Toyota Rav4 Jack: Where Is It At?

Having a spare tire is great, especially in a compact vehicle that not many would think can fit a spare tire. The Rav4 is one of those compact vehicles, but it can, conveniently, hold a spare a tire and a full-size one at that! So where in the world do you find the tire jack?

The tire jack for the Rav4 can be located in various parts of the Rav4 depending on its year and trim level. Some jacks may be found with the spare tire under the carpeted boot space in the rear cargo area while others can be found either underneath the driver passenger seat or in the rear compartments.

If your Toyota Rav4 comes with a spare tire, it will also come with a jack to hoist the car up at an appropriate height to be able to swap a flat or old tire with a new one. If you’ve purchased a used Rav4, you may find the jack missing.

This is pretty inconvenient, but before getting frustrated, there may be other compartments to search through first. Take a look below at how and where to find your Rav4 jack.

Where is the Jack on a Toyota Rav4?

The location of the jack will depend on the year and model of your Toyota Rav4.

Usually, to locate the jack you will need to locate the spare tire in your Rav4. If you don’t have a spare tire, however, you may still have a jack hiding somewhere in one of the numerous compartments in a Rav4.

Most Rav4 models released from 2013 to – present have their spare tire located under the cargo boot space in the rear of the car. Lift the carpeted floor mat and ta-da! There’s your spare tire and the tools, including the jack, needed to change a flat tire will be securely located in the center of the spare.

Sometimes you might find there is enough space for the tool bag to be placed beside the spare tire under the cargo area rather than inside the spare tire with the tire jack.

However, if this is not where your spare tire is located or your Rav4 didn’t come with a spare tire, and you have an older model of the Toyota Rav4, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Where is the Tire Jack on an Older Toyota Rav4?

Pre 2013 most Rav4 vehicles had their spare tire attached to the outside of the cargo door. Some of these tires have covers and some of them do not. As such, it would be highly inconvenient to place the tire jack in the usual center of the tire. It would, of course, fall out.

Finding yourself with a flat tire and a spare one to replace it but without a jack is not a pleasant position to find yourself in.

Although the most common place to find your jack and tools for replacing flat tires is in the boot space of a car, there will be times you might have to look elsewhere.

Here are some other compartments in the Rav4 where you might find your tire jack:

• Under the front passenger seat
• Under the front driver’s seat (most AUS models)
• Rear cargo side compartments
• Rear storage compartment bin

Check out this YouTube video by Peter Finn the Car Doctor on how to replace your Toyota Rav4 spare tire for Rav4 years 2007 – 2017. Peter also shows in this video where to find the tools needed for replacing the tire, how to remove the plastic tire cover from the spare tire, and where to find the tire jack for that model Rav4.

What if my Rav4 Doesn’t Come with a Spare Tire or a Tire Jack?

All Toyota Rav4 vehicles come with a spare tire. They aren’t full-size spare tires, so it’s not recommended that you drive on them for too long, generally, no more than 50 miles is recommended and also at a pace of no more than 50mph.

But the point here is that if you have purchased a Toyota Rav4, the spare tire should come as a standard feature, even in the 2018 and earlier models. If it’s not on the back door of the car, it’s most likely under the cargo space.

If you have purchased a used Rav4 that did not come with a spare tire, you’ll want to get one asap so you don’t find yourself in a sticky situation where you could have saved yourself some time and effort by purchasing a spare tire to avoid the awkward situation.

You can purchase a spare tire from any tire outlet, including:

• American Tire Distributors (ATD)
• Tires Plus
• Les Schwab Tire centers
• Costco
• America’s Tire

And there will be many smaller tire outlets in your local area too. You can also purchase a tire jack from some of these stores and other stores like Walmart and Home Depot as well as online at Amazon.com.

Because most cars have different jack points and jacks, you’ll want to get one specific to the Rav4 which you can contact your dealership or find online.

How to Use a Tire Jack

Using a tire jack and changing a flat tire is not rocket science and everyone that owns a car should probably learn how it’s done. You might have roadside assistance and insurance, but would you rather wait hours in the scorching heat or the freezing cold for someone to come and change your tire for you when you can change it in 20 minutes and be back on the road sooner?

If you chose the second option, here is how to use a jack and change a flat tire for your spare:

1. Remove all components of a jack kit
2. Assemble the parts
3. Position the jack under the correct jack point
4. You can use your hand to keep the jack in place before you connect the jack handle
5. Connect the jack handle
6. Engage the jack by turning it clockwise until it begins the lift the car
7. Continue to turn it clockwise so it lifts the car
8. If the car is making too many uncommon noises, you may need to lower the jack and reposition it to try again
9. Once the car has been raised by using the tire jack, you should have enough clearance under your flat tire to easily fit the lug-nut wrench underneath.
10. You can now remove the flat and replace it with the spare

To remove the flat tire, you need to use the lug-nut wrench/socket to unbolt the lug-nuts on the tire, there’s usually 4 – 6 of these. Once you have those removed you can lift and pull the flat tire off its platform and replace it with the new or spare tire. Bolt the lug-nuts back on tightly and slowly release the car from its jack.

Here’s a quick step-by-step demonstration by Bridgestone Tire along with some recommendations on other basic safety items you might want to carry with you in case of needing to change a spare tire in some not-so-great weather conditions.

The jack points are different in each car model, check your manual for the correct jack points, or for your Toyota Rav4 you can take a look at this guide here.

Conclusion

To locate the jack used for replacing flat tires on your Rav4 you can either look in your vehicle manual, contact your local dealership to find out, or follow the above steps to check if it is hiding somewhere in your car.

When you purchase a new vehicle your car dealer should always show you where to find the equipment needed to swap out your tires. If your vehicle doesn’t come with this equipment, you can go and purchase it from a Toyota store, or any hardware or vehicle retailer should also store them.