The Arrive Alive website received information from AutoZone on the best way to change a flat tyre effectively and safely:
1. Ensure your vehicle is on a level surface, out of the way of other traffic on the roads. Pull up the handbrake so that the car will not move.
2. Remove the spare wheel, wheel spanner and jack from the boot of the car, and place them at the flat wheel.
3. Take your emergency triangle and place it approximately 40m behind the vehicle to warn oncoming traffic.
4. If your wheel has hubcaps, remove the hubcap. Using your wheel spanner, loosen the wheel nuts on the flat wheel. Do not remove the nuts entirely.
5. Position the jack underneath the car at the flat wheel, and using the jack handle, slowly raise the car. Ensure that the car is lifted high enough to allow the spare wheel space to be fitted.
6. Remove the wheel nuts completely and put them in a safe place. Now remove the wheel from the relevant hub and gently place it on the ground. Tip: If you place the wheel half underneath the vehicle, this will protect the vehicle should it fall off the jack.
7. Lift the spare wheel onto the hub and line it up with the hub studs. Place the nuts over the studs and tighten them by hand.
8. Once all of the nuts are fitted, use the wheel spanner to tighten the nuts. Tighten the first nut until the wheel starts to turn, then tighten the nut opposite to the first nut. Tighten all the nuts this criss-cross pattern
9. Lower the jack until the tyre touches the ground, but keep the weight of the vehicle on the jack. Tighten the nuts firmly. Replace the hubcap, then lower the vehicle completely.
10. Replace all of your tools and the flat tyre in the boot, checking that all the tools taken out are placed back in.
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