*Flat Tire*

By Jaden

08 August 2003

Yea so the other day I went to go jump in the BOV and discovered that my tire was flat. I managed to run over something and poked a hole in it.

BEFORE jacking up any vehicle be sure than it can’t roll on you. Put "chocks" in front of, and behind, two of the other tires! Once it’s jacked up make sure that there is no way it can fall on you.

So the first step was grab the "real" tire iron and loosen the lug nuts. Don’t completely take them off…just break them free.

The 2^nd step was to dig out the spare tire from the carrier. In newer pick up trucks it is carried under the bed.

To get the tire out you need to use the jack handle that comes with the vehicle.

Look below the tailgate and near the center and you’ll find a small hole. You need to stick the handle in the hole and the end of it will sit into a fitting. You might have to wiggle it a couple of times to get it seated properly. Then turn the handle counterclockwise and the tire will start to drop.

The tire drops right onto the ground

It’s held up there by a cable.

Notice the cable coming out of the flat part

The next step was jacking up the front end and removing the tire.

Once the dead tire is off put the new one on and start all of the lug nuts. Use the tire iron and tighten them until they stop. Don’t crank down on them at this point just until they stop turning.

Then let the jack down so that the weight of the vehicle is on the tire.

NOW you tighten the lug nuts. To correctly do this is easy. Pick one. Tighten it down. Then tighten the one across from it. Then pick another one somewhat opposite and tighten it and then tighten across from it. Basically zig-zag back and forth. This ensures that they’re evenly tight. Once you have them all tight go around them in order just to make sure you didn’t accidently miss one.

How do I know it’s actually tight?

Hold the shaft of the tire iron in your hand and step on the crosspiece. Put some muscle into it and when you can’t turn it anymore it’s as tight as it gets.

Of course if you are a fairly small person you might not be able to tighten it as much as a larger person.

Checking your spare tire PSI and winch operation should be on your BOV checklist. It’d really suck to have a flat spare, or an inoperable winch or not have the tools to operate the winch.

Jaden