When you get a flat tire, and you don’t have a jack in the trunk, and there’s no workshop around, it’s very normal to panic. In that situation, you might make some wrong decisions, so we first need you to calm down. We'll share you the ways on how to change a tire without a jack.
If you're on the highway, and there are a lot of cars passing by, you need to pull the car over to the side. Then, to avoid any accidents, turn your hazard lights on. After that, call roadside assistance to come to help you out. But if they’re not available, our methods will still be able to help you out.
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Ways To Lift Your Car Without Using a Jack
If you have changed a car tire before, then you must know that a car jack is one of the first things required to lift the car for tire replacement. While it can be a bit tricky to lift the car without a jack, there are still a few ways you can complete this step.
Ramp
Using a ramp is one of the most common ways to lift your car if you don't have a jack. Ideally, you should use a ramp made of plastic or steel for this job, but a wooden one may also work.
Before you start your car moving up the ramp, you should check whether the ramp can withstand the weight of your vehicle. It will collapse if it's not suitable for carrying such a weight.
The positioning of the ramp will be slightly tricky, so read this part closely. The ramp should be positioned with the good tire on the side that has the bad tire. Then you will have to slowly move your car up the ramp with a good tire first. Keep driving your car till the bad tire is not on the ground anymore.
Sometimes the ramp will not be sufficient, and you will have to use bricks or wooden blocks below the ramp to lift the tire more.
Footpath Curbs
We know you’re probably very confused after reading this title. How can you lift the car tire with footpath curbs?
For this method, you will need some good driving skills. You have to drive up the footpath curb at an angle carefully, so the tire is lifted off the front.
If one of the front tires is bad, you will have to reverse up the slope to lift it. But if it is one of the rear tires, you will have to drive up the slope at an angle.
If you end up having to use a curb for lifting the car, then try to use one that doesn’t have many pedestrians walking by to reduce the chances of an accident.
Lever
For lifting the car with a lever, you will need a lot of strength and some help if possible. The first step is to use a lug wrench to get the tire out of the sockets. After that, you will need to find a durable lever that can endure the weight of the car. Using a long piece of wood or metal will be a good option.
Next, you have to make a pivot point, and for that, you should position a tough piece of wood or stone under the tire. To make things easier, the distance from the pivot point to your lever should be greater than the distance between the pivot point and the car.
Press down on your lever with all your strength, so the car is lifted with the momentum created around the pivot. While the tire is off the ground, you should place a strong stone below it, so it doesn’t fall back to the ground.
Ground Digging
This is your last resort if all else fails and you don’t have anything to lift your vehicle. First, you will need to park the car on soft soil. Then position a strong block of any material you can find between the soil and the axel. Once you’ve done that, take whatever you can find and start digging out the soil below the tire.
The hole has to be sufficiently large that you will be able to turn the bad tire. To be more specific, enough ground has to be removed so that the axle will be the only thing on the block.
Steps of Changing A Tire without A Jack
Now that we’ve explained how to lift your car without a jack, the other steps will be similar to how you would normally change a tire.
Step 1: Take your lug wrench, and loosen all the lug nuts of the tire that you will change.
Step 2: Lift your bad tire off the ground without a jack, using any of the aforementioned methods from the previous section. The car should be elevated enough so that the flat tire can be turned, and the spare tire can be installed easily without obstructions.
Step 3: After you have elevated the car up the ramp or curb, don’t forget to put the car in ‘Park’ mode. For extra safety, you should also turn on the emergency brake.
Step 4: Once your car is elevated and stationary, you will have to take your lug wrench again to remove all the loosened lug nuts.
Step 5: The flat tire will easily come off when you remove the lug nuts, and then you can install the spare one.
Step 6: Place your tire into position and tighten the nuts. You can use a star screwdriver to ensure that the lug nuts are very tight. Using WD-40 will also help to do this job.
Step 7: After changing out the tire, you don’t want to throw out the flat tire; keep it in your trunk.
Step 8: For those of you who have used blocks to lift the ramp, you will have to remove all of them. Then, shift the car into drive mode and then drive it down the ramp if you had it elevated that way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get a spare tire and a Jack with my new car?
This really depends on your car manufacturer. Recently, manufacturers don’t give a spare tire with a car jack as often. About 50% of new car models come with them now.
What tools are necessary for changing a tire?
To make things easy, you can use several tools, but still, you can manage without a lot of them. However, the one tool that you must have is a wrench to remove the lug nuts.
Is it difficult to change tires?
While it’s not very difficult to change tires if you know all the steps, it’s no cake walk either. It’s a time-consuming task, and you will need to shed a lot of sweat if you’re doing it for the first time.
Can you lift your car using a trailer hitch?
The trailer hitch can be a jacking point, so you will be able to lift your car with a trailer hitch. But you need to keep in mind that the drivetrain can’t be lifted with it, so it will hang.
Final Words
While some of you may have thought that it is completely impossible to change flat tire without a jack, we hope you were able to change your mind. Follow all the steps in our tutorial on how to change a tire without a jack, and the task shouldn’t be difficult.
Try to get some assistance to make the tire change easier, especially because in some situations, you might need a lot of strength. Although you could call a mechanic to change your tire if you’re clueless, it’s still good to learn how to do it without a jack to prepare yourself for unwanted situations.
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