HOW TO GET YOUR CAR OUT OF SNOW

How to Get Your Car Out of the Snow Getting stuck in the snow - whether your car veered off the road or it snowed while your car was parked - can be frustrating. However, while it may seem difficult to get your car out of the snow once it is stuck, there are a lot of things you can do to help free it. By removing snow from around your car, helping your car gain traction, and carefully driving your car out, you’ll have a better chance of getting your car out of the snow. Method One of Three: Removing Snow and Readying the Ground Edit Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 1 1 Dig out your car. Use a shovel or similar tool to clear away any snow that surrounds the car. Try to make it so you can see all the tires. Then, use a screwdriver or a similar tool to break up the ice immediately surrounding the tires. Be careful not to puncture the tires.[1] Remove as much snow as you possibly can. Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 2 2 Check the tailpipe before you start the engine. After you’ve dug out your car, make sure that the tailpipe is free of snow. While you may have removed the snow from around it, make sure the tailpipe itself is clear and doesn’t get buried again. This is important, as the exhaust could build up in the car if the tailpipe isn’t clear. Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 3 3 Put down something gritty around the tires. Pour a gritty substance in front, behind, and on the sides of your tires. Gritty substances will help your tires gain traction when you try to back up or move forward. Some substances you can pour include: Salt, which will not only help tires gain traction, but will melt the ice and snow underneath them. Kitty litter. Sand.[2] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 4 4 Place solid materials in front and behind the tires to gain traction. If gritty materials don’t work, look for other materials that could help your tires gain traction. This includes pieces of plywood, ridged sheet metal, or similar items. Then, place the items in front of or behind your tires so you can back or drive onto them and then out of the snow. If you have snow chains, you should put them on.[3] Advertisement No Was this method helpful? Removing Snow and Readying the Ground Yes Method Two of Three: Driving Your Car Out Edit Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 5 1 Turn your all-wheel drive on, if you have it. If you have all wheel or four-wheel drive, you should make sure it is activated before you try to drive your car out of the snow. Ultimately, the more tires that can spin, the more traction your car will have and the easier it will be to move out of the snow.[4] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 6 2 Put your car in the lowest gear. Instead of just switching your car into drive, make sure to put it into the lowest gear. Putting it in the lowest gear will provide your tires with more power and make sure they spin slower. This will lower the risk that your tires dig a deeper hole into the snow.[5] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 7 3 Straighten your wheels. Turn the steering wheel so your front wheels are as straight as possible. By straightening your wheels, you’ll make it a lot easier to get your car out of the snow. However, make sure to adjust for any obstacles – like fire hydrants or signs – that might be in front of you.[6] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 8 4 Rock the car out. Slowly back your car up. If you move a few inches, you’re making progress. Then, drive the card forward. Once again, even a few inches is progress. Continue to do this until you’re in a rocking motion. With a little luck, you’ll make more-and-more progress forward and will be able to get out of the snow. If rocking the car out doesn't work after about 5 minutes, stop doing it. It could damage your transmission.[7] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 9 5 Ride your brakes. Because your wheels may be spinning too fast or at an unequal pace, you should press the brakes slightly as you try to rock the car out. This will make it so all your wheels are working to move you out of the snow. Don’t ride the brakes for too long. If you do this, they could overheat.[8] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 10 6 Release a little air from your tires, if you can't get out by rocking the car. Take your index finger and slightly push the pin in the center of the tire's air valve to the side. Release air until you can push the wall of the tire in just a little bit. This shouldn't take more than 20 to 30 seconds. If your tires are completely inflated or even overinflated, this will help your tires to get better traction. If your tires are already low, don’t let any air out. If you don’t have any way to re-inflate the tires, don’t let too much air out.[9] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 11 7 Avoid spinning your tires. If your tires spin and you’re not making backward or forward progress, you should stop the car immediately. This is because tires will slowly be digging themselves deeper into the snow.[10] Advertisement No Was this method helpful? Driving Your Car Out Yes Method Three of Three: Jacking the Car Up Edit Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 12 1 Clear an area for the jack. Locate an area near a wheel that is stuck more than the other wheels. Dig out all the loose snow and as much ice as you can. Make sure to clear a level and solid area for the jack. This area should be under a solid metal part of the car that can support the jack.[11] Most cars have several “jack points” – places that are engineered so you can use a jack there. Look in your owner’s manual to find these points. Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 13 2 Place something solid on the spot you've cleared and put the jack there. After clearing an area for the jack, place something solid on the ground. This way, your jack will be level when you start to crank it up. If the jack isn’t level, it could fall over and injure you.[12] Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 14 3 Crank the jack up. After you’ve positioned it, start to crank the jack up. Crank it up so the lowest tire is level with the other tires. The bottom of the tire should be level with the snow and ice you’ll need to drive on. Be careful, though, as the jack could slip and injure you.[13] Use gloves. Stand back while cranking it up. Verify that the jack is stable. Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 15 4 Fill the area below the tire. Place solid items that your tire can gain traction on in the area below the tire. If you have access to it, fill the hole with sand, gravel, and rocks. If not, you can fill it with blankets, plant material, and woodchips.[14] Compact the area after you’ve filled it. You can do this by patting it with a mallet or some other hard object. Image titled Get Your Car Out of the Snow Step 16 5 Lower and remove the jack. Once you’ve filled the area under the tire, lower the jack if you need to. Chances are, you won’t need to lower it too much. Once you’ve lowered it, carefully remove the jack. Then, with a little luck, you’ll be able to drive out of the snow. Advertisement No Was this method helpful? Jacking the Car Up Yes You're helping people by reading wikiHow wikiHow's mission is to help people learn, and we really hope this article helped you. Now you are helping others, just by visiting wikiHow. World Possible is a nonprofit organization focused on connecting offline learners to the world's knowledge. They work to ensure that anyone can access the best educational resources from the web anytime, anywhere, even if they do not have an internet connection. Click below to let us know you read this article, and wikiHow will donate to World Possible on your behalf. Thanks for helping us achieve our mission of helping people learn how to do anything. Yes, I read the article Community Q&A I have front wheel drive. Should I back into or drive into a space in the snow? Answered by wikiHow Contributor Reverse into the space for several reasons. You will be able to have your car started easier if you need assistance. You will be able to clear your front screens and simply drive off forward without having to maneuver. As a general rule of driving, reverse in and drive out. 3 0 Ask a Question Your question here Submit Related wikiHows Edit How to Drive a Car in Winter Weather How to Survive in a Car Submerged in Snow How to Dig out Your Car After a Snow Storm How to Drive on Black Ice How to Stay Safe on the Highway How to Hotwire a Car How to Open Frozen Car Doors How to Break Into a Car How to Escape From the Trunk of a Car How to Escape from a Sinking Car Advertisement About This Article 32 votes - 75% Co-authors: 63 Updated: 34 weeks ago Views: 801,322 Categories: Featured Articles | Car Emergencies Sources and Attribution Reader Success Stories A Anonymous Dec 31, 2016 "All helpful, thank you!" Share your story Did this article help you? Yes No Removing Snow and Readying the GroundDriving Your Car OutJacking the Car UpCommunity Q&ARelated wikiHows Surprise Me! wikiHow to...