Flat Tires

Flat tires, tires that become deflated, leaving the metal of the wheel to come in contact with the road, cause 10% of motor vehicle breakdowns. Flat tires can be caused by:

Tire treads that wear down due to normal wear-and-tear and expose a hole in the tire.
A foreign object pierces a hole in the tire, letting out the air at a speed dependent upon the size of the hole.
Damage from a collision with another vehicle or object, causing the rubber to separate from the wheel or rip to shreds.

The tools necessary for changing a flat tire are a jack, tire iron or lug wrench, and spare tire, and vehicle air pumps may be used to inflate slow-leaking tires. Changing a flat tire safely requires the following steps:

1. Look for a suitable place to change your tire and pull over onto the shoulder of the road if possible. Never park in the middle of the curve, as approaching cars won't see you, or on a hill, where it is dangerous to jack up a car.
2. Put on your parking break and turn on your emergency flashers.
3. Get the spare, tire iron and jack from the trunk of the car and place them near the tire that has to be replaced.
4. Remove the hub cap and loosen the wheel's lug nuts with a tire iron or wrench. Do not remove the lug nuts just yet. If the lug nuts are screwed on too tightly, squirt penetrating oil around the lug nut base, wait a moment and try again or place the wrench on the nut and stand on the wrench arm.
5. Raise the car with a jack until the tire is about six inches off the ground. Remember that every car has a specific spot to place the jack. Consult the owner's manual to determine the spot. Never get under a car being held up only by a jack, as cars can slip off of jacks.
6. Remove the lug nuts with your hand and put them aside. Grab hold of two sides of the tire, and pull the wheel straight off and roll it to one side. Mind your hands while removing a flat as you can cut them with strands of steel sticking out of the back of the rubber.
7. Match the lug nut posts to the holes in the spare and place the wheel on the car.
8. Screw on the lug nuts just tight enough to keep the wheel from coming off.
9. Lower the car all the way to the ground and remove the jack.
10. Once the car is on the ground, tighten one lug nut about 50% and then tighten the one directly across from it the same amount. Continue this ordered tightening until all of the lug nuts are screwed on as tightly as possible.
11. Put the flat tire and tools in the trunk of the car. Make sure not to leave anything on the side of the road.

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