By Emsie Martin

You recently started working and could also buy a car, but do you know how to change a tyre? And for women it is an even bigger problem because they are perhaps not strong enough to get a wheel out from under the vehicle, get a spare out of the boot or to loosen the nuts.

Changing a tyre sounds like something everybody should be able to do, but many men and women still rely on good Samaritans or road emergency services for help – often with disastrous consequences. It is absolutely essential, possibly of vital importance, to know how to get yourself back on the road when necessary.

An opinion survey by Kwik Fit in the UK found that 38% of car drivers between the ages of 18 and 34 years could not change a tyre. Another survey revealed that 52% of men admitted that they wouldn’t stop if they came across a woman stranded with a flat tyre – apart from the fact that they would feel guilty about it. The survey also found that younger men were more hesitant because they knew too little about basic car maintenance. The situation is probably the same in South Africa.

“This makes it even more essential for all road users to know how to change a tyre. You cannot always wait for somebody to help you because it makes you vulnerable to crimes such as robberies, hijackings or worse. It is actually very simple to change a tyre and it takes only a few minutes with enough knowledge and the right tools,” says Ricardo Coetzee, spokesperson for Virseker.

Virseker offers the following guidelines for changing a tyre in a jiffy:

Be prepared

Make sure that you have emergency services’ and your insurer’s contact numbers at hand. You must also have a safety triangle, flashlight, a basic toolset, portable jack and an inflated spare wheel ready, as well as a suitable spanner to loosen and tighten the wheels of your vehicle. It would also be smart to keep gloves and a reflecting jacket at hand.

Stop safely

When a wheel goes flat or bursts, try to stop in a safe area where you are far from moving vehicles and are clearly visible to oncoming traffic. Try to park on level ground. If you are stranded on an upgrade or downgrade, turn the wheels toward the sidewalk or some other object that can stop the vehicle from rolling away. Activate the handbrake, switch off the vehicle and put it in gear. Automatic vehicles can be left in Drive.

Be visible

Get your emergency triangle out and position it about 45 to 50 metres behind your vehicle to warn other drivers and give them enough time to react. Make sure to look around you all the time for suspicious individuals and other possible threats.

Get the jack into position

Position the jack under the vehicle. Although it varies, most vehicles have jack points on the side under the vehicle where the chassis is strong enough to carry the weight – just behind the front wheels and just in front of the rear wheels. Make sure that the jack is on solid, hard ground that will not give way. Adjust the jack so that it touches the underside of the vehicle, i.e. just before it begins to lift the vehicle. Do not yet begin to jack the vehicle up – at this stage the jack serves as an emergency prop.

Loosen, but just enough

Remove the caps that protect the wheel nuts and loosen the nuts. Most wheel nuts loosen anticlockwise, unless an “L” appears on them and they loosen clockwise. This could take considerable effort, especially for a woman. Do not loosen the wheel nuts all the way – only to the point where you can turn them easily with one hand and the wheel  spanner.

Jack up 

As soon as the wheel nuts have been loosened sufficiently, you may begin to jack up the vehicle – not too high because the higher you lift it, the higher you will have to lift the spare wheel to get it in position. A one- or two-finger space between the old tyre and the ground should be sufficient.

Wheel nuts out

Loosen the wheel nuts all the way and remove the old wheel. Make sure to keep the nuts in a safe, clean place. 

Replace

Get the spare wheel – it will probably be in the boot or retained by means of an easily removable screw, lock or chain at the back under the vehicle – and put it where the old wheel was. There will probably be small marks on the tyre itself or on the wheel to show which side should face the vehicle and which should face outward, and/or in what direction the wheel should turn when it has been fastened.

 Fasten lightly, then tighter 

First fasten the nuts by hand in a diagonal pattern just to make sure that the wheel is equally tight all over. Fasten the nuts as tightly as you can with the wheel spanner and one hand and then lower the vehicle until the wheels touch the ground. Keep the weight partly on the jack. Then tighten the nuts in a diagonal pattern with the wheel spanner.

Lower and tighten 

Lower the vehicle onto the ground but keep the jack in position just as a prop. Tighten the nuts as tightly as possible – stand on the wheel spanner if you have to. As soon as the nuts have been tightened, lower the vehicle all the way and remove the jack. Do not forget to put the caps back on the wheel nuts (if the spare wheel provides for it). Store the spare wheel and tools.

Take it easy 

Drive slowly at first to make sure that everything has been fastened before you accelerate. Stick to the speed limit (usually 80 km) of the spare wheel.

Repair

Repair or replace the old tyre as soon as possible. Smaller punctures in the tread that is in contact with the road is usually easy to repair, but damage to the walls of the tyre in most cases mean that you will have to buy a new tyre.

“Nevertheless, being able to change a tyre is a skill that empowers you, can get you out of an ugly dilemma or can even save your life.”

If these hints sound complicated to you, do a test run at home with an expert giving advice; in this way you will not feel completely lost.

If you struggle to change a tyre, do not struggle with you profession too. Visit Solidarity Occupational Guilds, which not only strengthens you in your profession, but is also a community where you feel at home, work together and learn together. It is a community focused on protecting the profession, creating career opportunities for young people, supervising the profession like a watchdog and coming forward with workable solutions. Feel free to visit https://gildes.solidariteit.co.za/  for  more information.

Sources

https://www.virseker.co.za/dagboek/perskamer/leer-hoe-om-jou-band-te-ruil-met-die-13-stappe/

https://uk.motor1.com/news/265152/two-five-youngsters-change-wheel/