How To Change A Tyre

You can call us on 028 9503 0255 and we will be with you shortly to assist however if you feel you’d like to give it a go yourself then read on .

Modern cars more often than not come with a puncture repair kit as opposed to a spare wheel. I’d recommend to familiarise yourself with the kit, so you’ll know what to do if you do get a puncture.

In the event of a blow out

If your tyre bursts while you’re driving let go of everything and start praying….. I jest, keep a firm grip on the steering and gradually slow down and find a safe place to stop.

• Don’t change your wheel on the hard shoulder of a motorway or at the side of a road as its very dangerous. Turn off or pull over well away from the traffic and call us for help on 028 9503 0255
• Don’t attempt to change your wheel on soft, loose or uneven ground as the jack needs a very firm and stable surface.
• If you have passengers, don’t change your wheel them inside the car Move everyone to a safe place that’s well away from the vehicle and road.
• Never attempt to work under your car while it’s raised on a jack, this is very dangerous and can lead to your other half cashing in on your life assurance.
• When using a jack, make sure to identify the correct jack points otherwise you will damage your car, these points will be clearly labelled in your handbook.

Make sure to read your handbook and follow that advise if it differs from ours. always follow your handbook.

Ready to change a tyre?

Make sure you have the right kit, either a puncture repair or a jack system and spare inflated wheel.

Here’s what you need to change a tyre:

• Find your handbook ( usually in your glove compartment ), which shows you the jack points.
• It’s important to make sure you have a spare tyre and that it is inflated and in roadworthy condition.
• The car jack and associated tools, these will all be in a hug that typically fits inside spare wheel, ie. Wheel wrench and jack handle and possibly a wheel nut adapter. Some cars have locking nuts which require a special adapter, check your handbook, usually these adapters are found in the glove compartment or in the hub with the jack etc.
• A sharp knife or cutters to remove any cable ties used to hold your wheel trims in place.
• A torch.
• A reflective jacket

Before you use the jack:

• Make sure engine is off and hazard lights on.
• Pull the handbrake and engage first gear (or ‘P’ if you’re driving an automatic), this is to ensure the car doesn’t roll forward or back off the jack and is very important.
• Remove your spare wheel from the boot well/carrier.
• Remove your wheel trim (if fitted) – you may have to cut cable ties and/or lever the trim off.

Let’s get jacking:

• Place the jack under the jack point as described in owner manual.
• Now this is the important bit, make sure the jack head engages properly (as shown in your handbook) and only then start to slowly wind the jack handle until it just starts to slightly lift your car. Don’t lift your vehicle any further yet.
• Before you jack any further you want to loosen the wheel nuts, so use the wrench and adapter if needed and turn anti clockwise, the idea is to break the bite and loosen the nut, so make sure to keep your balance.
• When the nut has loosened, raise the jack until the wheel is just off the ground.
• Now you can easily remove the loose wheel nuts.

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Let’s get fitting

Firstly, some cars come with space saver tyres or skinny tyres which are lighter and easier to fit however they have speed restrictions and are only temporary until you get the original tyre repaired.

• Lift the wheel and try and line up the holes in the wheel with the dials on the car, this can be quite tricky as tyres can be heavy so use your knee to stabilise it.
• Put the nuts on loosely at first, just hand tighten them.
• Now you can lower the jack carefully until the wheel just touches the ground and won’t turn.
• When the wheel is touching the ground you can use the wrench to tighten the wheel nuts fully, just keep rotating tightening each nut until they are all fully screwed in.
• Put the damaged wheel in the boot well or carrier.
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What next? 

• Have the pressure in the spare tyre checked.
• Get your wheel nuts tightened properly.
• Replace or repair the damaged tyre.

If you would rather get the professionals out then get in touch.