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Can you change a tyre at home? Here are some tips.

change tyre

Can you change a tyre at home by yourself?

Yes, you can change a tyre at home by yourself if you have learnt or are trained to do so. It might look like that it is a very difficult thing but it is even easier than a person can think who doesn’t know how to do it. In case, if you don’t know how to, you will call someone to tow your car, take it to the tyre shop and have the tyre changed. This will end up costing a lot more than it should and take a lot of your time than required. It’s very easy to learn how to change your tyre, you could ask someone who knows to teach you how to or you could watch videos on YouTube on how to do so. Then practice a few times at home by yourself and you would get trained in changing a tyre.

Here are a few steps with which you can change a car’s tyre all by yourself:-

Finding a flat and safe place-

Before changing a tyre, make sure you have a flat, stable and safe surface around. If you are on a busy road or in traffic, move your car along on the side of the road and turn on the hazard lights.

Parking position-

After setting the car aside, apply the parking brake, put the car in the parking position for automatic transmission and in first or reverse for manual transmission.

Placing an object-

Try placing a heavy object (e.g. concrete, rock or a spare wheel) in the front and back of the tyre you are about to change.

Spare tyre and the jack-

Take out the spare tyre and the jack from the car trunk. Placing the jack right under the side skirt of the car underneath the metal portion of the car frame.

Lifting the car-

Start rising the jack at the side skirt until it is supporting the car. Then slightly turn the lever rotating the jack to gently start lifting the car.

Remove the nuts-

Now taking the help of a wrench to unscrew the nuts attached to the tyre. Move the wrench counterclockwise to remove them.

Remove the tyre-

Gently remove the flat tyre and try placing it under the car so that in an event of a jack failure, the weight of the car will fall on the old tyre to avoid any type of damage or injury.

Placing the spare tyre-

Bring up the spare tyre and place it on the wheel hub, making sure it stays in alignment with the wheel bolts. Also, ensure that that the spare tyre is placed correctly and not backwards on the wheel hub.

Tighten the nuts-
Take the nuts and tighten them by hand in a clockwise motion until their snug. Then use the wrench to turn and tighten them firmly until they don’t move any further.

Lowering the car-
Now after the nuts are done, rotate the jack to start lowering the car. Remember not to rotate the jack quickly as the car would drop down suddenly. After the car has been brought back down, remove the jack from underneath and store it back to its position in the trunk.

Old flat tyre-
Take the old flat tyre and place it in the same position as the spare tyre in your trunk.

Tyre mechanic-
After you have done all the steps above, take the flat tyre to a mechanic and then ask him to repair it. He’ll remove all the punctures to fix it up. If the tyre isn’t in a condition to be repaired, then the mechanic will sell you a replacement for it.

Few tips to keep in mind!

  • Make sure to occasionally check your spare tyre to know that there is sufficient air pressure (PSI) in it.
  • Try practising to change a tyre at home if you aren’t trained, to ensure that you are quite familiar with the procedure and wouldn’t have to learn on the side of a road, in the dark or the rain.
  • Make sure to get your spare tyre replaced with new or repaired ones as they are only temporary replacement and not be used as a permanent replacement. Most of the time, the condition of the spare tyre is just for you to reach the tyre shop.
  • Try to ride your car on smoother roads and avoid driving off-road, which helps meet the life expectancy of the tyres and don’t worn-out before that.
  • Always be aware of your surroundings in case your car breaks down, avoid changing your tyre if there is traffic around or the road is too busy. Many people even get killed annually while changing the tyre on the road because the car isn’t parked safely away from the busy road.
  • The spare tyre isn’t that strong at times, so try not to drive at a faster speed. Try to keep the speed of the car under 80 km/h while using the spare tyre.
  • Now keeping all these tips and steps in mind to change a tyre or after changing it because these will help you out if you ever run into any sorts of care tyre problems.
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