Pictorial Guide: How to change a flat tyre!

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

One question, i have is why do the wheel nuts need to be removed in a diagonal fashion?

Loosening adjacent nuts may result in "locking" up the last one - I am telling this from practical experience. And remember to loosen them - may be one or two turns before removing all of them together.

Also, remember to lift up the wheel while sliding them over the nuts. Causing the wheel to slide over the threads of the boolt can cause the thread to wear out.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

For jam packed nuts, spray of WD40 will be useful.
so, i suggest, one small bottle of wd40 in tool kit is necessary.

[snaronikar]

Good educative material for all the people whoever visits on to this forum. It will teach even ladies how to diy a flat tyre effectively w/o anybody's help (apart from loosening the nuts).

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

...

...Loosening adjacent nuts may result in "locking" up the last one - I am telling this from practical experience. And remember to loosen them - may be one or two turns before removing all of them together. ...

This goes the same for putting them back on. Put the wheel and tighten the nuts that are diagonally opposite.

Originally Posted by snaronikar

...It will teach even ladies how to diy a flat tyre effectively w/o anybody's help (apart from loosening the nuts).

Now that explains the 'stand on the wheels spanner'.

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

I have a friend who hails a cab when he has a flat tyre. Gets the driver to change the tyre. Pays him Rs 20 or so. Drives away. If stuck on the highway he says he would hail a truck...

OT: Not related to tyre's - my friends brother, who had come back to Bangalore after a period of 8 years in US, got himself a Bolero. Due to his lack of knowledge of Bangalore road he would hail himself an auto, tell the guy the place to head to and follow it. The usual response was "are you nut's" kind of look! This went on till he was some what clear of the roads and atleast knew how to ask his way back home!

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by iraghava

And if need be, please stand on the spanner again!
Attachment 53407

And so, you've changed a flat tyre! Remember to keep all the tools backs into the boot & the spare tyre too!

Great guide and illustration. Last time, I had to change a flat (at 11PM in the night) was after a gap of 5 years or so. I forgot in the beginning to use the spanner as leverage on the jack arm for the first few minutes (and so made heavy work of it) :-(

I read on Car and Tyre bible that there is such a thing as "tightening the wheel nuts too much" !! It seems to be a problem - so just want to caution that please don't stand on the spanner excessively ;-) Maybe, you don't need to stand on the spanner at all.

One thing I would like to highlight is that alloy wheels these days come with female type nuts which needs a key to apply your wheel wrench. Most important is to keep this key always in your car (and not lose it). A couple of months back, I rescued some folks in the small Kalasa town up in the hills on a Sunday early morning, who had a flat but could not find the wheel key. So, please take care especially if driving to remote places.

[trrk]

Hi,

Please don't put the nuts (or bolts) where it can get sand or other particles in them. Use the wheel cup for regular wheels or paper / cloth in case of alloy wheels.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

OT: Not related to tyre's - my friends brother, who had come back to Bangalore after a period of 8 years in US, got himself a Bolero. Due to his lack of knowledge of Bangalore road he would hail himself an auto, tell the guy the place to head to and follow it. The usual response was "are you nut's" kind of look! This went on till he was some what clear of the roads and atleast knew how to ask his way back home!

I am thinking of writing a book "1001 uses of Indian cabbies" - this will be definitely somewhere near the top.

[rex_varghese]

Great pictorial guide. Thanks for your effort, iraghav!!!

Regards
Re

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Thanks Tyre Bhagwan. I'd been dreading what to do when I get a flat. Now i feel a lot more confident

Thanks Greenhorn! But I find it surprising how so many drivers today don't know how to change flats. It was the first thing I was taught when I was learning to drive so that when I took the car out alone, I would know what to do in the case of a flat tyre.

And those were the days of cross-ply tyres and punctures were very very common unlke today's Steel belted tubeless radials. I've probably changed a few hundred flat tyres till date on various cars!

Originally Posted by condor

Looking at the first few snap, I thought Ishan had dressed up (in overalls) for the photo-shoot. Until the later snaps revealed who the star of the show was.

No man, not allowed to change tyres anymore unless there is no other option. Have a bad back.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Splendid job, Ishan!
Good that you used two different cars for the demo - wider exposure!

What about when someone has bought an aftermarket hydraulic jack? Where does one position that? Can it be used with all sedans/hatchbacks?

Thank you Sir! As for the Hydraulic Jack, the position remains the same since that sill area is specifically strengthened to allow the car to be jacked up from that spot.

In fact, if you look at the pics of the Honda closely, you'll notice it has been raised on a Hydraulic Jack using the same spot.

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Good one, Iraghavan. It is strange, but true, that most people do not know / are not comfortable with changing tyre's. I know a couple of friends who look at changing tyre's as a pure mechanics job!!!

It is indeed strange like I remarked above. While it is understandable in some cases (Like my Mother who can't change tyres but knows how to do it so even the servants of the house can do it under her supervision) but for young, able-bodied men to not know the same or not be able to do the same is just unacceptable IMO.

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Why do you say this? I loosen the nuts, very lightly, meaning, just enough for them to be rotated and then jack up. This is to use the cars load on the tyre so that I can get those really tight nuts loosened. Apart from this, I usually jack up and only then loosen the nuts further. This way, the tyre will never rest on the bolts, which I am not comfortable with. If you ask me why I am not comfortable with this, I have no answer. I feel the bolts threads needs to be taken care more than anything else.

I do not subscribe to the method of completely loosening the nuts before the vehicle has been jacked up. (If that is what is mentioned.)

Nope, what I said was "So you attach the Wheel Spanner & loosen the wheel nut slightly but not completely. We just need it to be slightly loose not completely removed."

I recommend loosening the nut slightly while on the ground as raising it & then loosening the nut can exert a lot of force on the drivetrain which is not recommended. When you'll exert force, it'll be directly transferred back to the driveshaft/suspension components and I don't think that is a good thing.

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Again, the same as what I said above. I would tighten them as much as possible when they are jacked up. As much as possible. This will allow the wheels rims to settle well in. Once brought down, I would just do a customary tightening, just a jerk to make sure the nut is properly tightened.

Again my explanation is the same as above, this is to avoid excess forces being applied to the driveshaft/suspension components. So final tightening to secure the wheel should be done once the car has been lowered & jack removed.

[iraghava]

Cyrus, Mag, Hemanth, Zak, Snaronikar, Rex - Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Placing the nut back should be done in a properly aligned way. You run the risk of damaging the thread if you aren't careful and the alignment is wrong. Also with some alloy wheels inserting the nut back is slightly tricky. An easy solution is to use "gooti" wrench where you place the nut in the wrench and then tighten it gradually.

Correct SST! I forgot to mention that leaving it to the person to improvise on the spot!

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

For a long time I was convinced iraghava was a tyre dealer.

You're not the only one who thinks that!

Originally Posted by manjubp

I remember reading some where "before removing the flat tyre, keep the spare tyre below the car, such that incase jack slips the car will not be grounded, and will have chance to inser the jack once again. Once the flat tyre is removed, once again place same in place of spare tyre below the car, until the spare tyre repalcement process is completed".

Thank Manju! And yes, that is do able but I won't like to damage a wheel by putting a car's weight on it! Also, if you are careful enough to park your car on level ground & pull the handbrake & engage the gear that should not happen. Unless your jack fails or your car gets hit by another vehicle. But then again, it does not cost us anything to take one more precaution.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Good thread, Ishaan. Thanks for the clarification as well, regarding using two cars for the demo. I thought you got both of them punctured for the demo! LOL!!

Thanks Benny! Neither had a puncture, the tyre was just removed for demo only!

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

I have a friend who hails a cab when he has a flat tyre. Gets the driver to change the tyre. Pays him Rs 20 or so. Drives away. If stuck on the highway he says he would hail a truck. I doubt they would stop. But anyway. Different strokes work for different folks.

Believe it or not but before the days of tubeless tyres, my mother has faced the situation & has been helped out by truckers on multiple occasions. I even bought her a set of Bridgestone Donut tyres twice just because they came with a guarantee that they would be replaced even if you tore them after driving them on a puncture! Gave me some piece of mind!

Originally Posted by Sudipto-S-Team

Talking about DIYs - lot of people don't know how to open their bonnet and check oil/coolant etc. In fact someone should show this also with a pictorial guide

Now you're just taking the mickey out of me!!

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

I read on Car and Tyre bible that there is such a thing as "tightening the wheel nuts too much" !! It seems to be a problem - so just want to caution that please don't stand on the spanner excessively ;-) Maybe, you don't need to stand on the spanner at all.

Correct but that applies more to air guns at Tyre Shops then the wrench in your hand. Reason being that unless you're exceptionally strong, the situation where you would manually over tighten a wheel would hardly ever arise. Also, a slightly tightened wheel is more desirable IMO to a loose wheel.

Originally Posted by lancer_rit

One thing I would like to highlight is that alloy wheels these days come with female type nuts which needs a key to apply your wheel wrench. Most important is to keep this key always in your car (and not lose it). A couple of months back, I rescued some folks in the small Kalasa town up in the hills on a Sunday early morning, who had a flat but could not find the wheel key. So, please take care especially if driving to remote places.

Correct again but these are still rare on cars in India. The one I can recall off the back of my mind is the RS though.

[im_srini]

Very nice guide, I didn't know the jack & slot thing, very enlightening

Originally Posted by iraghava

I've probably changed a few hundred flat tyres till date on various cars!

OMG I don't know whether to pity or applaud !

Yes, there is such a thing as tightening the lug-nuts too much...

I once broke a tire wrench (really !) trying to get a lug nut off that had been tightened using a pneumatic wrench. I would suggest that one carry a narrow diameter, mild-steel pipe for extra leverage to get the lug-nuts on & off.

The lug-nut tightening torque for my Alto is 8.5 Kg-m, so for the typical tire wrench that's about a foot long, it should be enough if a small child (~30 Kgs) stands on the wrench (I'm ~60 Kgs) !

[condor]

Speaking of spanners, is there any clamp kind of thing that can support the ' + ' type (the one seen in these pics) wheel spanner ? This spanner is more convinient than the regular one we get in the toolkit. But would like to prop it up agains the wall of the boot with such a clamp.

[ashish22]

Last time i changed the flat tyre of my OHC it resulted in a deep cut on my right hand's index finger and had to get the tetnus injection :P

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by iraghava

...Nope, what I said was "So you attach the Wheel Spanner & loosen the wheel nut slightly but not completely. We just need it to be slightly loose not completely removed."

I recommend loosening the nut slightly while on the ground as raising it & then loosening the nut can exert a lot of force on the drivetrain which is not recommended. When you'll exert force, it'll be directly transferred back to the driveshaft/suspension components and I don't think that is a good thing...

exactly what I was referring to, method and risk!

Originally Posted by im_srini

...I once broke a tire wrench (really !) trying to get a lug nut off that had been tightened using a pneumatic wrench. I would suggest that one carry a narrow diameter, mild-steel pipe for extra leverage to get the lug-nuts on & off...

The other risk, by trying to get the nut fully tightened, by using excess force, is the corners of the nut getting smoothened!!! This will happen over a period of time and is something that get over looked, big time!

Do not take only the tyre changes due to punture(s), the rotation that is done every 5k/10k kms is also a contributor to this smoothening of the edges of the nut.

You only notice it when, one fine day, you try to remove the nut and the spanner just goes about slipping!!! One of the worst possible situations to be in, especially if there are no help available!

I usually replace the nuts, found on the cars wheels, every 1.5years or if I find the wear is anywhere near slippage.

So guys, do keep an eye out for this also.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by iraghava

I've probably changed a few hundred flat tyres till date on various cars!

All cars were yours? Or did you have to do these as a tyrewallah?!!

Don't you badly NEED Slime or some such preventative?
There's now Ultraseal, Ride-On TPS, Airseal Tyremilk etc. all available in India.