How to Change a Tire On a Rim? 2024 New Edition

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Every driver should master the skill of changing a flat tire. You cannot rely on your cell phone to call the technician to get the best tire changed when in an emergency since there are chances of you forgetting the phone at home.

Moreover, the vehicle can have a flat tire in the middle of your journey where you cannot have easy access to the mechanic or phone signals.

How to Change a Tire On a Rim

Tools that are required to fix a flat tire include:

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  • Jack
  • Lug wrench
  • A spare tire that is in proper condition
  • User manual
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How to Change a Tire On a Rim?

Here is the step by step procedure you need to follow to change a tire on a rim

1. Push your car to a safe place

When you notice that the car has a flat tire, drive or tow the car slowly to a roadside where there is ample space for you to change the tire. Make sure that the place where you are parking the car has even ground to avoid it from rolling down. You should not change the tire in the area where there are massive vehicle movements.

When you are driving with a flat tire to a safer spot, there are chances of the rim getting ruined. You need to be careful about it. Prior to removing the tire on a rim, you need to go through the owner’s manual thoroughly.

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2. ON the flashers or hazard lights

While replacing the tires in a dark area, you should Turn ON the flasher to let the other drivers who are driving on the road know that your parked vehicle to keep accidents at bay.

3. Apply Parking Brake

When you are changing the tire, you need to apply the parking brake to keep the vehicle in a standstill position without letting it roll.

4. Use Wheel Wedges

These wedges are used on both front and the rear end of the vehicle to avoid it from rolling while fixing the flat tire on a rim. When you are changing the back tires, you would need to place the wheel wedges on the front tires and if you are changing the front tires, place the wheel wedges on the rear tire. If you do not have wheel wedges, you can use a big stone to prevent the car from rolling down.

5. Carefully Detach Either The Hubcap or The Wheel Cover

If the vehicle is equipped with a hubcap, then slowly detach this from the lug nuts. Before raising the vehicle using the jack, you can remove the hubcap. You can make use of a lug wrench to safely remove the hubcap. Though you can use the same tool for all vehicles, a few vehicles need different tools to remove the hubcap.

6. Loosen the nuts

With the help of a lug wrench, you can make the nuts loose. You need to apply a lot of weight to lose it, but do not unscrew it completely. You need to keep them loose until you remove the tire from the rim of the vehicle.

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7. Keep The Jack Beneath The Vehicle

Place the jack under the area of the vehicle where there is a flat tire. The vehicle frames are made of plastic material, and a certain area is made of metal to place the jack. This will lift the vehicle safely without causing any damage.

8. Lift The Vehicle With The Help Of Jack

To avoid the jack from slipping off the vehicle, you need to use a small wood piece before lifting the vehicle up. You only need to raise the flat tire to six inches from the ground level after positioning the jack properly. It is recommended not to put any of your body parts under the vehicle while raising or lowering the vehicle using the jack.

9. Remove the Screws Of Lug Nuts

Before you have loosened the lug nuts and now it is time for you to remove the screws with bare hands.

10. Carefully Detach the Flat Tire From the Rim of the Vehicle

As the tire is attached rigidly with threads, so you need to pull the tire from the hub and rim carefully. Make sure to remove it carefully to avoid the vehicle from rolling down.

11.  Fix the Spare Tire on the Lug Bolts

Now you need to mount the tire on the hub that is in line with the rim using lug bolts. Push the tire until you see the lug bolts on the rim.

12. Screw the Lug Nuts With Bare Hands

Place the lug nuts on the lug bolts as usual and screw the nuts tightly with hands. Once you tighten all the screws, make sure that all the screws are tightened properly. You can use a wrench to tighten those screws after pushing down the vehicle to the ground.

13. Push Down the Vehicle and Tighten the Lug Nuts

Lower the vehicle using jack halfway from the ground, and once the vehicle is in the middle, you need to tighten the lug nuts of the spare tire using a wrench.

14. Lower the Vehicle to the Ground Completely

Once you push the vehicle to the ground, you need to remove the jack. You need to tighten the lug nuts with the wrench further to make sure that the nuts are tightened.

15.  Place the Hubcap in Its Normal Position

The hubcap that was removed from the damaged tire should be put back to its actual position in a similar way as you removed. If you could not fix the hubcap, then stow it along with the tire.

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16. Stow the rest of the equipment

The jack, wrench, flat tire, wheel wedges, and hubcap should be put back in your vehicle after replacing the flat tire.

17. Check whether or not the spare tire is fully inflated

You need to ensure that the spare tire is completely inflated to have a safe drive until you reach the tire mechanic. If you need to inflate the tires, you need to reach the close by filling station.

The following is the procedure to be followed to safely and accurately change a flat tire. Usually, it takes just 15 to 30 minutes to change the tire. It is totally unsafe to drive with spare tires for a long distance; therefore get in touch with the professional immediately to get it repaired future.

check this another guide: How to Change a Tire Without a Jack