So on the bright morning of Chap Goh Meh or chinese Valentine’s Day, I woke up to a quick breakfast of dimsum and proceeded to fix my car. I was so excited okay, I told the bf already that I would try to change the tyre myself first and commanded that he’d be quiet and just take my pictures.
First, a recap of how bad the tyre was…….
Refresh your memory: punctured tyre
Changing a tyre really isn’t that difficult. Among the precautions to take are:
-
1. Park at a safe place if you could help it (ie: emergency lane, somewhere with less oncoming vehicles, basically just use your common sense ok)
2. Switch on your hazard lights (they are not for use during heavy rain where visibility has deteriorated!)
3. Take out that reflective triangle thing and put it at least 10 metres away from your car.
4. Lastly, if the place where you’re stranded is still not safe, leave the tyre and summon for help!
Okay enough of them horse shit, lets begin the most crucial steps – changing the tyre!
First of all, find your spare tyre. It’s usually located at the back of your car, so open up the boot and get it out.
Clear the boot.
Lift up the piece of board at the base of your boot space. You will find a spare tyre underneath it.
Spare tyre.
When was the last time you pump air into your spare tyre? A month ago? 6 months ago? Never? If you have not pumped air into your spare tyre before or found the very idea of it foreign to you, stop now and start dialling for help. You’re screwed, darling.
On the other hand, if you’re not screwed yet…..unscrew the tyre by turning that hub thing in the middle of your tyre.
Unscrewing the spare tyre from the boot space.
Now find that elusive car jack.
Car jack.
If you’re driving a Kelisa like me, you’ll probably find that thing a little too stubborn to be removed. That’s because it’s been intentionally locked. Turn the thing with holes on the side to loosen the jack from its lockup. Just like this…
Loosening the jack.
After getting the jack out it’s time to lift up your car. Make sure that all the brakes are engaged.
If you are on a slope, place a brick or large rock right behind your tyre if you’re facing uphill or in front of it you’re facing downhill. I mean, would you like to see your car violently falling off your car jack and have an an eye or two injured?
Check for the area to place your jack right beneath your car doors.
Place your jack here.
The jack in place.
Check out my busted tyre, man.
Busted.
I was lucky that it was already completely flat before I started the car. I could have driven the car away, not felt a single thing and had the tyre exploded in motion. That could have been the end of me. So ladies and gentlemen, always be aware of the condition of your tyres.
And now, it’s really time to lift up your car. Crank up the jack like what I’m doing here. I used this stick thing from the tool bag that came with my car. It looked like some ancient Egyptian ornament.
It looks like that.
Cranking it up….
Still cranking it up….
Stop cranking when it’s reached the right height. Which means when there’s ample space for the tyre to slide out and not get stuck. Don’t get the car up too high though, it’s dangerous!!
Behold the moment of truth……..
(Trying) to remove a flat tyre.
Now, can you tell me what’s wrong with the last picture?
Can?
I’m pushing against the wrong direction -_-. And I shouldn’t be loosening the nuts when the car’s suspended! IT’S VERY DANGEROUS!!!
How on earth did I know this? After all those hassle, I still couldn’t remove the damn tyre. Called my mechanic and he had it settled in 10 minutes. Total damage including 3 new tyres, fixing a dented rim and ordinary servicing….RM615.
Defeated.
I tried to be an independent woman…..I really did.