the first necessary objective is to “break” the lug nuts. This is done by just barely rotating the lug nuts counter-clockwise on the affected wheel enough to make them much looser and easier to rotate when the car has been brought off of the ground. There is nothing more frustrating than using a rickety factory jack to bring a wheel off the ground only to realize that the wheel rotates as the attempt to remove the nuts is made.
The next step is to find the vehicles jack points. On the underside of the vehicle there should be a metal rail running along the side that has notches cut to fit the jack. On some vehicles, there is an arrow imprinted on the side skirt of the car indicating this location. The vehicle may now be raised off of the ground, the bearing in mind that it will have to be raised high enough to navigate the wheel out of the wheel well once it is removed.
Removal of the lug nuts should be very easy assuming they were broken prior to raising the vehicle. Counter clockwise rotation should remove them with no trouble. From there, remove the wheel, and replace it with the spare. If the vehicle comes with a full size spare, the installation direction will be very straight forward. If it comes with a standard spare, install the wheel with the label (usually yellow) facing out.
The next step is probably the most complicated task that will be encountered. To replace the lug nuts, first start them on the threads by hand, and then tighten with the wrench. Initially, the order in which they are tightened doesn’t matter. Once they are all well seated into the wheel, then they can be further tightened using a “star” pattern. This usually means no two adjacent lug nuts are tightened sequentially. If your car has 4 lug nuts per wheel this is unavoidable, so tighten the first two across from each other, then the remaining two. If the vehicle has 5 or more lug nuts, the simple policy is to avoid tightening two nuts that are next to each other in sequence.
Once all of the lug nuts are tightened moderately, the car can be lowered. As a final and very important step, the lug nuts must be fully tightened once the car is on the ground to ensure that they will stay on. As a rule, it is best to be lifting up on the wrench when tightening as opposed to pushing down on it. In the same sequence as before, tighten them one final time until the wrench will no longer turn under reasonable force.
The car may now be lowered and driven to the nearest tire shop. It is important to get the tire replaced as soon as possible. Standard spares have a maximum speed and maximum mileage, which is marked on the sidewall. Bear in mind that even with a full size spare, it is advisable to get the tire replaced as soon as possible in order to retain the insurance of keeping a spare handy.
