I had a flat tire yesterday - fortunately, it was detected in my office’s parking lot, so I didn’t have to worry about changing it by the side of the road (what, you don’t change your own flat tires?). It was the first time using my “new” (which is actually something like ten years old; I can’t believe I haven’t had a flat in that long) jack, which is the kind like you see on NASCAR where you pump the handle and it lifts the side of the car up (why, yes, that is how “old-fashioned” jacks work, isn’t it?).
Get the car lifted - check.
Remove the bolts from the flat tire - it took me a few tries to find the right fitting on my lug wrench (I have one of those giant “X” kinds), but check.
Remove the tire - check.
Put on the temporary - check.
Tighten the bolts - check.
Lower the car - er, how do I do that?
Check the manual, then follow the instructions - no, the car is going higher up.
I finally get the car down, but pretty much by accident.
If anybody has one of these jacks - it looks something like this - how do you get it back down?
While much, much easier to use than the standard scissors jack that comes with the car (at least the older new cars that came with a spare tire) they are relatively heavy & bulky, taking up space in your trunk & potentially moving around. You’ve been carrying this thing in your trunk for 10 years?
That’s what you would do with a floor jack. With the one in the picture, you pull the handle out of the pump lever and put the open end of the handlle over the threaded knob right beside the pump lever. You’ll see that the handle fits over the knob and can turn it. Turn the knob counter clockwise. The more you turn the faster the car comes down. When the car’s on the ground and the jack is closed all the way, turn the knob back clockwise 'til it stops.
Very handy if you happen to get a flat in your garage. (I assume you must have another in your car.)
I got a flat once with a rental car on a dirt road in a national park in Argentina. I absolutely could not figure out the jack, even though I’ve changed a lot of flat tires (I once had to change five flats on the same car in Venezuela on the same trip - when I went to change the first one, I found out the spare in the trunk was flat). Fortunately eventually a park ranger came along and showed me how to use it (to my embarrassment).
I was taught to see if the lug nuts will move before lifting. No more then just get them to prove they can turn. Then jack up the car, then loosen them.
The one pictured is listed at 18lbs, I think mine is heavier than that. It takes up space, reduces gas mileage a teenie bit, & more importantly, w/ that much mass & not a good way to secure it, it can move around while driving.
Yes, I have the scissors jack that came w/ the car in the car. I also have roadside assistance, & actually needed to call them once to assist w/ changing a tire; after I removed the lug nuts I couldn’t get the tire off. Guy came out with a huuuge mallet, like 8" across, & even he needed to give it a few whacks to unseize the wheel before it would come off.
