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First, park away from traffic, put the vehicle in Park or First gear, and set the emergency brake. If the wheel has a wheel cover, remove it. The flat end of the tire iron/lug wrench can usually be used to pry the cover away from the wheel. Some cars come with special removal tools.
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Break the lug nuts loose by turning them counterclockwise. If the nuts were tightened with an impact gun, they might be too tight to budge by hand and require extra force.
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Refer to the owner's manual for proper jack placement. Newer cars often have indentations under the rocker panels to indicate where the jack goes.
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Diamond-style jacks raise by twisting the handle clockwise. Whenever possible, keep hands out from under the car in case something goes wrong.
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Once the tire is jacked off the ground, remove the lug nuts. Put the loose nuts in a safe place such as inside the wheel cover.
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Remove the flat tire.
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Lift the spare onto the wheel studs. Next, thread on the lug nuts by hand.
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Using the tire iron, tighten the lug nuts in an "X" pattern or alternate to farthest-away nuts on vehicles that have an odd number of studs. This secures the wheel to the hub evenly.
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Lower the vehicle, remove the jack and double-check nut tightness. Ideally, the nuts should be torqued to the specification in the owner's manual, but most people don't carry a torque wrench in their trunk. Also, remember that temporary spares are just that?temporary.
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