Words & Images by Donna Cameron
- Read your owner’s manual before you go out to become familiar with everything
- Park your car off the road in a level flat spot if possible. (If you drive on a flat, you will ruin
your expensive wheel!). Do not park on the shoulder and be very careful about oncoming
traffic. If it happens at night on a busy interstate and you cannot safely get off the road
you may need to slowly drive to the next exit in order to protect yourself from oncoming
traffic. - Find your tools and get them ready to use.
- Remove your spare tire from storage.
- Make sure your car is in park and set the parking brake. Make sure it is firmly set. Block
your tires so your car cannot move. - Place your jack under the axle close to the flat tire. You may need to add several blocks of
wood under the jack so that it can raise your car high enough. Raise the jack to contact
the axle but not raise the car. You will have to look at your owner’s manual to determine the
correct jacking location for your vehicle. - Before you jack the vehicle, place your spare under the vehicle in case something shifts
and the vehicle falls off the jack.
- Break the lug nuts loose while the wheel is still on the ground. If you jack the car up and
then try to break the nuts loose, the wheel will spin. Just break the lug nuts, but do not
loosen them. - Jack up the vehicle until the flat tire is clear of the ground, and finish removing the lug nuts
Make sure you place the lug nuts in a place where you will not lose them or have them roll
away. Toyota has one locking lug nut. Keep track of your special lug nut tool and that
locking nut!
- Once the lug nuts are removed, then carefully remove the flat tire. Slide it under the
vehicle, and remove the spare tire from under vehicle. Always keep a tire under vehicle in
case vehicle falls off jack. Will save your life or legs. - Place the spare tire on the vehicle and start the lug nuts by hand. As soon as they are hand
tight, use the lug tool. When the nuts are tight and the wheel starts turning, lower the jack
just enough to keep wheel from spinning and tighten the nuts as tight as you can get them - Remove flat tire from under the vehicle, and carefully lower the jack.
- Finish tightening the nuts in a star pattern. Remove jack from under car.
- Replace tools, remove blocks.
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IG: @djc5080
