To change a tyre, park somewhere flat and safe, switch on your hazard lights and apply the handbrake. Get the spare, jack and wheel brace out. Loosen the wheel nuts a quarter-turn while the car is still on the ground, jack the car up until the flat clears the ground, take the nuts and wheel off, fit the spare, nip the nuts up by hand, lower the car, then fully tighten in a diagonal star pattern. It takes most people around 30 minutes.
That is the whole job in one breath. Now here is the part the one-minute videos skip: doing it safely, in Britain, on a real road, when it is dark and raining and you have never done it before. This is a skill nobody teaches you in a driving lesson, yet a puncture can happen on your first solo drive. So let us walk through it properly, the way we would talk a pupil through it from the passenger seat.
Should you even change it yourself?
The honest answer first: only change a tyre yourself if you are somewhere genuinely safe and you feel confident. A driveway or a quiet, level side street is fine, have a go. A hard shoulder, a live traffic lane, a narrow bend or a soft verge on a slope is not – there, the only safe choice is to get everyone out and call for recovery.
Two things make roadside changes riskier than they look. Many newer cars do not carry a spare wheel at all; they come with a tyre repair kit or run-flat tyres instead, to save weight and boot space. And the most dangerous moment is never the mechanics of it – it is kneeling by the roadside with traffic passing a metre from your shoulder. Keep that in mind and the rest is straightforward.
What you need to change a tyre
Everything you need usually lives under the boot floor, in the well where the spare sits. Have a look now, before you ever need it, so you know what your car actually carries.
| Tool | What it does | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Spare wheel (or repair kit) | Replaces the flat, or seals a small puncture temporarily | Under the boot floor |
| Jack | Lifts the car off the ground | Boot well, often clipped in |
| Wheel brace (wheel wrench) | Loosens and tightens the wheel nuts | Boot well |
| Locking wheel nut key | Removes the one security nut on each wheel | Glovebox, boot, or door pocket |
| Vehicle handbook | Shows your car’s jacking points | Glovebox |
| Wheel chock (or a brick) | Stops the car rolling while jacked up | Improvise if not supplied |
| Hi-vis jacket and torch | Keeps you visible and lets you see | Keep a set in the boot |
That locking wheel nut key catches people out more than anything else. Most cars have one anti-theft nut per wheel that only a matching key will undo. If the key is missing, you cannot get the wheel off, full stop, so check it is in the car and note where it lives. A tyre pressure gauge and a pair of gloves are worth adding too. If you want to build the wider habit of pre-drive checks, our guide on building genuine driving confidence covers the mindset that makes all of this feel routine rather than daunting.
How to change a tyre: the 10 steps
1. Stop somewhere safe and flat
A few extra metres to reach a safe spot beats stopping in a dangerous one – it is better to risk the wheel rim than to stop on a blind bend. Find level, firm ground away from moving traffic, and switch on your hazard lights the moment you know you have a problem.
2. Secure the car
Apply the handbrake firmly, put the car in first gear (or Park on an automatic) and turn the engine off. Get any passengers out and stood somewhere safe off the road, not sitting in the car while it is on the jack.
3. Chock the opposite wheel
A wheel chock, or a decent brick, stops the car creeping while it is jacked. Put it against the wheel diagonally opposite the flat: front-left flat, chock the rear-right; rear-left flat, chock the front-right. Small step, big risk removed.
4. Loosen the wheel nuts, on the ground
Beginners get this in the wrong order. Loosen the nuts while all four wheels are still down – otherwise the wheel just spins. Lever off any plastic trim first, fit the locking key where needed, then turn the brace anti-clockwise and crack each nut a quarter to a half turn. They can be very tight, so it is fine to stand on the brace and use your body weight. Do not take them off yet.
5. Jack the car up
Find the correct jacking point in your handbook – there is a reinforced spot behind each wheel, and jacking elsewhere can dent the sill or drop the car. Sit the jack on firm ground (a flat plank helps on tarmac), directly under that point, and wind up steadily until the flat is about 10 to 15 cm clear – enough to fit the fully inflated spare, which is fatter than the flat.
6. Remove the flat
Fully undo the nuts and keep them where they cannot roll away, upside down in the wheel trim is perfect. Pull the wheel straight towards you with both hands; if it is stuck, a gentle wiggle frees it. Lay it flat, and if you are near traffic, slide it under the sill – if the jack ever failed, the car drops onto the tyre, not the ground.
7. Fit the spare
Lift the spare on (mind your back) and line the holes up with the bolts or studs. Push it fully home so it sits flush against the hub, then spin the nuts on finger-tight, tapered end facing in, until each one bites.
8. Lower until the tyre touches, then tighten
Wind the jack down until the spare is just touching and taking some weight, but the car is not fully down. Tighten the nuts with the brace in a diagonal star pattern – one, then the one opposite, then the next pair – never straight round the circle. The star sequence pulls the wheel on square.
9. Lower fully and give a final nip
Bring the car all the way down, remove the jack, and go round the nuts once more to check each is firm. Clip any wheel trim back on (it will not fit a space-saver).
10. Check the pressure and pack up
Stow the flat, jack, brace and locking key back in the boot – loose tools become missiles in a crash. Check the spare is at the pressure in your handbook, or drive gently to a petrol station and top it up there. Then get the puncture seen to as soon as you can.
Space-saver spares: mind the 50mph limit
If your spare is a skinny “space-saver”, treat it as get-you-home only, not a proper wheel. Space-savers start life with roughly 3mm of tread, far less than a full tyre, and manufacturers and breakdown firms such as the RAC advise you keep below 50mph and cover the shortest distance you can, ideally under about 50 miles, before fitting a full replacement. Handling, grip and braking are all reduced on one, so no dual carriageways at pace and no motorway cruising if you can avoid it. If you are still building your feel for higher-speed roads, our explainer on what a dual carriageway is and its speed limits is worth a read alongside this.
Importantly, the legal tread limit still applies to a spare. Under the Highway Code (Annex 6), car tyres must have at least 1.6mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the tread, around the entire circumference – a worn space-saver that drops below that is as illegal as any other bald tyre, and the tread depth law is enforced per tyre.
No spare? Using a tyre repair kit
More and more new cars ship with a sealant-and-compressor kit instead of a spare: a canister of sealant plus a small 12-volt pump. Screw the hose to the valve, run the compressor, and it pumps sealant into the tyre and reinflates it enough to limp to a garage. Two honest caveats: it only works on small punctures in the tread (not sidewall damage or a blowout), and it is temporary – the tyre still needs a professional repair or replacement afterwards. Follow the instructions on your kit, as they vary by brand.
Changing a tyre on the motorway: don’t
This is the single most important paragraph here. Never change a tyre yourself on a motorway hard shoulder or a live lane. Fast traffic passing a few feet away makes it one of the most dangerous things a driver can do. The Highway Code (Rule 275) says to pull onto the hard shoulder or into an emergency refuge area, leave the vehicle by the left-hand door away from traffic, and wait behind the safety barrier – not to start jacking the car up. Rule 277 reinforces waiting well away from your vehicle and the carriageway.
On a smart motorway there may be no hard shoulder at all. If you cannot reach an emergency area, and it is safe, get well left; if you are stuck in a live lane, keep your seatbelts on, hazards on, and call 999. Rule 269 is blunt: you MUST NOT use the hard shoulder except in an emergency. In every one of these cases, get everyone out on the nearside, stand behind the barrier, and call your breakdown provider or the emergency services. A wheel can be changed by a professional in minutes; you cannot undo being hit.
When to just call for help
Even off the motorway, call your breakdown cover if the ground is sloped or soft, you are somewhere with nowhere safe to work, the nuts will not budge, the locking key is missing, the sidewall is damaged, or you just do not feel confident. There is no shame in it – a recovery patrol does this all day, and knowing your own limits is exactly the judgement a good driver develops. The Pass Plus scheme, taken after your test, builds that kind of real-world confidence on faster, busier roads.
How this fits into learning to drive
Changing a wheel is not on the driving test, but roadside know-how is part of being a genuinely independent driver, and it starts with a car you are comfortable in. On an intensive course with GetMyPass the focus is getting you confident and test-ready fast; if you are nearly there or brushing up, the Provisional intensive course is built for that stage. You book your own theory and practical tests with the DVSA – we get you ready for them. To weigh it up, see how our intensive courses run, and when you are set you can book your course in a couple of minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you change a tyre step by step?
Park on flat, safe ground, hazards on, handbrake on, everyone out. Chock the opposite wheel, loosen the nuts a quarter-turn while the car is grounded, then jack up at the correct jacking point until the flat clears the floor. Remove the nuts and wheel, fit the spare, hand-tighten the nuts, lower the car until the tyre touches, tighten fully in a diagonal star pattern, drop the car fully and re-check. Finally set the spare’s pressure and get the puncture repaired.
Can you change a tyre yourself?
Yes, if you are somewhere safe and level and you feel confident with the tools. The mechanics are simple; the judgement is knowing when not to. Never on a motorway hard shoulder or live lane, and not on a slope, a busy road or soft ground. If any of that applies, or the nuts will not move or the locking key is missing, get everyone clear and call for recovery.
Can I replace a tyre myself?
Fitting the spare wheel yourself is fine – that is what changing a tyre at the roadside means. But fitting a brand-new tyre onto the rim needs a tyre machine to break the bead and balancing weights afterwards, so that part is done at a garage. Swap the wheel to get moving, then let a professional replace the actual tyre.
What is the 3 tyre rule?
There is no single official “3 tyre rule”; the phrase is used loosely. Most often it means a space-saver spare, which typically has only about 3mm of tread and a 50mph limit, so it is temporary use only. Some people also use it for the garage habit of replacing tyres in matched sets so grip stays even. Either way, the firm legal number to remember is the 1.6mm minimum tread depth on every tyre.
Can I change just one tyre?
Legally, yes. For safety and handling, fitters usually recommend replacing tyres in pairs on the same axle so grip is balanced side to side, with the newer, deeper-tread tyres on the rear. If only one is damaged and the others have plenty of tread, changing the one is fine – just match the brand, size and type to its partner.
How long does it take to change a tyre?
With the right tools and a safe spot, most drivers change a wheel in around 30 minutes. Stiff nuts, bad weather or a first attempt can push that towards an hour. If it is dragging on much longer, or you are not comfortable, stop and call for help rather than rushing a job next to traffic.
Is it illegal to drive with a flat tyre?
Driving on a flat or badly damaged tyre is dangerous and can leave you with an illegal, defective tyre. Under UK law each illegal tyre can cost a fine of up to £2,500 and 3 penalty points, and that is per tyre. A flat also wrecks the wheel and can damage suspension, so pull over safely as soon as you notice it.