TIP: CHANGING FLAT TIRE

The culprit

When I was in college, Marcel didn't let me buy my own car and drive by myself unless I knew how to change a flat tire.  So one of the training I had to pass in "Marcel's Driving School" was changing a flat tire.  I had to change about 10 tires before he finally gave me the green sign.  Phewwww :-) *it's OK ... he meant well and I appreciate him*


This afternoon, when my sister and I were on the way out, she found one of our car tires deflated.  Oh nooo.  What to do with my big belly?  Praise the Lord, Marcel works from home today.  So he could assist my sister in changing the tire.  Poor sister ... came all the way from Indo (where her driver would do all this for her) to deal with this.


When was the last time you had a flat tire?  Do you know how to change a flat tire?  Well, in case you (yes including you, Ladies) need some refresher, here are the steps to change a flat tire:

Step 1: Loosen the lug nuts just a bit using a lug wrench then lift up the body frame using the jack.  And don't forget to smile it off.  After all, it's just a flat tire :-)


Important NOT to loose the lug nuts all the way as you may end up with a rolling tire as you try to lift up the car.  And you may wonder why you need to loosen them BEFORE putting the jack in?  It's because you may be faced with very tight lug nuts which may require you to step on the lug wrench to loosen them up.  With the car's still on the ground, you have a sturdier base to work with than having one of the sides lifted on the jack.


Not sure which way to loosen the lug nuts?  LEFTY LOOSEY, RIGHTY TIGHTY.  So, turn them leftward to loosen.


Also, make sure you lift the car on the frame (the hard part), NOT on the door, the foot step or other softer part.  Not sure which one is the frame?  Knock on the bottom of your car to find the *dong dong dong* hard part :-)

Step 2: Once the car has been lifted up enough, remove the lug nuts from the wheel.  At that point, the flat tire can be removed as well.


At this time, the lug nuts should be loose enough that you can remove them using your hands.  Not sure how far up you need to lift the car?  Basically, to the point that the spare tire can easily be slid in.  This means until the flat tire is about couple inches off the ground (of course this depends on how flat the tire is).  Don't worry, you can always lift more later if you need to.

Step 3: Put the spare tire in and install the lug nuts again using your hands.


You can't tighten the lug nuts all the way this way.  You will need the lug wrench and the car on the ground (not with one side up on the jack) to do so.  Why?  Same reason as when you loosen them up.


And which way to tighten the lug nuts?  RIGHTY TIGHTY!!!  Rightward!!

Step 4: Slowly bring the car down using the jack.  Then, you can use your strong muscle to tighten the lug nuts all the way in.

Step 5: You're all done!!!!  Now you can pat yourself on the back :-).


Make sure to drive more slowly with this spare tire.  Then, ASAP schedule your appointment to get your normal tire installed AND the ENTIRE tires checked just to be on the safe side.

Drive safely!  And hope you find this tip helpful.