"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong"
Having a flat tire or a low tire is something that most of us have had the misfortune of experiencing at one time or other. With a low tire, it's just a matter of putting air in the tire to it's recommended pressure. Just read on the side of the tire, the manufacturer has put that info on the sidewall. With a flat tire your going to have to get out the spare tire and jack. What ever model of vehicle you have I recommend you read the owners manual and familiarize yourself with it, and where the spare tire and jack is located. Doing this before a flat happens will save you time on the side of the road.
You really don't want to spend more time than necessary trying to locate the spare and the jack and reading the owners manual while traffic is zipping by. Also in the owners manual you'll find in the jacking instructions, the proper location to place the jack before lifting the vehicle. This location is very important, usually the jack lift points are on the side of the vehicle between the axles on the underside of the rocker panels. Locating the lift points is easy, your just going to have to get down on the ground and look under the rocker panels. There are four lift points and will usually be a notch, just back from each front wheel and just in front of each back wheel. Familiarize yourself with lift point locations before anything happens, believe me, you'll thank yourself later if something happens.
Before you get started changing the tire. Make sure your vehicle is parked off the side of the road as far as possible, but still is on solid pavement. Engage the emergency brake, Activate your four way hazard flashers. Now, go ahead and take out the spare tire and jack. Locate the correct lift point for the tire that needs removed. Put the jack under the lift point and use the tools provided to operate the jack and start lifting the car. You only need to lift as high as needed to remove the wheel. If the wheel turns while your using the lug wrench, lower the wheel some by turning the jack in the opposite direction, which is usually counter clockwise. Do not completely loosen the lug nuts with weight on the wheel. With the lug nuts loosened, go ahead and jack up the car just enough that the tire clears the ground. Now finish removing the lug nuts and take off the wheel and lay it flat down under the vehicle just behind the jack. This is only a safety precaution. Now get the spare wheel and mount it on and push it onto the lug nuts. Go ahead now and twist on the lug nuts, and then take the lug wrench and start running up and tightening the lugs. When tightening lugs it's standard practice to tighten each lug nut opposite from the other and with equal pressure until all lug nuts are tightened down.
Go ahead now and move the tire from under the car body, and with the jack, lower the car down. remove the jack and put it back into it's storage place. Take the flat tire and place it into where the spare tire was. Now your ready to get going, but the first chance you get you need to go to a garage or tire store, and have the flat tire you just removed checked out. Most of the time a tire will be just fine and a shop can just air it back up and look it over for any damage. If none they'll put a plug in the tire, put the tire back on you vehicle and the spare back in its place. If there is any questionable damage a good shop will recommend you get a new tire. See there, that wasn't so bad, changing a flat tire is something that everybody should learn to do, especially if you travel and live in your vehicle.
Most of the time you can repair a flat tire when on the road without even getting out the spare and jack. Fixing a tire is not very complicated, you just need to have the right tools to do the job. Put together a tire plug kit (learn how to use it) and keep a can of fix-a-flat in your tool box. You can purchase small air compressors, they are slow airing up a tire, but will do the job. (read reviews on the small portable compressors before purchasing) Carry a flashlight, and it's very important that you check the pressure in your spare tire. The spare tire rates high on the list of things that are neglected. I suggest checking the spare during every tire rotation.
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