Rotating tires myself

[hermitcrab]

I've decided that I would like to save some money and rotate my tires myself. Since I've never done this before myself, I want to make sure the my plan makes sense. I was planning on blocking the wheels on the right-hand side of the car, jacking up the left-hand side of the car and putting a jack stand in the two designated locations on the left side of the car. Then I'd switch the front and rear wheels, lower the car and do the same on the other side. Does this sound ok? Or should I be using 4 jack stands? Thanks Edit: Additional question. For those of you that do this yourself, what do you do?

[okiebutnotfrommuskogee]

There is probably more than one good way to do it. I use two floor jacks on the same side of the car and raise both wheels off the ground at the same time. Then make the front to back/back to front switch. Go to the other side of the car and do the same thing. It's quick and easy.

[Rae Vynn]

Me, I let the Prius rotate the tires... When I drive forward, they rotate that way, and then when I put it in Reverse, they rotate the other way.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Hi HermitCrab.
I pretty much block the left side, jack up the right and switch the tires. Then I do the other side.

In other words, what you've described sounds just fine to me. I would stray away from jacking up both sides if only because it feels a little more secure to me to have two wheels on the ground than to have four jacks holding the car up.

NOTE: The back tires will be difficult to remove. Seriously. Here's what Galaxee, a Prius Tech, recommended: take a 2-3 foot 2x4 piece of wood and hold it spanning the inside of the tire. Take a mallet or hammer and whack on that piece of wood. The aluminum of the wheel and the iron of the axle rust together.

Good luck.

[hermitcrab]

Thanks Okie and Tony.
I was planning on only jacking up one side of the car, not the whole thing. I don't like the idea of all four wheels being off the ground either

[hermitcrab]

Originally Posted by okiebutnotfrommuskogee

There is probably more than one good way to do it. I use two floor jacks on the same side of the car and raise both wheels off the ground at the same time. Then make the front to back/back to front switch. Go to the other side of the car and do the same thing. It's quick and easy.

Okie, do you actually use two floor jacks or do you use jack stands? I'm nervous about the jacks loosing pressure while I'm working on the car. Right now I only have the jack that came with the Prius so I am wondering what purchase to make. Either one more jack or two jack stands.

[okiebutnotfrommuskogee]

Originally Posted by hermitcrab

Okie, do you actually use two floor jacks or do you use jack stands? I'm nervous about the jacks loosing pressure while I'm working on the car. Right now I only have the jack that came with the Prius so I am wondering what purchase to make. Either one more jack or two jack stands.

Thanks for asking. Our hobby has been cars for many years, so we have three or four commercial size floor jacks. I use two of them at the jack points just behind the front wheel and just in front of the back wheel to raise both wheels off of the ground at the same time.

I loosen the lug nuts (just enough to break them loose) while the wheels are still on the ground, then raise the car just enough to get the tires off the ground. Then spin the lug nuts off. Take the wheels off, inspect the tires, and then move them front to back, etc., then spin the nuts back on till they stop, lower the car and tighten the nuts. Move to the other side of the car and repeat.

If I was actually going to work under the car, I would raise it much higher and use jack stands, for security, but just to rotate the tires, since I can jack up both ends at once, and since I am not under the car, I just use the jacks. If one of them should leak down a little, I just jack it back up when it's time to put the wheel back on.

If you are going to use only one jack, and want both wheels on one side of the car off the ground at the same time, you will need the jack stands.

There is one other way to do it, but it will take longer and require much more jack work. Take off one wheel then temporarily put on the spare. Go to the other wheel, jack it up and put on the wheel you removed. Let the car down and take the wheel you removed to where the spare is, jack it back up and put the wheel on. You get the idea. More work, but you don't really need jack stands. For safety, don't get any part of your body under the car. Should be no more risk than just changing a tire. It is a good idea to block one of the wheels on the side of the car that still has the wheels on the ground.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your car, aren't they great.

[BDDave]

Don't forget that you need a torque wrench when you tighten up the lug nuts when you are through. For the cost of having your tires rotated by a professional ($20.00 tops) it may not be worth the investment to do it yourself,

[ceric]

I have torque wrench but I don't think it is mandatory at all.
The spec is about 75-90ft-lb. Just put your upper body strength on the OE-wrench with a push (says, you weigh 150-200lb). (Don't try to stand on the wrench, which is too much torque on the nuts.) It should be sufficient. After you drive it for a few miles, make sure you tighten all the nuts again. You would be surprised....

My suggestion is that rotating tires can be a workout. If your physical strength is not up to it, let people make the $20 and save you a lot of pains.

[Rae Vynn]

We replaced the OEM tires at Costco, and now they do all the rotating for me... and they ask that we come back in 50 miles or so to be re-torqued.

It's free, of course.