Step 1: Move to Safe Grounds
When you finally realize that there’s a problem with your tire, maneuver to a stable, flat and traffic-free spot. First, you would need to switch on your emergency flashers so that the other drivers would know that there’s something wrong with your car. Once that you’ve settled in a flat ground area, apply the emergency brake so your car won’t roll and would stay in place while you’re working on it. If you’re going to fix a tire from the front, it’s best to put something strong and heavy, like a stone or brick, at the rear tires; vise versa.

Step 2: The Jack
It is now time to get your tools, and the first one is the jack. You need to place it at the frame beside the tire that you will be replacing. Placing it at the right spot, which is the metal portion of the frame, is very crucial. If you’ve put it wrongly, the molded plastic along the bottom of the car might crack once you’ve lifted it with the jack. Secure the jack in place; make sure that it is entire supporting the car.

Step 3: Loosening Up
We now need to remove the nuts, which should be done counterclockwise, then the hub cap. You can use the wrench, either an average cross wrench or the wrench that comes with your car, to loosen up the nuts. Make sure that the right wrench slips into a nut and would not jangle. Nuts are very securely put on, so it might need some force to loosen them up. If it is a bit harder than expected, you can apply more force into the wrench, but make sure it is the right way, so you would not be tightening it more.

Step 4: Lifting It Up and Screwing Out
You will now lift the car with the jack, pump it up until it is high enough that you can easily take off the tire. As you lift, make sure that the car is in a stable state. If there are any complications, lower the jack at once and fix it again, until you are assured that it is in place and the car will be safe as you lift again. Now, you will have to take off the loosened nuts and the entire tire itself. Just a piece of advice, place your flat tire under the car, so if ever the jack would create some problem, your car will land on the wheel, preventing severe damages.

Step 5: Spare Tire
Now, you will have to put the spare (new) tire at the hub. Align its rim on the wheel bolts, and then you can now put on the lug nuts. At first, it might turn easily, but make sure that they are all secure, snug and tight. Tighten them with the wrench (by hand) and take time turning each of the nuts. There’s no need to rush, besides, “slowly but surely” is a very handy way to fix a tire. If you think that you have tightened enough the nuts, don’t overdo it. You have more chance to tighten it again once you’ve taken off the jack and the car’s tire is back on ground again.

Step 6: Lowering It
Lower your car slowly, once it’s on the ground again, tighten the nuts more until you are satisfied and assured that they are now completely intact on the tire. Put the jack aside and put back the hub cap. You can now put your old tire at the compartment at the back and you can now drive away again, safely. Hopefully, your drive will be safe, but if you’ve really secured and turned those lug nuts tightly, there will be no problem at all, until you arrive at a mechanic that can fix your old tire so that you can use it again at your expense.

Yes, changing and fixing a flat or blown up tire can be a lot hassle, but we need time and patience to really replace it properly and ensure the safety of the passengers of your car. It might look intimidating at first, but fixing tires is actually easy, once you get the hang of it. More tips, always have a spare tire with you, wherever you’ll go, so that you will have it in case of emergencies that you can never expect. Ensure that you also have the tools with you, so you have things to work with the tires. Be responsible and don’t be afraid to replace a flat tire, if there is no one to help, then you have to do the work. Familiarize the procedure, or you can actually practice at home, so you will get the hang of it. It’s also best to always check your tires, or your entire car, before going out. Safety is a huge factor with cars, not just the sleek style or performance. Now with these steps, you can be sure that you’ll never be stranded again, even if you’re all by yourself.

You can only perform these steps if you have a STANDARD transmission car or truck. You need a clutch otherwise this will not work.

Hopefully your car or truck is near a hill of some sort, or you have some really strong friends to help you out.

Here are the steps to jump start the car

Step 1: Point the car down the hill and turn the ignition key to the on position (if you’re not near a hill then just motivate your friends with promises of beer or something).

Step 2: Push your clutch in all the way and release your parking brake. Make sure the car is in 2nd gear. 2nd gear should give you a bit more oomph when you jump the car, but first will also work.

Step 3: Once you’ve reached about 5 miles an hour you need to let the clutch out quickly… if you have friends pushing the car let them know before you do this because the car will slow down suddenly.

Step 4: The car should turn over and start. Once you hear the engine fire, push the clutch back in so you don’t go flying down the hill.

Step 5: If the car didn’t start, try it all over again. If you’ve tried a few times and the car still won’t start there may be another problem.

It’s important to remember that you won’t have power brakes when the car is not running. This means that when you’re jump starting your car, if the car doesn’t start you will have to press quite hard on the brake to get the car to stop rolling down the hill.

Remember, jump starting your car like this can only be done on a standard transmission car or truck… automatics simply will not work because of their torque converter.

Other options if you do not have jumper cables

If you don’t have jumper cables and you can’t manage to get your car started by dropping your clutch you may be out of luck. You may want to invest in a “jump starter” which would allow you to jump your car without cables or the above method. Basically, a jump starter is a battery pack with a set of cables that you hook up to your car battery.

You can check out reviews and grab a deal over at amazon.com on jump starters here.

See also our article on How to Jump Start a car with jumper cables.