Changing a tire can be difficult for the uninitiated. We’ve rounded up the most essential tools you need for the job and an overview of how to do it.
Power Tool to Change Tire
Changing a tire can be hard work, especially if you’re not used to it. In the car repair shops and racing circuits, continuous progress and improvement have resulted in many tools that make this job quicker and easier. One of these is the impact wrench.
Impact Wrench
The impact wrench is the best power tool to change the tire of your car or truck. A powerful impact driver can also loosen high torque fasteners, such as lug nuts. They do this quickly and efficiently with the help of an internal hammer mechanism to deliver impact force onto the fastener.
Impact wrenches used to be corded or pneumatically operated, confining them to the workshop and garages. As battery technology improved, impact wrenches became available in cordless varieties, making them portable. That means that you can use one to change your tire on the roadside, provided that you kept the battery charged.
Side note:
When you don’t have access to an impact wrench, you could use a breaker bar and cordless drill or impact driver in combination to change a tire quickly. Use the breaker to loosen the lug nut slightly, then apply the cordless drill to complete the job.
Note that most cordless drills aren’t powerful enough to loosen a tightly fastened lug nut, so it’s essential to use the breaker bar first. If you don’t, you could damage or break the drill.
List of Tools to Change Tire
With the right tools, changing a tire can be quick work. We’ve rounded up a list of tools you need to make the job easier and outlined their roles in the process.
1. Car Jack
Tires carry the weight of the car. You need to take the weight off it to change one, hence a car jack.
These come in many shapes and sizes. Some are automated, while others are manually operated. The working principle remains the same: place the jack underneath the car (the exact position varies according to the car make). Let it engage until the wheel lifts about half a foot (15cm) from the ground.
2. Lug Wrench
As the name suggests, lug wrenches are used to loosen and tighten lug nuts. Some incorrectly call them tire irons. These tools are typically X-shaped or L-shaped and would suffice to loosen lug nuts in most cases. If, however, the lug nights holding the tire in place are too tight, you may need a breaker bar.
Your car or truck manufacturer provides the correct size lug wrench with the vehicle.
3. Breaker Bar
Breaker bars are the big muscle for loosening stubborn nuts and bolts. If you can’t loosen lug nuts using a tire iron, you may need a breaker bar to get the job done.
We have an entire article on breaker bars and their uses if you need more information.
4. Wheel Lock or Wheel Wedges
While changing a tire, the car would be unstable since a portion of it is lifted from the ground. To prevent it from rolling and causing damage or injury, it’s best to use a wheel lock or wheel braces. These tools keep the wheels on the opposite side of the car firmly in place and immobile, preventing unwanted movement.
5. A Spare Tire
This may sound obvious. If you’re changing a flat or damaged tire, you need a replacement for it. This would be the spare tire.
If you’re simply rotating the tires or want to access the breaks, usually located behind the wheel well, you won’t need a spare tire.
6. Torque Wrench
After replacing the tire, you need to tighten it to the correct torque. This ensures that the tire performs optimally and prevents damage to the tire or wheel hub. Lug nuts that are too tight might snap or bend under strain.
Conversely, if they’re not tight enough, they might come loose while driving. Either situation is dire since it could cause damage to the car or, in severe cases, lead to catastrophic failure and an accident.
Always use a torque wrench to tighten the lug nut and use a breaker bar to loosen it.
7. Tire Pressure Gauge (optional)
Once the wheel is replaced, it needs to be inflated to the correct pressure. This ensures optimal performance and helps balance the wheels. This step is optional, though, and you won’t always have a tire pressure gauge with you when changing a tire next to the road. It is a good idea to adjust the tire pressure on all tires shortly after changing a tire, though.
8. Tire Inflator
If you’re changing a flat tire, you’ll replace it with a spare tire. That spare tire might have been in your car’s trunk for months, and it could’ve deflated somehow. Having the right tool to inflate this tire is essential if you plan on driving any further. That’s why you need a tire inflator.
9. Work Gloves (optional)
Loosening a frozen lug nut with a breaker bar can be hard on your palms. Changing a tire can get your hands dirty and can be rough on your hands, especially if you’re not used to the job. Having work gloves keeps your hands clean and lessens the job’s roughness.
How to Change Car Tire?
Changing a tire can be a hard task if you’ve never done it before. Here’s a list of the most essential steps to help you along.
- When changing a tire, the first step is to ensure that you’re in a safe location. If you’re parked next to the road, ensure that your flares or reflective triangles are clearly visible. These should be far enough away from your car to give oncoming traffic adequate warning.
- Next, secure your car using wheel wedges or a wheel lock. This should be done on the opposite side to where you’re changing the tire.
- Remove the hubcap so that you can access the lug nuts. Partially loosen these using the lug wrench. If they’re too tight, use the breaker bar.
- Place the car jack firmly on solid ground. If there is any loose gravel or other debris where you would like to place the jack, clear this away first. The car jack mustn’t slip since this could damage the car or cause injury to the person changing the tire. Engage the jack until the tire lifts about half a foot from the ground.
- Completely unscrew the lug nuts, and remove them. Put them in a safe space, where they won’t roll away or be lost.
- Remove the tire from the wheel hub.
- Place the spare tire into the wheel hub, aligning it with the open lug bolts.
- Tighten the lug nuts by hand as far as you can.
- Lower the tire jack, so the wheel is back on solid ground again.
- Tighten the lug nuts completely using the lug wrench or torque wrench.
- Replace the hub cap
- Check the tire pressure, ensuring that the new tire is properly inflated.
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