DIY Tire Rotation

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narf @ Sep 15 2006, 10:34 AM) [snapback]320099[/snapback]</div>

Sounds like a reasonable approach to me! Actually using a torque wrench on the lugnuts - that's dedication! Unless you have unidirectional tires (where there's a doohickey molded into the sidewall that says "direction of rotation" or somesuch), the pattern used when you rotate the tires isn't really critical. With unidirectionals, you have to keep the tires on the same side of the car, so they don't run backwards, which can, for example, make hydroplaning much, much worse. If they're not unidirectional, many tire manufacturers recommend that you cross the rears to the front, and move the fronts straight back (or vice-versa). When you drive, the leading edge of each little block of rubber gets feathered (with many kinds of tires, anyway, it's not universal), and that makes the tires noisier and can allegedly make the tires wear slightly faster. Crossing the tires reverses their direction, which almost instantly eliminates the feathers, making the tires quieter and supposedly making them last a tiny bit longer.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(puppetmasta @ Sep 15 2006, 11:08 AM) [snapback]320081[/snapback]</div>

My plan had been to do the same. I found that with car sitting as low is it does, I had to do a considerable amount of jacking to get the jack stand beneath the car. (Maybe they make shorter jack stands; I don't know.) My floor jack is small, and was near its vertical limit with the car's weight rather precariously balanced on it. So I ended up using the same approach as narf, insofar as jacking was concerned anyway. With the factory lug wrench, it was more like 20-30 minutes per side.

Narf, you just might have convinced me to finally break down and spend the money for a cordless drill! Can I assume it had enough torque to loosen the nuts?

Jim

 

First, it would take quite a capable cordless drill to manage wheel lugs that ought to be kept at 75-80 foot pounds. Such things may exist though. Alternative is a $20 imported torque wrench from Harbor Freight Tools. (Sending all my tool-money to China is a Fred's topic though)

If you want to get extreme on tire rotations, you can also get a tread depth gauge and measure all 4 tires. Put the one with most remaining tread on left front, next RF, next LR, last RR. At least this is the order of tread wear on my 2001 Prius. Combine this approach with adjusting your inflation pressure for the most even wear across the tread, and you will be getting the most miles possible out of any set of Prius tires.

 

perhaps one of you can answer this q about floor jacks. I bought one from Pep Boys or someplace a year or two ago that I believe someone mentioned on this site. It was the "floor jack kit in a box" or something like that: a floor jack, two stands, and even a creeper (all somewhat cheap), all for something like $50. I have never used it because I ended up buying snow tires on rims locally, instead of thru TireRack as I've done in the past, and the store swaps them for me for free twice a year.

Anyway, I recently tried to use the jack when installing mudflaps on my wife's new Prius, and I couldn't figure out how to work the darn thing! I have used them before. It appears that when I go to pump it, nothing is contacting the lever below that goes to the hydraulic pump. Maybe there's a storage setting or something that I'm missing?