Traveling along the interstate to an important function, no one wants to deal with the added stress of getting a flat tire along the way.  As you’re most-likely dressed up for the occasion, not only do you have to worry about punctuality, but keeping your clothes clean, as well.  With a disgruntled sigh, you pull over to the side of the road.

If you’re out in the middle of nowhere, you might have one of two problems.  You either can’t get a hold of your Utah auto repair company to come out to fix it for you, or you don’t have time to wait for them to get out there.  What do you do?

In either circumstance, you’re going to have to change your tire on your own.  Don’t worry; it really isn’t as hard as it sounds.  Later on you can take your damaged tire to your Utah auto repair company to patch it back up.

Since you’re wearing nice clothing, you want to avoid getting them dirty. It seems like no matter how hard you try, though, your clothes always end up with grease smudges on them.  A great suggestion is to buy yourself a pair of coveralls, disposable gloves, and some paper towels to keep in your vehicle at all times.

First drive your car (yes, you can move it) to a flat spot well off the road if you can.  Go fishing in the trunk and get out your spare tire, jack, and lug nut wrench.  Look in your owner’s manual to know where your jack should go.

Raise the jack until it just touches the car; do not raise it up.  If you have wheel covers, pull those off; they will take a good deal of force to remove them.  Then loosen, but do not completely remove, the lug nuts.

Now raise your vehicle and finish taking the lug nuts the rest of the way off.  Now is the especially tricky part of removing the tire.  If you have long sleeves, you had better roll them up.

Bring in the spare tire, the donut as it’s commonly referred to.  Put the spare tire on and screw the lug nuts in by hand at first.  Lower the vehicle and finish screwing on the lug nuts with the wrench.  Check again for good measure and you’re ready to go.  Don’t forget to get your tire repaired, or purchase a new one, at your Utah auto repair shop.