Getting a flat tire on your automobile can be a potentially dangerous situation, particularly if you are alone and have to wait for help because you don’t know how to change a tire. Following are step-by-step instructions to help you with this process.

To begin with, you will need to park the vehicle on as flat a surface as possible. If your car has a manual transmission, you will need to put it in reverse; if your car has an automatic transmission, you will need to put it in park. Next, apply the parking brake.

Always place a brick, or a wheel chock if you have one, diagonally opposite the wheel you will be changing. Using a pry bar, gently pry up the edge of the wheel cover in several spots until you are able to remove it. Then loosen the lug nuts. If you are unable to get a lug loose, you will need to put the lug wrench on the lug nut, making it is as close to horizontal with the ground as possible. Standing close to the end of the lug wrench, give a little jump on it until the lug nut loosens.

Now put your car’s jack in the correct position according to your owner’s manual. If you are on wet ground or loose or sandy gravel, you will need to put a board under the jack. Jack up the vehicle until the tire that needs changing is barely touching the ground. Remove all of the lug nuts. Jack the vehicle up higher until the wheel is no longer touching the ground. Remove the wheel. Place your spare tire onto the wheel studs and replace the lug nuts by hand until you cannot tighten them any further.

Lower the vehicle until the wheel is just touching the ground and tighten the lug nuts with the lug wrench following a specific pattern. For wheels having five lug nuts, you will want to tighten them in a star pattern. If you have four or six lug nuts, you will want to tighten one lug nut first and then tighten the lug nut directly opposite it. Next, tighten the lug nut that is clockwise to the right and then the one directly opposite from it, etc. Now you can lower the vehicle completely. Tighten the lug nuts until you cannot get them any tighter by standing on one end of the lug wrench.

After changing a tire yourself, it is a good idea to take your vehicle to an auto repair shop and have them tighten the lug nuts to ensure that they are as tight as possible. This will help ensure your safety the next time you drive your vehicle.