Changing a Flat With a Spare

Hi. My name is Gideon Jessen. I work at a tire shop where I
deal with flats every day. A lot of people do not realize how much time and money they could save by knowing how to change a roadside flat with their spare. I am going to teach you in 5 steps how to change a roadside flat with your equipped spare. That way you can save precious time and money in those unexpected events.

With the model used for this demonstration, the jack and tire iron are located under the rear seat. Remove the nut holding them in place. If you're driving a van or car you can locate your jack and iron using the vehicle's manual. Once you have them in hand you can place the tire stops into place and proceed.

Use the vehicle key to unlock the hole where you lower the spare from. Sticking the square tubed end into the hole, rotate it until it slides onto the bolt head. Take the iron with a square cut in the handle and attach it to the square-ended rod inserted into the vehicle. Rotate it counter-clockwise until it stops. Now slide the iron piece sideways out the center of the tire and pull your spare out from under the vehicle. Once done rotate clockwise to raise the wire and iron piece back to a stationary position.

Now that you have those out, you’ll want to
place the jack where it can firmly and safely lift the flat off the ground. The bracket holding the leaf spring or the piece holding the rear shock is recommended. Assemble the tire iron so the flat hooked end can be slid into the jack and rotate the handle clockwise. Continue until the tire is just free of the ground.

At this point, you can begin taking the lug nuts off the tire
using the provided tire iron. Once they are removed you can pull the tire off with a hard jerk. Place the flat into the back of the vehicle. Now take the spare tire and place it onto the bolts and tighten the lugs firmly.

Rotating the iron handle counter-clockwise, lower the jack until it is free from the vehicle. Pull your tire stops and the jack out and place them back into the vehicle. Make sure all the tools were gathered and loaded before leaving.