Changing a wheel safely, and when you should not attempt it
9 min readBy Wheel Fit
The short answer: loosen the bolts before you jack the car up, use the manufacturer's jacking points, and never get under a car supported only by a jack. On a motorway, do not attempt it at all.
When not to do it
Read this part first:
- On a motorway or its hard shoulder. You would be kneeling on the offside with traffic passing at 70mph. Get behind the barrier and call for help — see the motorway guide.
- On any fast road with no safe verge.
- On a slope, soft ground or loose gravel. A jack needs firm, level footing.
- If the car is packed and heavy, or you cannot get the jack under a proper jacking point.
- If you have locking wheel nuts and no key. Forcing them damages the nut and the wheel.
Before you start
- Park on firm level ground, engine off, handbrake on, first gear or Park.
- Everyone out of the vehicle and somewhere safe.
- Chock the wheel diagonally opposite if you can.
- Find the jack, brace, locking wheel nut key and the spare. Check the spare has air.
The steps
- Loosen the wheel bolts about a quarter turn while the wheel is still on the ground. This is the step people get wrong — try it with the wheel in the air and it will just spin. Anticlockwise to loosen.
- Find the jacking point. A reinforced pad on the sill, usually marked with a notch or arrow. The handbook shows exactly where. Jacking anywhere else can bend the sill or punch through the floor.
- Raise the car until the tyre is just clear of the ground — an inch is plenty. Higher is less stable.
- Remove the bolts, keeping them together. Lift the wheel off, keeping your back straight; alloys are heavier than they look.
- Fit the spare, line up the holes and start every bolt by hand before using the brace. Cross-threading a bolt turns this into a much bigger job.
- Nip the bolts up in a star pattern, not around the circle, so the wheel seats evenly.
- Lower the car and then tighten fully, again in a star pattern.
- Stow everything, including the punctured wheel, and note the space-saver's speed limit.
Why the star pattern matters
Tightening around the circle pulls the wheel onto the hub unevenly, so it seats at a slight angle. That shows up later as a vibration that no amount of balancing will fix, and it puts uneven stress on the studs.
On a four-bolt wheel the star pattern is opposite pairs; on a five-bolt it is every other one, working round twice. It costs nothing and it is the difference between a wheel that runs true and one that does not.
Afterwards
- Check the pressure of the wheel you have just fitted at the first opportunity.
- Have the bolts torqued properly. A brace and body weight is a guess, and over-tightening stretches bolts and warps discs.
- Re-check the torque after around 50 miles. Standard practice across the trade after any wheel removal.
- If you are on a space-saver, observe the speed and distance limits and get the proper tyre sorted.
- Get the removed tyre assessed — it may be repairable rather than scrap, which is cheaper: can a puncture be repaired?
Common problems
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Bolts will not move | Stop before you round them off or hurt yourself. Longer leverage is a workshop job. |
| Wheel is stuck to the hub | Corrosion bonds alloys to the hub. Do not kick it while it is jacked up. |
| No locking wheel nut key | The job stops there — lost or damaged locking wheel nut key |
| Spare is flat | Nothing to fit. This is why checking it in advance matters. |
| Jack sinking into the ground | Lower it and find firm footing, or stop and call. |
| Bolt cross-threaded | Stop. Forcing it destroys the stud, which is a far bigger repair. |
Common questions
- How tight should the bolts be?
- To the manufacturer's torque figure, which is in the handbook. "As tight as I can get it" is genuinely a problem — over-tightening stretches bolts, warps brake discs and makes the wheel very difficult to remove next time.
- Can I use the jack on any part of the sill?
- No. Use the marked jacking point only. Jacking elsewhere can crush the sill or, on some cars, damage things underneath — and on an EV the battery pack makes this more important still.
- Should I put the spare on the front or the rear?
- If it is a space-saver, the rear — many handbooks tell you to move a full-size rear wheel to the front and put the space-saver behind it.
- How long does it take?
- Fifteen to twenty minutes unhurried, if everything cooperates. Longer in the dark, in the rain, or with seized bolts — how long a tyre change takes.
Or do not do any of it
There is no prize for changing it yourself. If the location is not safe, or the bolts will not move, or it is dark and raining on a country lane — that is what we are for. Call 07989 606060, or see what is mobile tyre fitting.
