How to Change Flat Tires, You Got This!

Knowing the steps to changing your own car tires can be quite crucial for vehicle owners, especially if you have to get around in a car every day. Imagine if a car tire punctured or went flat in the middle of the road and required a tire change where no one could help.

Changing a car tire yourself is actually not difficult. Besides having the skill to change car tires, you also need to always have the equipment in your car ready so that the process of changing car tires is easier and faster.

Changing tires is also not always in a roadside emergency. For example, when a tire shows signs of spoiling, you should immediately replace a new car tire, either done alone or at a subscription repair shop.

In this article, we will discuss the signs that a tire needs to be replaced, how to change a tire yourself, and compare the costs of changing a tire yourself and at a repair shop.

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Signs Car Tires Must Be Replaced

As an important component in a car, tires that are intact are something you need to prioritize, especially when it comes to driving safety. Car tires have a service life and should be replaced immediately. What are the signs that a car tire needs to be replaced?

1. Been using it for over three years

Tires generally have a service life of three years. If the age has reached three years or more, do immediately replace the car tires with new ones. Old car tires experience hardening and affect the performance of the tires to be somewhat disturbed and even lower the comfort while driving.

2. Mileage reaches 40,000 kilometers

Apart from paying attention to the service life, you also need to replace the tires if the mileage has reached 40,000 kilometers even though they have not been used for three years. If the mileage has passed its limit, the tires will experience wear even though they still have good flexibility.

3. The tire surface is bare, cracked, and bumpy

Other characteristics of a tire that must be replaced immediately are when it starts to become bare, cracked, or has lumps. A bulge on a car tire is a sign that there is a woven thread or wire reinforcing the tire construction that has broken off so that the resistance of the tire is not uniform. Conditions like this will trigger car tires to be more prone to bursting because they are not strong enough to withstand air pressure.

In addition to the presence of bumps on car tires, cracks in the walls of car tires can also endanger motorists. So, when the car tires are bald, cracked, or bumpy, you need to immediately replace the car tires with new ones.

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How to Change Your Own Tires

Under certain conditions, you may be faced with changing your car tires yourself without the help of an expert, such as when your car tires go flat and you can't find the nearest repair shop.

By knowing the steps to replace your own car tires, you no longer need to panic or get confused when you have to disassemble tires. Here's how.

1. Loosen the tire bolts

There are several tools needed if you have to change tires, such as manual books, tool kits, jacks, wrenches, and spare tires. For that, the equipment should always be in your car.

The first step to changing a tire is to loosen the tire bolts with a wheel wrench. Ideally, the size of the key to open a car tire has a size of 19 mm to 21 mm. Remove the tire using the wheel lock by turning it counterclockwise.

2. Install the jack

After that, you need to lift the car using the jack. You do this by placing the jack on the underside of the car and making sure the jack is in an upright position.

You can put a spare tire under the car tire precisely at the wheel just in case the jack is not able to support it properly. After that, continue the jacking process until the tire is lifted off the asphalt.

3. Take off the old tires

When the jack has succeeded in supporting the car, take the wheel lock and loosen the tire bolts until they are completely released. After that, pull the tire to be replaced until it comes out. Always make sure to keep your tools close at hand so they can be easily found when needed.

4. Install the spare tire

Before installing the spare tire, you need to check the condition of the tires as a whole. This is because the quality of the tires as a substitute for the main tires must be in good condition for your safety.

The spare tire must have ideal air pressure so that it can travel to its destination. Installing the ideal tire is quite easy. Insert the tire into the wheel and tighten each bolt in turn using the wheel wrench. Turn clockwise until the bolt is completely tight.

5. Remove the jack when finished

The final step in changing your own car tires is to remove the jack you previously used. After making sure the bolts have been installed perfectly, remove the jack carefully so as not to puncture it. After that, you can check the bolts one by one again and the car can be used again.

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The Cost of Changing Car Tires at the Workshop

Changing car tires yourself is of course cheaper and is useful in emergency situations such as when a flat tire is on the road. However, if you plan to replace all of your car's tires, it's best to leave this to an expert. Replacing car tires at an official repair shop with experts is not just removing and installing new tires, but also going through a balancing and spooring process which is useful for ensuring wheel balance.

Spooring and balancing are car maintenance related to the right and left part of the car. The difference between spooring and balancing lies in the procedures performed and their function for the car. Spooring is a car maintenance that adjusts the position of the car wheels so that they are the same as after the factory. While balancing is car maintenance in the form of adjusting the overall weight of the car wheels.

The process of balancing and spooring when changing tires at an official repair shop also applies if you want to use used tires to ensure balance between the legs of the car. Tire replacement costs generally vary depending on the cost of balancing and the type of tire you will choose. To suit your budget, you can first ask a technician to get a cost estimation of replacing a new tire.

For balancing, usually official repair shops offer the usual starting from IDR 10,000 to IDR 30,000 per wheel, while the spooring fee depending on the type of car you have ranges from IDR 150,000 to IDR 200,000. Spooring and balancing costs, of course, do not include the price of the tires you choose. Tire types and brands have different prices, with the cheapest price being Rp. 400,000.

That is the information about the steps to change your own car tires. Find other tips about automotive only at MPM Rent. MPM Rent is a car rental company that has many branches in Indonesia. We have a large selection of vehicle fleets ranging from passenger cars, logistics vehicles, heavy duty vehicles, and luxury cars with more than 1,500 professional drivers. Rent a car at the best price at MPM Rent.