Prius Tire Rotation

All jack points are described in the owners manual (RTFM ).

Make or buy adapters for the side "jack points". I'm making them from three pieces of 3/4" plywood, soaked in polyurethane for extra strength. This gives a 3/4" deep groove for the seam. Fasten the adapters to your jack stands so they don't slip off when you are attempting to raise or lower the car.

Drive car front wheels onto low ramps (I use 2"X12"X3' with a 2"X4" under the front end) - so you can get the floor jack under the front of the car later.

Loosen all wheel nuts to "just snug" with car on floor.

Use a floor jack on a smooth surface on the centre rear jack point (use a piece of thick plywood if you don't have a smooth surface). This allows the jack to move so it doesn't apply force to the jackstands. Install two rear jackstands under side rear jackpoints and slowly lower car onto them. I say "slowly" because there will be no "give" from suspension when the car hits the stands, so the force will be tripled from the shock.

Lift front of car with the floorjack on a smooth surface. Place jackstands under two front "jackpoints" and slowly lower car onto them.

You now have the whole car "in the air". Remove the two wheels from one side. Inspect tire tread for nails, clean out rocks. Clean the "seating surfaces" on the hubs and wheels and apply a very thin coat of "waterproof grease" to the steel seating surfaces on the hubs - this means using your finger, wipe the grease on and then wipe it off. There should be no "lumps" of grease when you're done so you don't contaminate the braking surface. This is to stop the wheels from corroding to the steel surfaces on the hubs.

Install wheels, "rotated front to rear and rear to front" and tighten the wheels nuts to "just snug". This rotation pattern is used because the tires are directional. The rotation direction of directional tires is usually indicated on the sidewall.

Do the same on the other side.

Using the floor jack, raise the front of the car off the jackstands and remove them, then lower the car slowly to the ground. Then do the same to the rear.

Now torque the wheel nuts in a diagonal pattern to 76 ft-lbs (I do so in three stages to ensure there is no "ramping" which would result in loose wheel nuts later), and you're done, once you set the tire pressures to your chosen values.

One extra step I do is put a tiny amount of "waterproof grease" inside each acorn wheel nut. This ensures accurate torquing and minimal corrosion or rusting, but if a "grease monkey" ever uses an air ratchet on the car it could also result in over-torquing of the nuts (by the nut). Your choice if you want to do this. I've had good luck doing it for the last 20 years.

 

Hockey pucks. They very hard rubber but won't damage metal sheet metal lips. Put one on each hydraulic jack on the front and aft lift point. Make sure to jack evenly and alternately.

For those of you who are thinking of using a block of wood, don't! I've tried this before and the wood, even when slotted across grain still split causing the car to fall an inch or so resulting in damage. The hockey puck won't split and the lip will push into rubber causing a temporary depression which supports the sheet metal.

 

I thought you were cussing until I read the rest of the post.

 

You don't need to do any of this. I don't know about you, but my tires rotate every time I drive!

 

No, look at your manual again. I am not talking about the attaching points - I've seen those and I know where they are. In addition to those, there are specific jacking points where you can lift the entire front and back of the car with a jack. It's shown in the manual - page number may vary with model year.

Is the car rigid enough? Have you actually done this, or are you suggesting that we be the Guinea pigs? Your use of the word "should" implies that you have not actually done this. I would prefer advice from people who have actually done the things they are suggesting, instead of letting us do your experimentation for you.

 

I have frequently lifted either side of my 2001 and 2004 Prius, using a hydraulic jack and a piece of 2x4 lumber which is a couple of feet long. The wood distributes the load nicely.

I place the jack so that it is more towards the front of the car than the back, around 60% / 40%. Once the car is raised up, then I will place jack stands at the front and rear jack points which are identified with notches (intended for the scissors jack supplied with the car.)

This procedure is not recommended by the repair manual but it works well for me. If an owner is nervous about this, then raise the car with a two-step process: first raise up the front of the car where you are comfortable doing so and place one jackstand, then raise up the rear and place the other jackstand.

Sometimes an owner would like to use ramps instead of jackstands to hold up the car, say if you are messing with the exhaust system and don't need the wheels to be dangling in the air. I have a set of ramps, but the vertical rise is such that it does not allow the Prius with its body overhang to climb the ramps.

For other owners faced with a similar issue, here is my solution to that problem: I have a couple of pieces of 4x6 lumber which are a couple of feet long. I will jack up the end of the car that needs to be raised, and place the 4x6 pieces under the tires so that the tires are centered on the wood. The wood is inline with the direction that the car faces.

Then I will place the ramp on the 4x6 wood so that the car can climb up the ramp at a lesser angle than it would if the wood was not under the car. The car will be safely suspended and you can feel comfortable crawling under it.

 

My Prius just hit 5000 miles, so it's time for me to reactivate this thread. I would like to figure out a way to jack up each side of the car so I can do the front-to-back rotation without having to use a spare tire. It seems the choices are:

1) Use a single jack at the 60/40 point as described above. But where do you put the lumber? It seems like the whole underside of the car (except for the fore and aft jack points) is covered with plastic facia. These jack points are connected by a continuous structural rail/weld point from front to back. Although this would appear to bear the load, jacking under this would almost certainly cause the rail to cut right through the plastic underbody fascia. There is some exposed metal at the 60/40 point about 12" in from the side, and it looks structurally strong enough to bear the load, so I tried jacking there using a hockey puck pad, which fit nicely. However, I heard a few funny noises, so I immediately stopped and lowered the car. Where, exactly, do you place your jack, Patrick? Also, can anyone suggest how to pad the jack stands so they do not put dents in the car's underbody? They seem to be shaped perfectly for a trailer axle, but not so good for a car.

2) Use two jacks at the fore and aft side jack points. Then switch the tires with the car up on the jacks, since there's no way to get jack stands in the jack points with the jacks in place. I have two safety concerns with this method. First, hydraulic jacks sometimes leak a bit, so the car could lose some height while switching the tires. Second, I am concerned about accidentally kicking the jacks, or knocking one of tires against them when I am moving them. Any suggestions?

3) Jack the rear of the car using the center rear jack point, use jack stands for the two aft side jack points, and use the jack to individually jack up each of the front tires. I have the same questions as in #1 about how to pad the jack stands.

Any suggestions from those who have actually done this would be appreciated.

 

Here are two pics of where my tire shop lifts it. I have done the same at home with a single jack as well, though more toward the center where you see the two pieces of metal slid together and welded. Never a problem.

 

The plastic underbody fascia is actually pretty strong, and if you use a piece of wood to distribute the load, you shouldn't have a problem damaging the plastic. I jack the car a foot or so behind the front jacking point. If you are uncomfortable with that, then lift the car per Pinan's photos that show a similar approach except it is raising the car at an interior rail.

Note that no wood or rubber was used between the jack saddle and the vehicle body in those photos - so if you use something to prevent metal to metal contact, that should further reduce the risk of body damage.

Depending upon the type of jack stand used, it certainly is possible to dent the underbody. If you are concerned about this, then you would need to shop for a jack stand that looks similar to the top of the jack provided with the car (i.e., with a notch that will mate with the body rail.)

 

Hmmm, in the second pic it looks like the guy in back is working
on a Hydroedge, but you've still got an Integrity on the car.
.
_H*

 

It's a big place. Several guys working on different cars at the same time. My tires were being mounted and balanced at that time.

Great deal really. I got brand new "take-off's" Integrity's for $199 installed. For those who don't know, take-off's are when a new vehicle owner swaps their new tires and/or rims for "upgraded" ones right off the lot. Mine had less than 2 miles on them. Ask for these at your local tire and rim store.

 

Pinan,

Thanks for the pics - the part where the two pieces of metal slide together is exactly where I first tried to jack up the side of the car, but stopped as soon as I heard a noise (which probably was just some movement of the tires as the load shifted). I used a hockey puck to cushion the contact point. One other benefit of that is that the jack is further under the car and therefore less likely to get knocked by the tires or cause me to trip. I'll try that for the tire rotation.

I still might be tempted to put jack stands under the jack points, even if only for a safety backup. The supports at the top of the jack stands are long and narrow with a slight depression in the middle (shaped for an axle) and two notches sticking up at the ends (which would almost certainly cause dents on the underbody). The shape is ideal for placing parallel to the pinch rails where the jack points are located (i.e., not across), but only if I can find a good hard rubber cushion that will rest on top of the jack stands. The hockey puck material would be perfect, but the shape needs to be more elongated to fit next to the jack points. I guess one idea would be to simply grind the notches away with a grinder - this would lessen the need for a cushion. Any other ideas?

 

Quick update: Just rotated the tires. Jacking the whole side of the car at that point 12" in from the side worked great. It was stable enough on the jack that I did not bother with jack stands. My cheapo $16 jack held its hydraulic pressure just fine - did not lose any height while I swapped the tires.

Interesting observation: When I jacked the drivers' side from the point where the two metal rails meet, the front tire lifted off the ground significantly sooner than the rear tire. When I jacked from the similar location on the passenger side, the rear tire lifted off first. Seems like the ICE side of drivetrain may be a bit heavier than the electric motor side.

I noticed that the quickie oil change place apparently lowered my tire pressure to the doorjamb specs. Good thing I checked. They're back at 42/40 now.


Oops, just remembered that I need to go back and reset the tire warning system!

 

One other comment. I decided not to use the jack stands because I had real problems lowering my cheapo jack slowly. As someone else pointed out here, when you lower a car onto jack stands, you have no suspension to soften the fall, so you must be able to lower the car slowly and carefully. With my jack, as soon as I turn the bleed valve, the car comes down FAST, and only slows down after it has fallen a couple of inches. If the jack stands were in place, it would have slammed down on it - not good! Fortunately the car seemed very stable on the jack - I pushed against it a couple times after jacking it up (but before removing the tires) and it was pretty solid.

 

The car's center of gravity is a little bit behind the inside
rear-view mirror, maybe where that flip-down glasses case is. If
you match your jack point there it should lift pretty evenly but
then again the suspension travel and spring rate might be slightly
different fore and aft.
.

(from Toyota manuals)
.
_H*

 

If you are going to do frequent auto repair, then you may find it worthwhile to invest in a decent hydraulic floor jack. Otherwise you may continue not using jackstands - which one day may result in personal injury.

For example I bought a 2-1/4 ton floor jack from Costco ~20 years ago. Made in China, it was quite inexpensive (probably $60 or so) but continues to work very well.

 

Are the OEM tires come with the car directional? How do I tell from the markings on the sidewall? I am too ignorant to decipher the numbres and letters. Thanks!

 

If they're Integrity's, no.

 

Use the spare. Remove one wheel, put the spare on. Then swap the removed wheel with the other wheel. Then swap the other wheel with the spare.

No need to torque the nuts down on the spare, just get 'em reasonably tight so that the wheel doesn't shift.

When done, check the air pressure in the spare and stow it.

 

I just got a 2004 with 76k miles and I noticed a rattle that sounded like it was coming from the front driver side wheel whenever I would go over small bumps at a slow to moderate speed. So I took the wheel off to investigate. I then started lightly banging on solid parts with a rubber mallet. Nothing produced a rattle. Then I decided in order to reproduce going over a bump that I could hit the top of the brake rotor with my rubber soled sneakers. The rattle reappeared! I kept doing it to listen where it was coming from. I narrowed it down to the hybrid drive inverter (the silver box with the Hybrid Synergy Drive logo on it). Turns out there is a bracket coming off it on the front right side of it, as you are facing it, which attaches to the metal frame. The bolt was loose where it attaches to the frame. After I tightened that bolt, the rattle was gone!