Put on your sexiest clothes and stand around your car with the hood (bonnet) open it. It shouldn’t be too long before some guy stops by and does it for you!

But if you really want to learn then put on your grungiest clothes and get to work. You have to set the emergency brake and put it in gear (or park) before trying to jack it up (only on LEVEL ground please). Before you start jacking it up, loosen the lug nuts (turn them counter-clockwise to loosen) but not all the way, just loose. Then put the jack at the JACKING points (you’ll find these in the owner’s manual which will also be VERY helpful in explaining how to change the tire) and start raising the car. As soon as the tire is off the ground, take off the lug nuts and keep them clean.

Then pull the tire and wheel off (sometimes you need to kick it hard towards the car, to loosen it enough to pull it off). Then take that bad tire to the garage and have them fix the leak, and then put it right back on. Often times its a very simple repair, ie a nail in the tire that can be pulled out and the hole plugged… this doesn’t even require taking the tire off the wheel. Now, when you put that wheel back on the car, you have to be sure to tighten those lug nuts so they don’t come off. Take a look at the other wheel and see how far the bolt sticks out beyond the nut (if it does…. sometimes the lug nuts are solid and you can’t see the bolt/stud.)…you have to tighten these nuts as hard as you can.

Categories: Automobiles
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