Getting a flat tire is an inconvenience that almost everyone has to deal with sooner or later. Reading this guide will help you be prepared if your Dodge Caravan, or any other car, needs a fresh tire.
The first thing you need to do when changing a tire is to make sure that you're in a safe environment. If you blew a tire on the highway, pull over to the side of the road well out of the way of traffic. Once you're in a safe position, you want to make sure that your parking brake is on and, if possible, that there is a wedge place under your tire to ensure the van's stability.
Once the van is stable, you'll want to loosen up the nuts on the tire. Depending on the year of your model, you'll find the jack, jack handle and lug nut wrench in a compartment in the driver's side rear luggage compartment, or under the hood. Loosen the lug nuts in a counterclockwise direction, but don't take them off completely. You should loosen the bolts with the van on the ground so that you're turning the bolts and not the wheel.
The next step is to jack up the van. To do this you'll need to place the jack in a safe position under the van so that you don't damage your van. Line up the jack under the frame close to the tire and lift the jack slowly to ensure that the van is stable as it's lifted off the ground.
Once the van is safely off the ground, it's time to remove the lug nuts. If you have a hubcap, gently detach it from the tire. Once you have removed the lug nuts, take the tire off and exchange it for the spare or replacement. If you're using your spare, in most Dodge Caravans you'll find the spare under the carpet in the back of the van. You'll need the cross wrench to remove the spare tire from its compartment.
Once the spare tire is on the van, you can put the bolts back on with your hands. Once all five are on, tighten them without the wrench (you'll tighten them fully when the van is back on the ground). Gently lower the van down off the jack until it is no longer supporting the car.
Tighten the lug nuts using the cross wrench, but avoid tightening lug nuts next to each other in a consecutive fashion. Tighten a lug nut to the best of your ability and move to the next lug nut in a diagonal manner. Once all of the lug nuts are tightened thoroughly, you can put the hubcap back on and your tire is successfully changed!
