How to Change Your Car Tyres

One-third of road accidents tend to happen due to under-inflated and defective tyres. Conducting routine tyre inspections is crucial in order to maintain safety. It’s important to check your tyres’ pressure every month, or even before and after long car journeys. Under-inflated tyres can cause blowouts, tread separation, and early tyre degradation when driven on for an extended period of time. The easiest way to check the pressure would be at a petrol station, and don’t forget, the recommended tyre pressure can be found on the label of your car door or even in your vehicle’s user manual.

Additional tyre checks like a tyre tread wear inspection play a crucial part. The 20p tyre wear check is the simplest method out of the several that are available. Place a 20p coin in at least three different places all around each tyre. If the 20p outer band is covered, your tyre is okay, if the band is visible, your car's tyre has surpassed the UK's permitted 1.6mm depth for road tyres. This also puts you a risk of receiving a hefty fine of up to £2,500 along with three points on your licence per tyre.

 

 

Driving with tyres that have reached their minimum tread depth increases the risk of accidents, so it’s strongly recommended to replace them immediately. To equalise tread wear, the tyres need to be rotated every 7,500 miles. You will find abnormal wear or damage if the car is driven for a long time with the wrong tyre pressure or has poor wheel alignment. It's always a good idea to store tyre-changing tools in the car, as unforeseen circumstances may take you by surprise, so it's best to be prepared at all times.

In case of a flat tyre or any other tyre issues, find a safe place to change them. Never try to replace a tyre on a public road or highway. Always move the vehicle completely off-road onto the hard shoulder and use an indication to alert people of the obstruction/hazard.

Always keep the vehicle handbook in the car. Today with the availability of the internet everywhere you might want to rely on your phone and neglect the vehicle handbook, however, remember that you could run out of battery or have no phone service. Additionally, it takes a while to locate the ideal video or picture if your car is an older model or a limited edition. All your vehicle's instructions, including where to position the jack to support the car safely and other details, are detailed in your vehicle's handbook.

Tools for changing a tyre:

• Screwdriver (or a sharp object)- to remove the wheel cover
• Jack- for lifting the car off the ground
• Jack handle- for turning the jack with ease
• Wrench- for removing the wheel nuts
• Gloves- For better grip

 

Steps to change your tyre by yourself:

1. Park your vehicle on a levelled surface and leave your car in first or reverse gear with the parking brake applied firmly or leave the car in P (Park) for automatic transmissions. This will prevent your car from moving forward and backwards.

2. Use gloves before you continue any further. Many people wish to skip this step as they believe that a little dirt won’t hurt them. But the primary goal of using gloves is to obtain a proper grip because your hands may become sweaty or the oil from the tyres may cause tools to skid.

3. Now remove the wheel cover with the help of the screwdriver (don’t rush to do this, as it can cause scratches on the cover). Using the wrench, turn the wheel nuts counterclockwise.

4. Position the car jack closest to the tyre you are changing, check your handbook for the exact positioning. Jack up your car, so the tyre no longer touches the ground, just a few centimetres upwards is enough, so don’t overdo it.

5. Fully loosen the wheel nuts counterclockwise using the wrench, and slowly remove the tyre.

6. Position your spare tyre in alignment with your wheel nuts, and slightly fit the nuts back using your hand.

7. Put the car back on the ground and nicely tighten the nuts using the wrench. Check the tyre pressure as the tyre wasn’t in use for a long time.

Always check if the fitted spare tyre is a full-size matching spare or a compact temporary spare. If it’s a temporary spare, only intended for a short trip, you must swap it out as quickly as possible with the repaired one or with a new full-size tyre.

We hope this article has helped you gain some confidence to change your tyre by yourself. You can find tools to change your tyre here and find the nearest tyre service here.

Tags: *tyre_change *tyre_depth_checks *tyre_pressure *penalities *car_tools *car_handbook