How to Change a Tire in Your Car in a Safety Way

Know where the extra tire, lug wrench and jack are located.

Look at the instruction booklet in where to jack the car.

If you got flat tire on the road, drive to the shortest distance you can to avoid damage to the wheel or to the tire beyond repair.

If you need to change the tire in the highway, pull aside only to a flat area. You don't want to jack the car into the woods, up on hill or on gravel.

Put the car in park, the emergency brake on, your emergency flashers on and put out road flares day or night about 75 feet behind the car, far enough so that people can see then and slow down. .

If you are changing a tire on a curve, put the flares before the entrance to the curve.

Now when you are in the safest place, decide which is tire is flat.

Take out the spare tire, Jack and lug wrench. One side of the wrench can be used to remove the hubcap as follow: Put it underneath the back edge of the hubcap and pry it off. Then with the lug wrench break the lug nuts loose by using it counterclockwise with the car on the ground. Only just loose the nuts at this point, don't remove them

Keep the car empty, while you jack the car up. Don't let anybody in the car.

Place the jack in the proper position. If you jack it in the wrong place, you can damage your car or worse, tip it over by coming off the jack. Once the car is jacked up, never put any part of your body underneath the car.

The car is jacked up, go ahead and remove all the lug nuts by using the lug wrench.

Take of the flat tire and set it aside.

Place the extra tire up on the hub.

Line the spare up with the lug studs, push it on and tight the lug nuts as tight as you can with your fingers.

Then, take the lug wrench and tighten them as tightly as you can with the car still jacked up.

Take the jack down.

Next, the car is back on the ground and off the jack, double tighten all the lug nuts and hit every lug nut three or four times to make sure it is as tight as possible.

Once it is tight, put the flat tire, jack, lug wrench and hubcap in the trunk.

You don't need to bother putting the hubcap back, since anyway you are heading to a service station in a place you can get your full size tire repaired or replaced.

Turn off the flares before leaving.

Tips for prevention:

1. Once you fill with fuel, check the air pressure in the tires. The appropriate pressure is on the sidewall of the tire.

2. Every time when you get the oil changed, check the tire pressure in the extra tire.

Enjoy your driving and may I never see you parked in the side of the road.