Ever get caught on the road with a flat tire and not know what to do about it? I think we’ve all been there. But hey, that’s why I’m here – your friendly Blog Mechanic! I am here to tell you all about how to change a flat tire on the fly. If you have the supplies, which you should, this is easy as pie and you should be on the road in a jiffy.

So, the things you’ll need are your owner’s manual, your spare tire, a tire wrench (shaped like a big X), and a jack. These things should have come with your vehicle, so check inside your vehicle to make sure you’ve got ‘em. You should also supplement the standard supplies with wheel wedges, a flashlight, and gloves (if you want – these make things a little easier).

First, pull over to the side of the road slowly. You won’t hurt your car by driving it carefully to the side. Make sure the ground is level and you’re safely away from passing traffic. Turn your hazard lights on and apply the parking brake. If you have wheel wedges, put them behind your tires – if the flat is on the back, put the wedges in front of the front tires. If the flat’s on the front, put them behind your rear wheels.

Then you should remove the hubcap or wheel cover on your tire. This will let you get to the lug nuts that hold your tire onto your vehicle. Protip: use the flat end of your lug wrench to take the hubcap off. If it doesn’t work, check your owner’s manual. Once the cap or cover is off, loosen the lug nuts – don’t take them off all the way! Just loosen them a little.

Next, put the jack under the vehicle and jack it up just enough that that flat tire is six inches above the ground. You need to check your owner’s manual to find out where you are supposed to be placing the jack. If you place it improperly, you can cause damage to your car. Then you can take the lug nuts off all the way and take off the tire.

Put the spare tire on the lug bolts and tighten the lug nuts by hand before lowering the vehicle back down to the ground – don’t lower it all the way, just lower it enough that the tire is touching the ground but the full weight of the car is not on the tire. Then you can tighten the lug nuts all the way and lower the vehicle down fully. Replace the hubcap, put all of your equipment away, and then go to a shop or dealership as soon as you can – spare tires aren’t meant to be driven on at high speeds or for long distances!

I hope this helps – changing a flat tire isn’t as hard as it seems, and anyone can do it. Just make sure you always have what you need in your car so that you can take care of it if you need to. Thanks!