How do I change my tire?

Here’s a true story. While I was studying at Kent University, my uncle and his brother volunteered to pick me up from Heathrow and drop me off at school.

On the way my uncle’s brother, who was driving, missed the exit and, rather foolishly, attempted to swerve off the main road and into the little stream that would take us to our destination. As expected, there was a BANG, and the car felt off-centre, particularly at the back and right.

The three of us got out of the car, and all exchanged terrified glances. Believe it or not, none of us knew how to change a car’s tire.

For this chapter of Mikaniki’s Dummy’s Guide, I’ll spare you the trouble the next time you find yourself in such a predicament with a step-by-step guide to changing your tire.

What you’ll need

To change a car’s tire, you’ll need 3 basic items:

• A jack – that little mechanical device you can often find in the trunk of your car that will enable you to lift your car up so that you can get the damaged wheel off and put the spare on. The most common type is the scissor jack, while the most powerful type would be a bottle jack, which uses hydraulic fluid to lift up the car.

• A lug wrench – this usually looks like two twin metal pipes in an ‘x’ shape, with a socket on one end and a pry bar on the other, which you’ll need to pry the lug nuts off and then to secure them back in place.

• A spare tire – duh. The UAE has some pretty strict laws about tires, which you can read more about here. Always ensure you’ve got a spare.

You may also need:

• Reflective warning triangles to ward off oncoming traffic
• Tyre gauge
• Mini toolkit with a screw driver
• Flashlight with extra batteries

6 steps to changing a tire

These are simple but effective, and anybody can do them at any time.

Step 1: Make sure your car is secure and won’t roll

Never. Ever. Change a tire on a hill or an incline. You’re asking for some serious trouble right there. You’re better off driving on a flat tire for some distance to find a nice, flat surface to get the job done right.

Put your hazards on and go slowly so that your fellow drivers are aware of your predicament (not that they can’t see the flat, mind you).

Once you get to a suitable place, keep your hazards on, PUT ON YOUR EMERGENCY HAND BRAKE, get your reflective triangle out and place it about 130 steps away (or 100 meters if you want to get technical) from your car.

You can’t be too safe with these things, so if you do have access to either a brick, large rock or wooden wedge, you can use these to block the wheel opposite the one you’re trying to replace. For example, if you’re lifting up any of the rear tires, block off the front ones, and vice versa.

Now, pull up your sleeves, get the spare out and roll it to where you’re about to get busy.

Step 2: Loosen the lug nuts

On some tires, there’s a little cover over the lug nuts, which you may need to pry off. You can do this with a screwdriver or similar, and pop it off like you would the lid on a can of paint.

Next up, get that lug wrench out. It should fit your tire’s lug nuts like a glove. Unless whoever sold you your car “accidentally” gave you the wrong lug wrench for them nuts.

Stick the wrench over the first nut and push down anti-clockwise on the pry bar until it loosens. DO NOT take it off completely, yet, just enough so that you can twist them off by hand when the time is right. DO NOT use power tools.

It doesn’t matter which nut you loosen first, but it is important to follow a “star” pattern when loosening the rest, as in:

Loosen nut 1, skip nut adjacent, loosen nut 2, skip, nut 3 and then loosen the ones you skipped.

Step 3: Jack it up

Before hitting the jack, you want to make sure that the space you’ll be working in is cleared of debris, or any excess materials. If there are any rocks or stray stones in the way, chuck them aside.

Since scissor jacks are the most common, I’ll run with this. It’s pretty unlikely you’ll have the other kind, unless your car’s got the capacity to stow it securely (it’s a big’un).

There’s one major thing you’ll need to successfully work a jack: it comes in small doses and it’s called common sense.

Make sure your scissor jack is not damaged. If there’s any debris or anything, try to clean it off first. Typically, if you’ve got  a two-piece handle, you’ll need to assemble it securely and then insert the rod or wrench over the knob, which you’ll then crank.

Once it’s put together, do a couple of practice swings just to check it’s going up and down properly. If it’s not moving fluidly, make a mental note to replace that jack immediately, or lube it up if you’ve got some lube lying around.

Check your dusty car owner’s manual to determine the lift point under your car, where you’ll be placing your jack. Have you “accidentally” thrown your manual away? Check online, you should be able to find it on there. Don’t have signal? Battery dead?

Assuming you’re able to determine the lift spot, place your jack as close to this as possible. Crank up the saddle by turning the handle CLOCKWISE until it’s very nearly, but not quite, touching the car, and then adjust until it’s perfectly positioned at the sweet spot per said manual.

Now, using nice even strokes, start cranking. You’ll see the car starting to lift after a few strokes. Keep an eye on the jack, and if it wobbles at all, BACK AWAY immediately, and approach with caution.

You’ll want to crank it up to about 6 inches. That’s the distance between the tip of your thumb and the tip of your index finger (not what Monica says in Friends).

Step 4: Remove flat tire

At this point, the lug nuts should still be loosely in, and you can now take them off by hand and put them safely aside where you can find them easily. The last thing you want is a missing nut (works in any context).

Once the nuts are out, grasp the flat tire with both hands and pull it straight towards you. Also, you don’t want to be bending your back, so squat if possible and don’t put too much pressure on your lower back. Keep pulling until it slides off the bolts and you’re supporting the weight on your own.

Roll the flat tire round the back and out of your way.

Step 5: Putting on the spare

Okie dokie, the flat’s out of the way, and you’re all set to put the spare on. This is where your squat game comes in handy, and if you’re not accustomed to lifting heavy objects, make another mental note to hit the gym at the earliest given opportunity.

Now, what you want to make sure of is that the rim of the spare tire is aligned with the bolts. You also want to make sure you’re not putting it on backwards. The valve stem should be facing OUTWARDS and AWAY from the vehicle.

Squat and grasp the spare, and then, using your legs as much as you can, lift it up and onto the end of the wheel bolts. Align, and slide it in.

Get those lug nuts back out and put them back in their rightful places. Tighten by hand, and give them a little tug with the wrench just to make sure they’re in place, but DO NOT tighten them completely just yet.

Step 6: Lowering car and finishing touches

From your mental toolkit, get out another dose of common sense. You’ll need it for lowering the jack.

Check that there’s nobody still working on the wheel, and that the area is cleared of any excess materials or debris. Then, start to wind that jack down by turning the handle SLOWLY in the COUNTERCLOCKWISE direction, until the tire touches the ground and the weight is off the jack.

The keyword here is SLOWLY. There’s an African proverb that says “Hurry Hurry hath no blessing” and you’ll encounter it in all its glory if you try to rush this process. Unless, of course, you’re a member of a Formula One pit team.

Once it’s on the ground, give those lug nuts another tug with the wrench to make sure they’re tightly in place, replace the wheel cap or cover if it had one, and then fold away the scissor jack and stow with the other tools you used.

If your car has hubcaps, make sure you don’t bash it in with a hammer or the wrench, you’ll only end up denting it. The car owner’s manual should have instructions on how to pop it back in place, so give that a read before attempting.

There you go, the 6 steps to successfully change your tires in the event of a flat. Remember to stay safe, and if you do miss an exit, just wait until you get to the next one. It’s not worth bursting a tire over.

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