We have a flat rear wheel tyre on a ford fusion. It is on a very steep public hill facing forward and down. Should a numpty like myself change it or call out road side recovery?

You shouldn’t have any problems so long as jack foot is secure but take safety precautions such as leaving it gear and chocking the wheels.
If unsure call out the recovery.

As above, but perhaps it’s a slow puncture – you could get some pressure into it and drive it off the hill?

Why not drive off the hill with it flat?

The tyre is completely fat.

chocking the wheels

I hadn’t thought about that, which frightens me.

Hazards on, carefully drive to a more suitable spot. Far safer than chocking the wheels.

Handy hint, when car is jacked up place spare under the sill.
Then when flat wheel is off place it back under the sill.
If car falls off the jack you’ve got a bit more protection.

If its a steep hill I wouldn’t jack the car up. Think about it. It’d be better to ask the person who owns the car infront if they minded moving out of the way then carefully and slowly driving down the hill.

You wont damage the alloy/wheel as long as you don’t drive over a pothole on the way.

(If anyone knows it)- I blew a tyre (sliding sideways) over the moors/tops from Holmfirth down towards Greenfields. Its the section of steep descending- no roadside and blindish corners in a NSL.

I decided to roll a mile down the hill to a safer place. Yes it was noisy and the tyre was toast anyway but the thick rubber protected the rim.

Just call out the “grua”, that’s what you’re paying them for.

Do not use the widowmaker (stock car sissor jack) on a hill. They are a worry on flat ground never mind adding a hill.

Don’t jack up the car on a steep hill unless you have a proper trolley jack and have chocked the car. The scissor and kneeler jacks you get with the car itself will fall over on a hill.

La grua it is.
The car is on a cobbled, pot holed hill, and there really isn’t any flat ground near by. Also, I only have the car jack, would a bike stand work?
Thanks for the advice, and saving me from potential injuries 🙂

the other problem you’ll if you try and change it on the hill is once the bolts are slighty undone if the car rolls even a tiny bit that sets the wheel hard against the axle (?) and you’ll never get it off.

Handles spiders and things that bit and can inject venom yet is perturbed by changing a wheel.

roper you are an amazing human being 😀

my first car had self levelling suspension, if the ground was suitable you could jack the car up using the suspension and change the wheel without a jack. Think I managed it, once, just to check. The jack, of course, doubled as the starting handle. mental.

but no, I wouldn’t be using a tool jack on a hill myself 🙁

Handles spiders and things that bit and can inject venom yet is perturbed by changing a wheel.

roper you are an amazing human being
LOL, yes very “special” apparently 😀

and there really isn’t any flat ground near by

where are you, base camp on everest?

there *must* be somewhere that is nearly flat nearby. put some air in the tyre, drive to a flat bit, even if you have to drive a short distance.

Sure, a bike stand would work OP.

Such ingenuity may well result in an award, which even if you are unable to appreciate, youtube viewers and local paper readers no doubt will.

Just got a text. The grua will be here in 20 minutes.
Stay safe people.

I’m not advising this here, but it’s worked for me in the past.

You can* get an extra notch for the wife and kids on a handbrake by pulling up on it with your foot hard on the brake pedal. Don’t be tempted to use both hands on the handbrake, you’ll need that to release it after.

*Haven’t done it recently, assume it still applies with smartarse cars.

yes if the rear brake caliper and the handbrake caliper is common – usually use a combination of BB7 style caliper and hydraulics too (helical arrangement for the cable to twist and apply the brakes) if you push your foot on the foot brake really hard then apply the handbrake you will put the handbrake on harder for the same effort at the lever.

sometimes the foot brake is disk and the handbrake is a drum (drum in hat)

if you happen to look at the owners manual for some cars you might find this is a recommendation. presumably when you car rolls away if you didn’t do that it is not the manufacturer’s fault!

Facing down hill = weight transfer to the front.
Jacking up one rear wheel = handbrake now only working on other wheel.
Wet, cobbled road + above = car sliding down hill.

In this situation, I’d put my Land Rover in 4 wheel drive, in a car without that option, I’d move it to flat ground, or get someone to sit in with the brakes on and the engine running.

Smartarse in the sense that it claims to put the brakes on harder if your foot presses the brake quickly. It happens often – maybe I have naturally fast feet and legs from years of riding bikes and hillwalking? It’s a bit embarrassing in traffic, and more so for anyone dopey behind.