How To Change A Wheel After A Puncture?

One of the most annoying and frequent incidents on vacation is a flat tire. This is an inconvenience that stops us and, if we are not prepared to face it, we can have a really uncomfortable moment. Therefore, every driver should know how to change a wheel after suffering a puncture.

If we have the necessary tools and a spare tire, it will be easy to overcome the pitfall. Regardless of our gender, we can perform this task with relative ease if the vehicle is of normal dimensions.

To help drivers and users, here are some tips on how to change a wheel, in case this misfortune happens to us on the road.

Check if you have your tools in your suitcase before leaving

Puncture prevention starts even before you go out.  A proactive driver checks if he has the necessary implements in his suitcase to deal with an unforeseen event in the vehicle. There are few things we need to carry out this “emergency operation”.

Our anti-puncture kit must have the following: mechanical jack, reflective vest, warning triangle and key. Of course, all these tools will be of no use if we do not have a spare tire.

Fortunately, most cars come with many of these add-ons already included. For example, sometimes the spare wheel is stored under the trunk. If we do not know very well where to find any of the necessary elements, it is advisable to read the manual of the car.

We can also count on a special foam canister to cover the hole in the rim and a small compressor. This is in case you decide not to make the change until you reach a service station.

Try to stop the car in a safe place

If we are more secure, it will be easier for us to act. Therefore, we must try to stop in a flat place, and stop the car on the edge of the road. If at the time of making the repair we can stay on the opposite side of the traffic direction, it will be much better.

When we stop, the next thing is to set the parking brake. If by chance the car is front-wheel drive, the correct thing to do is to leave a gear in order to prevent the wheels from spinning.

And of course, we must always wear the reflective vest. Once we get out of the car we have to place the warning triangle. Its mandatory use is a legal provision in Spain.

The next thing is to loosen the screws

Before placing the jack, it is advisable to loosen the bolts of the rim that we are going to change. For this we will use a specific wrench, a tool that will facilitate unscrewing even if the pieces are very tight.

Even less strong people will be able to do this with a little ingenuity. If the arms do not give us, we can use our feet and go stepping and pushing the key until we turn around. This will loosen each screw, until it is easy to unscrew using the force of your arms.

Remember that some cars have lug nuts to prevent theft. Therefore, it is essential to have the special device used in these cases on hand. Added to this, let’s remember that we are only going to loosen the screws: if we remove them we run the risk that the rim will come off and the car will unlevel downwards.

How to change a wheel : Using the jack and fitting the wheel

To use the jack, we must place it on the underside of the car. In case you didn’t know, vehicles have small anchor points there, which are small indentations arranged for these situations.

Only when we find these points do we proceed to raise the car. Lifting is usually done with the wrench we use to loosen the bolts. When we have the wheel raised, we can place the spare rubber next to the jack. This is to build better stamina.

In this part of the process, we remove the screws, remove the damaged rim and fit the new one. We place and tighten the screws starting with the lower left, then the upper right and all the others. The objective: to fix the wheel.

Later we only have to lower the vehicle slowly and by means of the jack. At the end, the ideal thing is to go through a gas station to check the pressure of the new tire. If you have memorized all these steps, you already know how to change a wheel.