Sometimes in the course of driving a cr, it may become necessary to remove a flat tire and replace it with a spare tire. This is a very useful skill for drivers to know in case their tire suddenly blows out on the road. If a driver suddenly hears a loud pop or bang followed by a repeated thumping or flapping noise and the car’s movement simultaneously becomes jerky, erratic, and uneven, it is most likely a flat tire. The driver should get off the road and pull over on the shoulder or in a parking lot at the earliest opportunity, and not drive any further. If the car is driven further, it will run on the wheel’s rim which can cause it irreparable damage. The car should be on level ground and not on a slope, as this will make tire changing far more difficult. If the car must be placed on the side of the road, it should be safely out of the way of traffic, and the blinking emergency or hazard lights should be turned on to alert other drivers.

After locating the tire that has become flat, the next thing that must be done is to locate the vehicle’s jack, spare tire, and tire iron or lug wrench. These are all essential emergency components that ideally no car should be without at any time. The usual location of the spare tire is beneath the floor mat found in the trunk of the car. In some types of car, it will be found strapped underneath the vehicle itself, or mounted to the rear of the car. If any of these components are missing, it will not be possible to change the tire oneself, and there will be additional problems as outside assistance will then become necessary.

Following this, the driver should ensure that the car is put into parking gear before proceeding. Before raising the car on the jack, the lug wrench should be used to loosen up the lug nuts that hold the tire in place, bu turning them counterclockwise. If there is a hubcap in the way, it should be pried off. The lug nuts are to be loosened, but not removed. It is important to do this while the car is still on the ground, since lifting the car up on the jack will make it impossible to turn the nuts, and the jack will have to be lowered again, which is a pointless waste of time and energy. A cross shaped wrench is widely considered the most convenient for this purpose , since stepping down on the left arm of the cross with ones foot is a way to apply more force to loosen resistance by very tightly bolted lug nuts.

Once all the nuts are loose, the car can be jacked up. It may be necessary to consult the owner’s manual for advice on where to position it, but it must be done in such a way as to allow the frame to be lifted up on the side of the flat tire, by turning the crank on the jack, until the flat tire is about six inches off the ground. The already loosened nuts can now be unscrewed and removed by hand, allowing the flat tire to be removed. The spare tire must then be fitted to the bolts. The rmeainder of the process is the reverse of what has been done up to this point. It involves replacing the nuts, tightening them by hand, lowering the jack, then using the wrench to make certain the nuts are quite tight, before replacing the hubcap. The old tire should be placed inside the car rather than discarded, and the spare tire should be used sparingly, only until a proper tire can be installed.

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Category: Automotive
Keywords: Auto, Vehicle, Maintinance