Changing a Tire

A Step By Step For The Unfamiliar

Step 1: Foreword: a Brief Disclaimer

Welcome and thank you for stopping by our presentation on how to change a car tire. This step by step presentation will cater to those who are unfamiliar with a car and how to change a tire. Suggestions will be given along the way that may help those with less technical experience or those who are unfamiliar with general automobile maintenance. The following will show how to change a tire on a 2011 Chevrolet Impala and will be demonstrated using Chevrolet's standards but, the general concepts and steps are applicable to many cars on the road today. The steps will be the same, but the color or design of the tools provided by the manufacturer will be different depending on your car. With that in mind let's begin!

Step 2: Saftey First

Safely get your vehicle out of the traveled portion of the road if necessary. Make sure the vehicle is off and the transmission is in park (P). Activate 4 way directional lights to alert other motorists when on the side of the road.

Step 3: Locate Your Spare Tire

The spare tire can often be found in the trunk of the car. There is a retention nut holding the tire in place. Spin this nut counterclockwise until nut has been removed. Lift the spare tire out of the car and place next to the flat tire (within arm's reach is preferable but not necessary). Remove the tool kit that is below the spare tire in trunk and place it within arm's reach when standing next to flat tire.

Step 4: Loosening Lug Nuts

Locate and remove the breaker bar from the set of tools that was retrieved from the trunk.

Place the six sided socket on the lug nut. Press on breaker bar in a counter clockwise rotation for a maximum of 2 rotations per lug nut. Using a pressing motion rather than pulling is safer. If needed, you can place the breaker bar on the lug nut and step down on the breaker bar to initially break the lug nuts free. Reset and adjust placement of breaker bar if the breaker bar hits the ground.

Repeat until all lug nuts have been loosened 2 rotations, then move on to the next step.

Step 5: Placement of Jack

Remove the jack from the tool kit that was provided by the manufacturer. Place the jack in manufacturers provided location as listed in owner's manual. Chevrolet, in this application, has provided a spot known as the pinch point. This point is located behind the tire in which the jack has an approved notch that fits into the car to insure stability and protection.

Step 6: Lifting the Car

Once the jack has been placed, take the breaker bar and align it with the nut on the outside of the jack. This nut (jack nut) will look similar to a lug nut and be the same size. Using the breaker bar rotate the jack nut on the side of the jack in a clockwise motion to lift the car. Continue raising the car until the wheel is completely off the ground by at least an inch. Using a pushing motion will allow those with limited upper body strength to accomplish the task with ease. Save lug nuts in a secure location for future use.

Step 7: Tire Removal

Once the tire has lost contact with the ground, you may either use the breaker bar or your hands to finish removing the lug nuts from the car. It may be necessary to use the breaker bar if it is a vehicle from harsh weather or higher mileage. It may also be necessary to use the pry hook on the breaker bar to loosen tire from the car.

Step 8: Remove Tire

Remove the tire from the car and remove it from the work area. This could include putting it in the trunk or putting in the backseat, this is a user preference and ability based task.

Step 9: Replace Tire

Take the spare tire and place it back on to the lug studs. This is done by lifting the new tire that was retrieved from the trunk and aligning it with the holes in the tire that correspond with the lug studs. Using the old lug nuts that were taken off, screw the lug nuts on the lug studs with the tire in place. Make sure to tighten the lug nuts as much as possible by hand before moving on to the next step.

Step 10: Lower the Jack

Put the breaker bar back on the jack nut and turn the jack nut in a counter clockwise motion. Reset the breaker bar as needed until tire touches the ground. Remove the jack from under the vehicle when fully collapsed and place in same location as the removed tire for future usage.

Step 11: Tighten the Lug Nuts

The order of which the lug nuts are tightened in is crucial to prevent alignment problems. With this in mind, you can pick any lug nut to start with and tighten it using the breaker bar, turn each lug nut in a clockwise rotation until tight. This will be a varying degree depending on strength. For those with less upper body strength you may want to step down on breaker bar in a similar fashion used to loosen the lug nuts, to tighten the lug nuts.

Once a single lug nut is tightened, going clockwise, skip one lug nut and tighten the next, and so on until all lugs are tight. (This is for a 5 lug nut tire, pattern of tightening will vary based on number of lug nuts, a star pattern is commonly accepted when working with SUV's or trucks.)

Step 12: Clean Up

After the lug nuts have been tightened, place the breaker bar with the jack and the tire in your vehicle for future use. Get in the car and the turn off 4 way lights and continue normal operation.

Step 13: Recomendation

It is advised that you now take your car to a repair shop or dealer that you trust to have the lug nuts re-torqued to 90 Ft/Lbs with a torque wrench to insure proper tire wear and alignment.

Thanks for viewing our tutorial on changing flat tires! We hope you’re never caught off guard by a flat, but now you’re prepared for a roadside emergency.