Do You Have A Flat Tire?

Imagine you’re driving down the street, and you hear what sounds like your car playing patty cake with the pavement. So, you pull over to the side of the road to figure out what’s going on. Of course, one of your tires are flat. We’ve all had to deal with a deflated or blown tire a time or two. But, there’s no need to allow it to ruin your day.

At The Towing Company L.L.C, we have changed thousands of tires in the Denver Metro area, as well as providing other roadside assistance services. So, we have a lot of knowledge about cars, trucks, and SUVs. And when you require roadside help or need a local towing company, you are our priority. You can give us a call to change your tire, or you could do it yourself. To help you, we have put together an 8 step guide to assist you if you decide to tackle that annoying flat yourself on the side of the road.

8 Step DYI How To Change A Flat Tire

If you are going to change the flat tire yourself, here an the 8-step process to assist you.

1. When you experience a blown tire while driving, it’s crucial not to overreact. Firmly hold the steering wheel and slowly steer the vehicle to the shoulder. While doing this, keep in mind that stopping on a level area of the shoulder is best.
2. Locate your flashers and turn them on. Having your flashers on notifies other motorists that you may be exiting your vehicle. But, no matter what, you must keep an eye on traffic around you at all times and know where you are as far as how close you are to motorists passing by. You don’t want to walk into traffic because you assume they will get over or are watching out for you. Be very careful as there are many distracted drivers on the road today.
3. Secure your vehicle by applying the parking brake.Then, if you have a tire chock or a large rock or brick, place them behind and in front of a good tire to help keep the vehicle from rolling when it is being jacked-up.
4. Go to the trunk and get all the tools needed for the tire change, which will be your spare, jack, and tire tools, if you are not sure of the location of the spare, check your vehicle’s owner manual. Depending on the vehicle, your spare could be kept under the cargo area of the trunk, or it could be attached to the undercarriage. If you are not sure how to safely release the spare, consult the owner’s manual to locate the tools needed for this. Once you locate all the tools and the spare, be sure to use a tire gage to ensure the spare has sufficient tire pressure. The amount of air pressure needed for the tire will be imprinted on the sidewall of the spare tire.
5. Now that you have everything needed for the tire change, before you jack up the car, loosen the lug nuts. If you try to loosen the lug nuts when the vehicle is jacked-up, the vehicle could fall off the jack.
6.  Consult the owner’s manual for proper placement of the jack. The improper placement could damage your vehicle, or even worse, the vehicle could fall on you, causing injury or death. Once you find the proper jack placement location, go ahead and raise the jack to a sufficient height to remove the flat tire.
7. Now you are ready to remove the deflated tire. If you have gloves, we suggest wearing them to prevent cutting yourself on the steel belting of the tire, if it is protruding. 
8. Once you’ve removed the deflated tire there’s one more step left. Put on the spare tire and replace the lug nuts, tightening them by hand. Lower the jack, then securely tighten the lug nuts in a criss-cross manner. Then slowly release the jack. If your spare is a donut, check the manufacturing guidelines for the speed you can travel. Lastly, head directly to your shop to get a new tire mounted on your wheel, as driving on a donut for extended periods is not advisable.

Flat Tire Change Service

Knowing how to change a flat tire is a great skill to have. But, sometimes issues arise, and performing the tire change yourself isn’t going to happen because you don’t have the proper tools. You can always depend on us at The Towing Company L.L.C. We are a phone call away to change that tire for you or tow your car to your repair shop.

Sometimes doing it yourself could cause more of a problem than simply having a deflated tire. For example, when you’ve got your best clothes on, and you have an appointment to keep, changing your own tire can be quite messy. So, giving us a call here at The Towing Company L.L.C would be the easiest tire change for you. And, if your vehicle breakdown issue requires a car towing service, we can help there as well. With all that can go wrong with your vehicle, from a dead battery to a mistake with leaving your keys in a locked vehicle, you need a friendly towing company you can trust. That’s us.