Rotating tires with only 2 jack stands

[mclasser]

So I rotated the tires on my Pilot the other day. The owner's manual recommended the following rotation pattern since the car's AWD:

Doing this at home basically requires having all four wheels off the ground. To do this, I first jacked up the rear end at a solid metal piece near the differential and put my 2 jack stands at the rear rocker panel pinch welds. I then took the floor jack and jacked up the front to the same height as the rear jack stands so all tires were equidistant from the ground. This made zipping off the tires and moving them around easy. Since I wasn't getting under the car, I wasn't worried about the front end only being supported by the jack.

What magical techniques do you guys use when doing tire rotations?

 

[Astro14]

I bought a second pair of jack stands...

 

[AKhan87]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
I bought a second pair of jack stands...

yes, very cheap on amazon with prime, and they are more then adequate

 

[hotwheels]

Even one jack stand is unneeded luxury! A Scrooge can get away with just the car jack:

Pull the handbrake and. Get the spare out.
Loosen the nuts/bolts on one wheel. Jack up that corner and remove the wheel.
Mount the spare wheel. Nuts/bolts handtight is good 'nuff.
Loosen the nuts/bolts of the wheel where you would like to mount the recently removed wheel.
Jack up that corner and replace the wheel.
And so on.

Always keep your toes and fingers clear!

hotwheels

 

[sicko]

I did it with one jack stand and the roadside jack that came with the car. It was brutal.

I would jack up a corner, put on the jack stand, take off the wheel, put the spare tire on, lower the corner, go to the next tire, etc. I repeat, it was brutal. I sweat an insane amount and it took so long i got a mild sunburn. But in the end, the tires were rotated, and the brakes were bled.

 

[Jim_Truett]

Originally Posted By: mclasser


What magical techniques do you guys use when doing tire rotations?


If only a tire rotation and no part of my body will be under the vehicle, I use the two floor jack method. Takes less than 10 minutes for a cross rotation like you posted. Not that I recommend or endorse it for others.

 

[earlyre]

man. last time i did a rotation myself,I did that same pattern, but I did it the Hard/Stupid way. 1 trolley jack(Maybe 2, it was 2 summers back), and the Donut spare.

 

[Dave Sherman]

I just put the spare on, rotate the other tires through. No need to torque the spare on, just snug the lugs up. Good time to check the air in the spare as well.

 

[mclasser]

Originally Posted By: Jim_Truett
If only a tire rotation and no part of my body will be under the vehicle, I use the two floor jack method. Takes less than 10 minutes for a cross rotation like you posted. Not that I recommend or endorse it for others.

I wish I was an aristocrat and had 2 floor jacks

 

[spk2000]

Get an el cheapo 2nd one at walmart or harbor frieght for less than $15. They are cheap but work fine if you don't have to lift to high like an SUV

 

[spk2000]

Checked out Walmart and it has been a few years so price is up a bit but still less than $20.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Torin-2-Ton-Hydraulic-Trolley-Jack-in-Color-Box/33348135

 

[Squirrelee]

Like others above, I use the spare tire and move the others around one at a time making the spare tire the last one removed. It doesn't take too long and it's therapeutic

 

[doitmyself]

It could be done with one jack and one jack stand IF you trust your jack not to drop suddenly from seal failure. Otherwise, use you second stand as a backup wherever your jack is located. No need to use the spare. This assumes you have an excellent jack stand point that can NOT slip off.

Start at RR corner, end at RR corner:
put RR corner on stand, remove RR
jack RF, remove wheel, install RR
jack LR, remove wheel, install RF
jack LF, remove wheel, install LR
install LF on RR, jack up RR, remove stand, lower jack, DONE.

 

[Dyusik]

I have lots of 4x8s. Lots and lots of 4x8s. More dependable than stamp steel ramp and questionable casting on stands. Just my choice.

 

[cjcride]

Astro & the others beat me to it. Get a second set.
My 2nd set is better quality than my 1st (live & learn). I use the quality pair on the front of the car as it is heavier.
No regrets.

 

[qjohn]

I just use my floor jack:
Jack up the front and swap the fronts. Put down.
Jack up right side and swap front to back. Put down.
Lack up left side and swap front to back. Put down. Torque all lug nuts.

The key is to have a floor jack that can lift two wheels off the ground at a time.

 

[HTSS_TR]

I don't use any jack or jack stand to rotate the tires on my cars, I use local America's Tire. Just make an appointment online and go there on time to get it done in 20-25 minutes.

 

[michaelluscher]

Originally Posted By: hotwheels
Even one jack stand is unneeded luxury! A Scrooge can get away with just the car jack


......just no
There's so many things wrong with that statement, I can't even.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/a-funny-thing-happened-last-sunday-1477220323

Don't even consider getting under a car without something more then a jack supporting it.

 

[OneEyeJack]

I go to Discount Tire where I purchased my tires. They rotate and balance the tires for free.

 

[Gokhan]

Lol, after reading OP's post, I can only add that rotating four tires is not easy.

Putting the car on the four jack stands was the easy part. But then how do you get the car down, that's the problem:

First, I couldn't remove two of the jack stands because the floor jack wouldn't raise the car high enough. Then I put a wooden block between the floor jack and the car and I was able to remove the two jack stands. Then, when I lowered the car, the wooden block got stuck between the floor jack and car because the car was too low! I don't remember how I was able to free the jack with the wooden block stuck.