Changing a Tire

Have you ever needed to change a tire and not known how so you were stranded? Well that will not happen again after you listen to this presentation. This kind of stuff is my passion and I have plenty of experience. I am going to show you the five easy steps on how to change a tire. This presentation will make you confident and worry free the next time you are stranded from a flat tire.

You are going to need some sort of jack whether it is a scissor jack, hydraulic bottle jack, or hydraulic floor jack. A hydraulic floor jack is the easiest and most convenient. You will also need a lug wrench or the right sized deep socket on a long ratchet, breaker bar, or impact driver.

(If you are using a lug wrench,

breaker bar, or long ratchet, you will need to break lug nuts loose prior to lifting the vehicle. This procedure is found in the first part of step two.) Position and center jack under correct jacking point and pump/turn jack to raise it until it makes contact with jacking point and continue to pump/turn. Once it makes contact, it will require more force to continue pumping/turning because of it raising the weight of the vehicle up. However, before jacking, you must position the jack in the correct place and put blocks behind other tires to make sure vehicle will not roll away when lifted. The jack needs to be on as flat of a surface as possible. More importantly, when the lifting plate on the jack makes contact with vehicle, it needs to be centered on the jacking point, which can be found by looking in your owner’s manual. All jacking points are solid steel and are usually located on the frame of the vehicle. There is a recommended jacking point near every tire. If you have a scissor jack, you must turn it to the right to raise it and to the left to lower it. If you have a hydraulic floor jack or bottle jack, you must make sure it has enough oil and that the bleeder screw is snug which is done by turning the screw to the right. Most jack’s bleeder screws can be loosened and tightened by simply twisting the handle. Twist handle to right to tighten and twist handle to left to loosen. Do not twist handle when vehicle is raising or is raised. Keep pumping until the tire you need off is about an inch or more of the ground.

Next, you need to take off the lug nuts and the tire. For this step, you need a lug wrench or the right size deep socket snapped onto a ratchet, breaker bar, or impact driver. First, you slide the socket or socket shaped end of the lug wrench over a lug nut. Then you twist to the left, which will require lots of force unless you are using an impact driver, then you pull the trigger with it set to turn left. DO NOT twist to the right with a lot of force or you will break the lug stud off and that will create a big headache. Make sure you are twisting to the left when taking lug nuts off. Once the lug nut is broke loose it will become easier to turn. Keep turning to the left until the lug nut is off. Repeat this procedure with the rest of the lug nuts. Lastly, lift and pull on tire with a hand on each side of the tire. Roll old tire out of way and grab new/spare one.

Next step is putting on the new/spare tire. Lift the new/spare tire up and slide center holes on the lug studs. Start threading lug nuts onto the lug studs by hand by sliding them on and twisting them to the right a couple turns. Then slide you socket over a lug not and turn to the right until it is snug. Do the same thing with the lug nut across from it on the opposite side of the pattern. You will want to snug them in a star pattern. Once they are all snug then you need to get them nice and tight. This needs to be done in a star pattern also. Always twist lug nuts to the right for this step. They need to be tight but not too tight. If they are too loose then your wheel can fall off. If tighten them too much then you can break them off. However, it does take a lot of force to break them off. Your vehicle manufacturer will have a torque specification for tightening your lug nuts but the only way to know the exact amount when tightening is to use a torque wrench, which in most cases you will not have one on the side of the road. So you will have to go by feel and tighten until you feel satisfied that they are tight. If tightening with a lug wrench, breaker bar, or long ratchet, you will need to lower the vehicle to get the lug nuts tightened the rest of the way.

Last step is lowering the vehicle. Make sure everyone and everything is clear of vehicle. With a scissor jack, simply twist the handle to the left until vehicle is on the ground and the lifting plate is not in contact with jacking point and you are able to move the jack. With a hydraulic jack, simply grab the handle and twist the bleed screw very slowly to the left to let the vehicle down slowly. Then grab the jack, tools, and blocks behind the other tires and you are good to go.