Please note: Only change a tyre roadside if you can pull well clear of moving traffic. If you cannot do so safely, call for roadside assistance instead.
Before you start
Pull as far off the road as possible, onto flat, stable ground, switch on your hazard lights, and set out a warning triangle behind the vehicle if you have one.
Apply the handbrake, put the car in park (or in gear for a manual), and if anyone is in the car, have them exit on the side away from traffic.
Step-by-step tyre change
1. Loosen the wheel nuts slightly with the wheel still on the ground — this is much harder once the wheel is off the ground.
2. Position the jack at the correct jacking point (check your owner's manual) and raise the car until the flat tyre is a few centimetres clear of the ground.
3. Remove the loosened wheel nuts fully, and pull the flat tyre straight off.
4. Fit the spare tyre onto the wheel bolts and hand-tighten the nuts in a star (crisscross) pattern.
5. Lower the car back to the ground, then fully tighten the nuts in the same star pattern using your body weight through the wrench for a firm final tighten.
After the change
Most spare "space-saver" tyres are only rated for limited distance and reduced speed — check your manual and drive gently to a garage to fit a proper replacement tyre as soon as possible.
Have the wheel nuts re-torqued to the correct specification and the spare's condition checked by a technician within a day or two of a roadside change.
