How to Remount Tires on Cars

A flat tire is an inconvenience. but as long as you have a spare, you can be on your way in a short time. You should have all the supplies in your car to change the tire.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Car jack
• Jack handle
• Wheel nut wrench
• Spare tire
• Torque wrench (optional)

1. Remove corrosion with wire brush. You'll want to rid the mounting surfaces of corrosion on the hub and the tire's wheel. You need good metal-to-metal contact to prevent wheel nuts from loosening.

2. Roll tire into position. You'll want to align the holes in the wheel with the bolts.

3. Lift up the tire to the bolts. You want to get the top bolt started through the hole. You'll wiggle the tire onto the bolts and press it into place.

4. Reinstall the wheel nuts. You need screw on the nuts with the tapered end inward and tighten them with your fingers. Press on the tire and see if you can tighten the nuts more.

5. Lower car with jack. You turn the jack handle counterclockwise to lower it.

6. Tighten nuts. You'll guarantee the tire is on the car straight if you tighten the nuts in a star pattern with a wheel nut wrench.

7. Torque the lug nuts. If you use a torque wrench for your final tightening, you'll know the nuts are tighten to the tension specified for your car.

Tips & Warnings

• Take it to a mechanic to have the nuts torqued soon after changing the tire if you don't have a torque wrench.
• Over-torqueing of the lug nuts can cause distortion of your brake rotors.