When a flat or blowout occurs on the side of the road, taking a few steps to keep you and your passengers safe is a vital step to the tire changing process.
When possible, pull off of the road entirely to a flat surface such as a parking lot or driveway. If you are on the freeway, try to pull onto a side street where there is less traffic. But under all circumstances, try to get as far away from quickly moving traffic or vehicles as possible. If you are by yourself that means your attention is going to be on the task of changing the tire, and you won’t be able to keep an eye on cars coming toward you.
Changing a tire on the freeway is dangerous, so the task should be done as quickly, but as safely as possible.
After the car is in a safe place, be sure to put it in park, or with a stick shift keep it in gear. Apply the parking break. Locate the spare tire, the lug wrench and the tire jack. The spare tire should always be in good repair with the appropriately pounds per square inch of inflation.
Bring the spare around and place it near. Loosen the lug nuts in a star shape, keeping them on, but loose enough that you can remove them by hand when you are ready.
Taking the tire jack, place it close to the tire that is flat, but in a place under the car that can hold the weight when the jack is elevated. pump up the jack until the vehicle is elevated just enough to remove the tire.
Remove the lugs and replace the flat with the spare. Try to get the spare on as evenly as possible and put the lugs on - again in a star shape. Don’t fully tighten, but get them relatively tight. The spare should be in evenly, both on the bolts and front to back.
Release the car jack and lower the car back down to the ground. Tighten the lugs, again using the star shape and get them as tight as possible.
As you fully stand up, be sure not to step into traffic. Collect all of your belongings and put them in the vehicle. Safel pull back into traffic.
Don’t forget to repair or replace the flat soon after. If you get another flat, you want to be prepared.
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