How many times in your driving life you have encountered a punctured or flat tyre? What would you do when this occurs while driving on a highway? There are few common scenarios:-
- Call your friends, family members, your favourite motor technician to come help change your tyre (only when they are nearby)
- Call your automobile association hotline (AAM in Malaysia), always have the numbers ready in your car or mobile phone
- Call a tow truck company to tow it to the nearest car workshop
Whichever method above you use is fine BUT sometimes you really need to change the tyre yourself. We all have gone through a driving class and driving test, and most of us had never been taught how to change a flat tyre!
This blog post is not to teach you how to change a flat tyre in details as you could easily Google it using key words like “how to change a flat tyre”. Nevertheless, I have listed below some websites and video clips for your reference and viewing:-
http://driving-school.com.my/car-maintenance/how-to-change-a-punctured-tyre-for-beginners/
http://www.ehow.com/how_2040478_change-flat-tire-women.html
http://artofmanliness.com/2008/11/06/how-to-change-a-flat-tire/
http://www.bookshelfboyfriend.com/articles.php?article_id=182
http://www.ehow.com/video_1863_change-flat-tire.html
My purpose is to give you some useful tips which can help you to change your flat tyre in 5-10 minutes (which normally takes more than 20-30 mins):
- Get a better jack (not the ordinary car jack that comes with your car). This you have to buy it before hand and put it in your car boot. This will save you time and energy when trying to jack up your car.
The above photo is an example of a 2-ton jack which you can buy it from hypermarket like Carrefour, Giant or Tesco.
I would not recommend to use the small car jack that comes with your car like this one. This is because it is difficult to operate the jack and you must use a lot energy or strength to turn the jack. It is a daunting task especially for ladies.
I have bought the 2-ton jack after so many occurrences of using the small jack and wasted a lot of time and energy. Look at the picture below. You can jack up the car by just using up-down movement on the lever and because it is hydraulic in nature, you need not use a lot of energy.
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Buy a hazard triangle sign like this one which is easily available in supermarkets or car accessories shops. Keep it in your car boot.
The sign is particularly important especially when you are parking the flat-tyred car on the road side when there is moving traffic. However, make sure the sign is a stable one with legs and use something to hold it down on the ground as wind and moving gush of air from incoming traffic often can blow it away! Once my triangle sign was blown away during a heavy downpour on a busy highway.
Important Safety Tips
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Never change a flat tyre in a heavy traffic road especially on highways or motorways. Many fatal accidents occurred in the past when this safety precaution is NOT observed.
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If you are in a highway, the best is to pull over on to the hard shoulder and get all passengers out of the car and safely away from the road. Using your mobile phone to call for the highway operator for assistance or walk to the nearest emergency telephone to call for help. The highway patrols of the highway operator has the responsibility to help you on the spot or help tow your car to the nearest rest area where you may change the tyre safely. This is especially true at night!
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Have a spare tyre which is fully inflated. Many a times, there is no spare tyre or the spare tyre has not enough air! A good practise is to inflate the right amount of air into your spare tyre. This is best done when you check your tyres regularly or at least once a week.
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Have the right tools: car jack, socket spanner, car manual, etc. Or else you can never change a flat tyre without the right tools.
My two-cents
Many people have never changed a flat tyre before. Some have seen the videos on the how-tos BUT still never experience it. Therefore my recommendation is to do a practice at home on how to operate the car jack, screw and unscrew the nuts, etc. on a simulated real life experience. You would never know when you need these skills. It may not be a life-changing skill, BUT it is definitely a skill that you can learn and use it when it matters most. Practice it you would be able to change a flat tyre in 5-10 minutes with the right tools!
Tags: car jack, hwo to change a flat tyre, jack, punctured, punctured tyre, safety triangle, socket spanner, tyre
