“Everyone that owns a vehicle should know how to change a tire”. This is what people are keep telling you isn’t it? How about “everyone who owns a refrigerator should know how to repair it”? Or “everyone who owns a house should know how to change the windows”…..yes….if this was the case we wouldn’t have jobs. Everyone would be busy fixing his own stuff.
At this point if you have a cell phone, that’s all you need. Calling for a specialist that can do a job quicker, faster and better than you is the best thing to do. Even if you know how to change your tire, why would you get dirty, waste your time and risk damaging your vehicle if a towing company is nearby and ready to jump in to help you.
Over the years we had been asked the same questions over and over again so we decided to answer them in this short article.
A flat tire doesn't comes with a loud noise or other signs most of the time, it just may be the result of a slow leak that causes the tire to lose air.
If you decide that you want to do it yourself having the right tools and some tips it should be easy.
What you need: jack, fully inflated spare tire, lug wrench, a vehicles owner manual would be helpful, gloves, flash light, a rain coat, a 2"x6” wood to secure the jack, wheel wedges and a triangle
Keep in mind the lug wrenches are not universal. Every car should come with the exact size.
If you have a flat tire on the highway or any busy road, remain calm and pull over slowly on a safe spot on a leveled ground, away from traffic as much as possible. An empty parking lot would be ideal. It’s important to put on your parking breaks, your hazard lights and your safety triangle
Never change your tire on the shoulder of a busy road! If you are in this situation call a roadside service even if you know how to do it yourself. They have the knowledge and are able to deal with this type of situations. Your life, your safety is more important.
If you have wheel wedges, use them. If you have a front flat put the wheel wedges in behind the rear tire, if your rear tire is flat place it in front of the front tire.
After you loosen your log nuts, place the jack in the proper place suggested by your owner’s manual. If you don’t follow the owner’s manual instructions you risk placing the jack in the wrong place and damage your vehicles body. Lift the vehicle and then remove the rest of the lug nuts.
Take the spare and mount it on the lug bolts, put the lug nuts back and tighten them and you are done.
Don’t forget to put your equipment back in the vehicle, you never know when you need it again!
Never ever put your hands, legs or any part of your body under the vehicle while the vehicle is on the jack! Don't take unnecessary risks just to save a few bucks.
A towing company or roadside assistance service will charge anywhere between $45-$85 to replace your tire (depends on the type of the vehicle) and it would take them less than 20 minutes to do so. A tire repair shop should charge between $20-$40 for a tire repair and it will take around 30 minutes for repair it.
Some companies will repair your tire for free if you purchased the tire from them.
There are types of damages to your tire that can’t be repaired, like larger holes in the tread or damages to the sidewall. Also replacing the pressure sensor in the wheel ca cost you around $70- $150 depending on the tire. At this point it may be cheaper to get a new tire that can start around $100 if you don’t need an expensive brand name tire, than repair it.
If you can’t pull over to a safe spot keep in mind that you can drive slowly (under 20 miles/h) several hundred yards before you destroy your wheel. Your tire and your rim, will probably be irreparable.
Towing companies usually don’t carry around tires to replace your flat, so most of us will ask you if you have a spare tire. If you don’t have one, we will recommend you either towing your vehicle to the closest repair shop or calling a mobile tire repair company.
Changing a tire on a car shouldn’t take more than 15-30 minutes if you know what you’re doing. If you haven’t done this before it will probably take you longer. It is recommended to practice it in your garage if you are the DIY type and want to do it yourself when it happens because it will happen if you drive a lot.
If you have a flat in Norcross or surrounding areas and decide you need the help of a towing company we are here to help. Call us at (770) 766-5758 and we will send the help in less than 20 minutes.
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