Tire rotation advice

[soxford]

Hi,

I have a 2002 Toyota Corolla with radial tires, and I need to rotate the tires. I have a floor jack, 4 jack stands, and a beam torque wrench.

I plan to rotate back to front, without switching from side to side at all, since the tires are radial.

What's the best way to jack the car to accomplish that? I need the front and rear tires on one side lifted at the same time. Is it even ok to do that? It seems like it might tweak the frame if I were to jack up the front end, put a jack stand on one side, lower front end (leaving one corner of the car on a stand), and then jack up the back end to put a second stand on the same side in the rear. I can only come up with one other option: jack front end, put 2 stands in, then jack the back end and put 2 more stands in... but I've heard that's not really a good idea due to instability.

I'd appreciate any advice!

 

[sciphi]

Radial tires have zero effect on whether or not they can switch sides. It's more about if the tires are directional or not whether they can switch sides...

I'd simply find the underbody frame rail near the front of the car and jack on it until the whole side is lifted up. Make sure to put a hockey puck onto the jack's saddle to prevent marring the paint.

Unless your car has the structural integrity of a wet noodle, this has worked for me on both cars.

 

[Billbert]

Recommended tire rotation is 'cross to drive' not front to back, (you will get much more even tire wear)

 

[DuckRyder]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43

 

[Eddie]

I cut a 4X4 the side length of my vehicle and lifted one side at a time. I switched the tires front to back. Since I run radials on a front wheel drive, I then rotated the front two to obtain a "front cross" like Tirerack suggests.. This is much work and when I turned 70 years old, I decided to let WalMarts do it for $12 + a $5 tip. I watch them use a torque wrench on the lug nuts.

 

[soxford]

yeah... meant to say directional, sorry. They are directional, hence the front to back rotation. Frame rail sounds good, thanks.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
I cut a 4X4 the side length of my vehicle and lifted one side at a time. I switched the tires front to back. Since I run radials on a front wheel drive, I then rotated the front two to obtain a "front cross" like Tirerack suggests.. This is much work and when I turned 70 years old, I decided to let WalMarts do it for $12 + a $5 tip. I watch them use a torque wrench on the lug nuts.


2 jacks method- for fwd, obviously loosen tire lugnuts/lugbolts if you arent using an impact wrench before its in the air.

lift front driver side, remove tire

lift rear driver side, remove tire
put front tire on the rear.. tighten by hand with hand ratchet.

lower driver rear, tighten with torque wrench. to 70% of final torque or so.

raise front passenger, remove tire
put tire from driver rear on tighten by hand
lower car,then tighten on ground.

raise rear passenger, remove tire
put front passenger tire on tighten, lower, tighten

put rear passenger tire on front driver side hand tighten, lower tighten


set torque wrench to final torque value (usually 75-80# for me)
tighten in star pattern all wheels.


no extra work.. 2 jacks are safe if you use good ones and DONT GO UNDER THE CAR!!!.

 

[4x4chevydude]

I would use the framerail between the driver and passenger door and jack it until both tires are off the ground

 

[CATERHAM]

Before rotating the tires measure the tread depth wear of each tire. The front tires on a front-wheel drive car wear faster than the rear but you may also notice a difference in side to side wear. Rotate the tire with the most tread (least amount of wear) to the corner that is producing the most wear and vise versa.

A tread depth gauge is a very inexpensive tool and allows one to check tire wear frequently.
To maximize tire life and to minimize the affect on your car's handling rotate your tires as soon as there any measurable difference in wear; even as little a mm or 1/32".

 

[flanso]

On my fwd, I place the jack on the frame rail about a foot behind the front door opening to lift both wheel on that side at the same time. Then I switch the wheels on that side but torque only the rears. After doing both sides like that, I jack both fronts at the same time and switch the fronts side to side and torque them. Using this method, I get the front cross pattern and jack up the car only three times to change four wheels. Incidentally, I always set a jack stand in place next to the jack.

 

[PandaBear]

It should be fine to have both wheels on one side off the ground. You are not lifting it so much that it will bent anything.

If you are concerned, you can also use a spare tire to stand in while rotate them around. I've done that all the time and never need to lift 2 wheels off the ground at the same time for tire works. The only negative is you'll have to wrench the spare on/off and that's 1 extra wheel to do (more work).

 

[mechtech2]

Use the spare tire, and jack up one corner at a time. No need to jack up the whole side with both wheels off the ground!
Radial tires can be cross mounted during a rotation - it depends on if they are directional or not. It will say so in fine print on the tire sidewall.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Use the spare tire, and jack up one corner at a time. No need to jack up the whole side with both wheels off the ground!
Radial tires can be cross mounted during a rotation - it depends on if they are directional or not. It will say so in fine print on the tire sidewall.


Even though there's no need it can be very convenient as it allows for fewer jacking events. The Corolla is perfectly happy to have one side jacked up at a single location. Some cars aren't happy with that sort of a thing but this car likes it.

On a side note: that car of mine which so recently busted an axle has two approved jack points for the spare tire jack, one on each side.

 

[mechtech2]

Only on front to back rotations - not crosswise ones.

So get that spare tire out.