 | Wes Grimes is President and Owner of The Tire Store at 1458 S. Broadway. The Tire Store specializes in tires, wheels and accessories, as well as service, for all types of vehicles. Wes’s father, Dennis, opened The Tire Store in 1977. Wes began working for his father sweeping floors and stocking merchandise in 1987. Later he became shop foreman and in charge of outside sales. He purchased the store from his father in May of 2000. Wes’s hobbies include water-skiing, snow-skiing, mountain biking, horse-back riding, camping, fishing, traveling, and being outdoors in the mountains or at a quiet lakeside getaway. You may contact Wes at the store at 267-4381 or by e-mail at wes@tirestoreinc.kscoxmail.com |
Cars, Trucks, Vans & Automotive
2005-02-01 09:22:00
Changing a tire... safely
: How does one properly and safely change a car tire?
ANSWER: Changing a tire doesn't have to be all bad. With knowledge comes power: The first step is to find your car's spare tire, jack and tire iron. The spare tire is almost always located underneath the floor mat in the trunk. If you own an SUV, minivan or pickup, the spare tire is often mounted on the back of the tailgate or underneath the vehicle itself. Once you have found the spare tire, remove it from the car. Occasionally checking the pressure in the spare tire will ensure that it will be ready to use when you need it. The next step will involve removing the flat tire. Make sure that the car is in gear (or in "park" if the car is an automatic) and the emergency brake is set. The car should be parked on a flat piece of pavement. Do not attempt to change a flat if the car is on a slope or if it is sitting on dirt. It's also a good idea to block the tire opposite of the flat tire. Therefore, if the left front tire is flat, it would be a good idea to place a brick or other large, heavy object behind the right rear tire. Blocking the tire makes the car less likely to move when you are raising it. Use the tire iron (the L-shaped bar that fits over the wheel lugs) to loosen each wheel lug. The wheel lugs are almost certainly very tight. You'll have to use some force. You loosen them by turning them counterclockwise. Remember "Righty tighty, Lefty loosy." You don't want to remove the lug nuts yet. You just want them loose. Once you have accomplished this, move the jack underneath the car. If you don't know where the proper jacking points are, look them up in the owner's manual. Maneuver the jack underneath the jack point and start to raise the jack. Most car jacks these days are a screw-type scissor jack, which means you simply turn the knob at the end of the jack using the provided metal hand crank. Raise the jack until it contacts the car's frame and continue expanding the jack to raise the car until the flat tire is completely raised off the ground. Once this is done, remove the lug nuts completely. Depending on how tight the lugs are you might be able to remove them by hand. Set the lug nuts aside in a secure location where they can't roll away.Position the spare tire over the wheel studs. This is the most physically challenging part of the whole process. You'll have to hold up the tire and try to line up the holes in the wheel with the protruding wheel studs located on the brake hub. One trick that might help is to balance the tire on your foot while you move it into position. After you have the spare tire hanging on the wheel studs, screw each of the lug nuts back on. You'll want to start them by hand. Make sure you do not cross-thread them. The lugs should screw on easily. Once each of them is snug and you can't tighten them any further by hand, use the tire iron to finish the job. You just want them secured for now. Make sure that the wheel is fitting flush against the brake hub. Once the spare tire is on, carefully lower the jack. Pull the jack away from the vehicle. The final step is to tighten down the lug nuts completely. The reason you tighten the lugs now is that the tire is on the ground and it won't rotate around like it would if it was still hanging in the air. Put the flat tire in the space where the spare tire was and put the jack and tire iron back in the car. Most compact spare tires are smaller than regular tires (they look dinky and people commonly refer to them as "rubber doughnuts"), so it is possible that the flat tire won't fit in the spare tire well. Also, compact spares have a limited top speed. The tire's top speed will be written on its sidewall. If your vehicle has a full-size spare, you won't encounter these problems. With the spare installed, you should be able to reach the nearest service station or repair shop to have your flat tire fixed or replaced.
