How To Change A Tire

A step-by-step tutorial for how to change out your car’s tire by yourself with pictures

Everyone who drives should know how to change a tire. The LAST thing you want is to be stranded alone with a flat, in the middle of nowhere, and with no cell service. Do not let this be you!!

With just a tiny bit of planning you can save yourself so much time spent waiting for help as well as money from ridiculous fees and expenses. Not to mention the satisfaction of doing it yourself! Read on for an easy walk-through of how to change out a tire to a spare in an emergency situation.

Get Prepared to Change A Tire

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The most important thing you can do for yourself is get what you need before you need it. The knowledge of how to change a tire does you exactly nothing if you don’t have the proper tools needed to change it.

Luckily, most cars come equipped with everything already, but it’s imperative that you check regularly to make sure everything is in working order. Also, I find that having practiced it once or twice before can really help you know what you’re doing when it’s the real thing.

Most cars have the spare tire in the trunk, with a jack and tire iron included or in a side compartment. Use your car’s owner’s manual to help you find these. Mine was in a compartment underneath the trunk.

Remember how I said it was SO IMPORTANT to make sure you have everything and that it works? Yep, well can you guess what’s missing from these two pictures? A tire iron! That’s right, it turns out I’ve been driving around for years with mine missing.

That means I’d have absolutely no way to actually remove or replace a tire in the event of an emergency. So, I’m incredibly glad I took my own advice here and actually went through this! Now I know I need to get one to keep with me at all times.

They are relatively inexpensive thank goodness and are super worth it for if/when you end up actually needing one. One like below will do just fine.

For the purposes of this tutorial (and while I wait for my tire iron to be delivered from Amazon ^.^) I used what’s called a breaker bar and sockets since that’s what my husband already had. It will also work for this job.

Pro Tip When Changing Out A Tire

On the subject of preparedness, you should check the air pressure in your spare tire about once every year. This is something I didn’t even THINK about before now, but they do lose pressure over time just like your regular tires.

And once again, it is just as unhelpful when your spare is also flat! So, to make sure it’s filled appropriately, it should tell you on the tire itself what the pressure should be.

Getting Started Replacing the Old Tire

Of course you can’t really choose where the flat tire happens, but if at all possible try to stop on a relatively flat surface that is safe and out of the way of traffic. Turn off your car, and as an extra precaution, put on your emergency parking brake.

Get out your spare tire, car jack, and tire iron. My jack has this deep groove which fits on the frame under my car just behind the front tire in a spot called the pinch seam. See arrows in the picture below.

I did a post about how to change your oil a while back, where you can see more about jack placement here: How To Change Your Oil.

Next Steps for Changing the Tire: Jack It Up

Lift the car just enough so that the tire is off the ground. Loosen the lugnuts one by one, leaving one of the top ones for last. This helps prevent the tire from coming off at the top first and potentially falling on you.

Remove the Old Tire

Place it under the car next to your jack. This helps provide some extra security in case the car falls off of the jack.

How to Put A Spare Tire On Your Car

Line up the holes with the screws. Tighten the lugnuts slightly at first, going in a balanced order (see numbers below). This is so you secure the tire evenly.

Finish Up Changing Out the Flat Tire

Remove the old tire from under your car, lower the jack, and tighten the lug nuts all the way. You may need to use your foot to get most of your body weight to fully tighten them.

Once you put everything away, don’t forget to take off the parking brake, and then drive immediately to the nearest auto shop to buy a new tire. Spares are only meant in emergencies to get you to the repair shop. It is unsafe to drive on them for long distances or at high speeds, so make it your next priority.

Concluding Changing Out Your Flat Tire

That’s all there is to it! I hope this will help give you the confidence to know that you can absolutely do this. There’s not that many steps involved and it’s a very simple process. Decide that you can accomplish it, and suddenly you will. Save yourself time and money too.

Have you ever had to change a tire? Let me know in the comments and save this post for the day your opportunity comes up, you’ll be glad you did!

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