How did you manage to change the good whee/tire from the back to the front? Did you have jack stands with you or just the OEM jack? Clearly it's better to do what you did, but I don't know how that would get accomplished with just the OEM widow-maker jack. Either way, glad you made it where you were going safely.
hello there.
I understand your question, and I agree, it is a widow-maker. That is why I usually carry with me a portable proper jack, but it is heavy and a pain in the ass to fit in the car, without scratching anything. I had it with me on my euro roadtrip, however this would be a 1000mile trip, and thought I'd just go with the OEM one. And boom, that is when it happened.
Thing is though, you have to:
1. Find a place that is straight, and as flat as possible
2. undo the bolts before you lift the car, not all the way of course
3. lift the car from the front jacking point, and if the car is on an aftermarket suspension, or lowered, it will also lift the rear wheel as wheel. If not, you will have to go up all the way and hope for the best.
At that point with that jack, it is pretty sketchy, but, it can work. Just pay attention to not getting under the car by any means, no matter what.
Hope that helps
Cheers
Mike