Last weekend my wife and I were driving back from her parents’ place when the steering wheel suddenly started pulling to the right and I heard a flapping sound. I pulled over on the shoulder and the rear tyre on my 2016 Toyota Fortuner was completely flat. I have never changed a tyre by myself in my life, because back home my father always did it for me. I opened the boot and found a spare that looked dusty and small, and I honestly could not tell if it had air in it. Cars were passing very close and my wife was nervous, so I called a friend who told me to just put the spare on, it takes ten minutes. Then my brother in law told me over the phone that it is dangerous to do it on the roadside and I should wait for help instead. In the end a passing driver helped me and I got home slowly, but the whole thing shook me. I read a page from a workshop in Sharjah about tyre problems, and it explained that a spare must be checked for pressure and age, that the nuts need to be tightened in a cross pattern, and that you should not drive far or fast on a small spare. That was news to me. Since I might need this again, one evening I typed Professional flat tyre change in Sharjah into my phone, mostly to see if workshops come to you or if you must be towed to them. So here is what I want to ask. How do you check if your spare is still good, and how old is too old for a tyre that never touched the road? Is it smart to learn changing a tyre myself, or is it better to just call a service and stay in the car? Also, how fast and how far can I drive on a small spare before it becomes risky? One more thing, after the shop puts the new tyre back, should I check the nuts again after a day or two? If you ever had a flat in the middle of nowhere, please tell me how you handled it and what you paid. Thanks everyone.