Changing a tyre is something you may find yourself doing one day if a problem were to crop up with one of your car’s current tyres.
Even if it’s something you’ve never done before, you should be okay changing a tyre as long as you follow the appropriate procedure, and you can read more on what to do in our changing a tyre guide here.
Here we’re going to focus on certain mistakes someone inexperienced with tyre changes may make and why you should avoid them.
DON’T change a tyre at the side of the road
Areas which are well away from the road are the best places to do a tyre change. If you find a tyre suddenly needs changing while driving on the road, and you can’t safely stop your car somewhere away from the road, then you’d be better calling a breakdown service.
You need a fair amount of room to do a tyre change properly and safely so trying such a thing right by the road is difficult. Not to mention it would be putting yourself and other road users at unnecessary risk. Changing tyres on the motorway hard shoulder should be considered a big no-no as well.
DON’T change a tyre on loose or uneven ground
If you’re going to change a tyre on your car, then you are going to want to do it in a spot where the ground is flat and smooth.
Attempting a tyre change on somewhere that is gravelly or on a grassy surface is a bad idea because it’s more uncomfortable to work on and there’s a risk that things like the jack could slip while in use.
DON’T have any passengers in the car
Say you’ve had to change a car tyre in short notice and you’ve managed to find a suitable spot to make a tyre change. Make sure any passengers with you (both humans and pets) get out of the vehicle before you begin the process of changing the tyre. Make sure they go somewhere safely away from the car and the road.
Having someone shuffling around in the car during a tyre change adds unnecessary and potentially obstructive weight and they’ll just make the job harder than it needs to be.
DON’T do any checks or work under your vehicle while it’s raised on a jack
A car jack is needed to prepare your car properly for a tyre change. But this tool is not suited for undertaking extensive work underneath your car.
So, while using the jack for a tyre change, avoid the temptation to even look underneath your car during this process, even if there’s something else about the car you want to check.
Any kind of work on your car that requires spending time underneath your car requires appropriate tools, or you could take the car to a service garage. A car jack alone doesn’t make it safe enough to work underneath your vehicle.
DON’T use the jack anywhere you’re not supposed to
A car jack is only meant to be used on specific areas of a vehicle. While changing a tyre, you’ll want to put the jack at the recommended lifting point closes to the wheel that’s being removed.
If you don’t put the jack in the right place then you could damage the underneath of your car and the jack may not hold the car in place properly, causing an accident. Consult your vehicle’s owner handbook to establish the appropriate lifting points.
If, for whatever reason, you don’t have the owner’s handbook on hand, then you could check for details online or contact your car maker’s customer service for help.
DON’T leave the car in neutral
If the vehicle you’re changing a tyre on uses a manual gearbox, then it’s important that you don’t forget to leave it in the right gear. You’ll obviously want to leave the engine off before you start the tyre change, but the gearstick should be left in either first or reverse gear.
The reason you want to do this is that the handbrake only operates on two wheels, usually the rear wheels to be exact. If you put the car in first or reverse gear with the engine off, this creates the effect of locking the front wheels, which for most cars are the driven wheels.
If your car has an automatic gearbox, then it is okay to leave it in the ‘Park’ or ‘P’ setting.