How to Change a Tire

How to Change a Tire
Have you ever had to change a tire yourself? The idea of changing a tire never crosses most peoples minds, until they find themselves clueless on the highway with only three working tires. Its not rocket science, but at times it can be a bit more complex than one would think. Whenever your planning on driving 75 miles an hour down the freeway, its very important that you know exactly how to put on a tire, to ensure the maximum amount of safety.
Unless you drive around with a couple of body builders, your going to need to make sure you have the equipment needed to change a tire. With that being said, the first step in changing a tire, is to always have a jack, a lug wrench, and of course, a spare tire. The next step is once your tire blows out, pull over to a safe area immediately to avoid further damage to the rim. If you get a bent rim, the tire is the least of your problems. After you have pulled over, if you have a roadside hazard kit, place the reflective hazard triangles beside your vehicle to help people see you. Next you need to take off your hub cap. Most of them just pop right off, or with the simple pry of a screwdriver they will come off. Once you have the hub cap off, set it nearby for later use. Now, you use your lug wrench to loosen the lug nuts (usually five or six).
The placement of your jack is very vital, it could make you or break you in this situation. If you put it somewhere that it would slip, it could cause damage to other parts of the vehicle such as the brake lines. If you bust a brake line, not only do you have a flat tire, your also going to be driving without brakes. Placing the jack under the axle, on the side of the flat tire, is probably the best placement option. Since all your doing is changing a tire, its only necessary to lift the tire one to two inches off the ground. Once your tire is no longer touching the ground, use your lug wrench (or your fingers if you have a good enough grip) to completely take...