# Changing a flat tire



## akk51 (Aug 21, 2002)

a lot.


----------



## Katana200sx (May 13, 2002)

you have to lower the jack to get it out of the bracket in the trunk. its raised up some to keep it in place. there is a little rail running along your rocker panel that fits snugly into the notch on the jack. you place the jack close to the tire you are changing. to get the lugs off if they are too tight, put it as close to horizontal as u can and stomp on the lug wrench or slowly apply pressure with you foot


----------



## Gimp (Jun 9, 2002)

FIRST THING....NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try to undo the lugnuts while the car is on the jack. Do that FIRST.....THEN raise the car.


----------



## G_Funk013 (Jul 9, 2002)

I had to change the same tires 2 days in a row becuase it went flat.

What I did was:

1) Put the ebrake on.
2) Loosen the lug nuts on the tire. I loosened mine how katana suggested.
3) On my jack it said where to put it under the car. Along the underside of the car there are two notches. Just put the jack on that and start raising the car.
4) Then I completely took off the lug nuts by hand.
5) Switched tires and did everything in the reverse order.



This is a bad picture of where I had to put the jack.
-----^-----^---------
...........^
I put the jack here.


----------



## zakezuke (Mar 22, 2003)

> *FIRST THING....NEVER, NEVER, NEVER try to undo the lugnuts while the car is on the jack. Do that FIRST.....THEN raise the car. *


Agreed! This seems to be a point that people get confused on. 

For front wheels it's impossible unless your car is in gear / park. If it is a manual then you run the risk of turning the rear wheels with the force you are using to remove the front wheels. 

If it's the rear wheels, it's impossible unless you have your e-brake on. 

In either case it's stilll not a good idea because your car is on a pivot point. It's easy enough to rock your car off that jack and cause damage to the car or yourself.

---

As far as getting removing the lugs, I'm not sure how tight they were at the factory but your typical tire mounting service has them on overtight. 

What I personaly do is I use my foot on the tire iron while the auto is still level. A human is 150pounds easy, the action of stepping on the iron it self should be enough force to free the lugs. I'm not sure about the b14 but I believe prior sentras spec was 72ft/lbs. When I removed all my wheels, it required over 150ft/lbs according to my torque wrench. 

While I'm not sure if this is indeed a proper removal technique... Torque = Force x Moment Arm. Your foot + you by lengh of arm = foot pounds. 

Alternativly if the nuts are particularly stubern, I use the factory jack as provided, and raise it up on the corner of the tire iron. Though I must admit, this particular factory jack on my 98 sentra isn't ideal for that arangement. 

Other people would reccomend a piece of pipe to make your tire iron longer so you can apply more torque. But how often do you carry pipe with you?


----------



## krylonkoopaa (Sep 13, 2002)

first thing i did was get a hydralic jack and I have a full size spare also the jack that comes with the car sucks it takes like 30 minutes with that jack my new jack it takesme 10 minutes minimum.


----------



## zakezuke (Mar 22, 2003)

> *first thing i did was get a hydralic jack <snip> it takes like 30 minutes with that jack my new jack it takesme 10 minutes minimum. *


I know at some point Harbor Freight tools had a hydrolic scissor jack that looked quite handy. From my memory it profile seemed close to a typical Japanese stock factory jack. 

Personaly, I like the screw style jacks. They are more work but less likely to blow a seal.


----------



## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

The lug nut torque for B14s is 87 ft-lbs, according to the Haynes manual.

Lugs are easy to remove if you hook the little black lug bar they give you on the nut so it's pretty much horizontal, then stand on the other end. The bar's a little more than a foot long and most of us here weigh over 87 lbs.


----------

