DIY Tire rotation on the R1S

[Mooeymoose]

So, I am planning on doing my own tire rotation (maybe) but I am a little confused. I saw some less than elegant ways this was done on YouTube but and I was hoping to do be better. I guess I have not looked to see if the tires are directional meaning they should not change sides. So for now I plan to change them as typically done, meaning the back two move up on the same side and the front two swap sides and go to the back.
I have one floor jack and four jack stands and was planning to buy at least one puck. I was hoping to use the floor jack with the puck to raise a wheel and then put a jack stand underneath near where the control arm and subFrame meet (on the corresponding side) and move around the car doing back and then front. I have not looked under that well to see if this is a legitimate option.

Anyone rotate their tires? Any suggestions besides just taking it to discount tire?

Sponsored

 

[Steve A.]

I just rotated my R1S 22"s a couple weekends ago. I already had a 3.5 ton floor jack, so I bought a 6 ton bottle jack, 2 pucks to do 1 side at a time (front to back and back to front only), and a bigger torque wrench since the one I had didn't go up to 140 ft-lbs.

Didn't notice that the bottle jack only went up to 18.5" until I was in the middle of rotating them, so had to run out to AutoZone and buy another 3.5 ton floor jack that went up to 30.5" w/ extenders.

All told, it cost me $456 for the 2 pucks ($90), torque wrench ($101) and the additional 3.5 ton floor jack ($265), and that's not counting the 6 bottle jack ($58) that was useless.

Let's just say that my wife doesn't hesitate to remind me when the topic comes up that I could have taken it down the street to the FIrestone and had them rotate them for $40.

BTW, I have 4 jack stands but the frame rails are only exposed at the 4 jack puck points, so I don't know how one would be able to rotate them w/o at least 2 floor jacks.

 

[oskeei]

Let's just say that my wife doesn't hesitate to remind me when the topic comes up that I could have taken it down the street to the FIrestone and had them rotate them for $40.

I would not be so sure. Maybe things have gotten better since I last did market research, but there are outlets that don't have the equipment (or think they don't have it) to do the rotation. Even my local Sam's said they would only do the rotation on one of their four lifts due to the weight and I had to bring my own pucks.

The torque wrench is handy as it sucks to have to drive back to have them retorque and much easier to just do at home.

 

[Riviot]

Didn't notice that the bottle jack only went up to 18.5" until I was in the middle of rotating them, so had to run out to AutoZone and buy another 3.5 ton floor jack that went up to 30.5" w/ extenders.

18.5" isn't good enough for you? Does yours have the twisty extender on the end? And do you use a piece of 2x6 underneath?

I didn't learn about the extender part on mine until after I switched to the truck's jack.

 

[NDIrish]

I just rotated my R1S 22"s a couple weekends ago. I already had a 3.5 ton floor jack, so I bought a 6 ton bottle jack, 2 pucks to do 1 side at a time (front to back and back to front only), and a bigger torque wrench since the one I had didn't go up to 140 ft-lbs.

Didn't notice that the bottle jack only went up to 18.5" until I was in the middle of rotating them, so had to run out to AutoZone and buy another 3.5 ton floor jack that went up to 30.5" w/ extenders.

All told, it cost me $456 for the 2 pucks ($90), torque wrench ($101) and the additional 3.5 ton floor jack ($265), and that's not counting the 6 bottle jack ($58) that was useless.

Let's just say that my wife doesn't hesitate to remind me when the topic comes up that I could have taken it down the street to the FIrestone and had them rotate them for $40.

BTW, I have 4 jack stands but the frame rails are only exposed at the 4 jack puck points, so I don't know how one would be able to rotate them w/o at least 2 floor jacks.

I used to always do them on my other vehicles, but since I couldn't on the wife's Tesla without a 2nd floor jack (or the $220 Teslarati jack stands, great solution but ridiculous price) and the fact Discount Tire does it for free and there are several nice eateries within walking distance; I have stopped

 

[Steve A.]

I would not be so sure. Maybe things have gotten better since I last did market research, but there are outlets that don't have the equipment (or think they don't have it) to do the rotation. Even my local Sam's said they would only do the rotation on one of their four lifts due to the weight and I had to bring my own pucks.

The torque wrench is handy as it sucks to have to drive back to have them retorque and much easier to just do at home.

Yeah, that was exactly the excuse I used on my wife, because after 31.5+ years, she knows I look for any excuse to buy another tool.

And, I could cite another forum poster who had to take his 4 pucks to the SAME Firestone shop down the street for me. ;-)

 

[Steve A.]

18.5" isn't good enough for you? Does yours have the twisty extender on the end? And do you use a piece of 2x6 underneath?

I didn't learn about the extender part on mine until after I switched to the truck's jack.

Well. per the Rivian user guide, it said to put the truck in off-road/highest mode, which is 18.5" so the bottle jack didn't lift the tire off the ground w/ it's extension screwed all the way up and w/ the puck. I tried to then put it a lower mode but got an air suspension error.

The jack was on concrete garage floor so I didn't bother putting anything underneath it.

That's when I ran to AutoZone to get the other 3.5 ton floor jack to save the day.

 

[brancky3]

Well. per the Rivian user guide, it said to put the truck in off-road/highest mode, which is 18.5" so the bottle jack didn't lift the tire off the ground w/ it's extension screwed all the way up and w/ the puck.

Pro-tip: put the truck in sport mode before starting, then turn on 'tire change mode' after the suspension adjusts. There's zero reason for it to be in off-road / highest.

 

[Steve A.]

Pro-tip: put the truck in sport mode before starting, then turn on 'tire change mode' after the suspension adjusts. There's zero reason for it to be in off-road / highest.

Yeah, I surmised as much AFTER i was stuck w/ the air suspension error when trying to lower it from off-road/highest. :-(

Regardless, justified getting another 3.5 ton floor jack. ;-)

 

[Riviot]

Pro-tip: put the truck in sport mode before starting, then turn on 'tire change mode' after the suspension adjusts. There's zero reason for it to be in off-road / highest.

Yeah, Rivian doesn't know what they're talking about with suspension articulation and changing tires. Maxing out one side and leaving the other completely compressed at a steep angle is the safe bet. /s

 

[Riviot]

Well. per the Rivian user guide, it said to put the truck in off-road/highest mode, which is 18.5" so the bottle jack didn't lift the tire off the ground w/ it's extension screwed all the way up and w/ the puck. I tried to then put it a lower mode but got an air suspension error.

The jack was on concrete garage floor so I didn't bother putting anything underneath it.

It's 15", not 18.5". You'll find the suspension does sit/stay higher as you jack it up though. I literally just did mine last night with an 18", EV Sportline puck, and a 2x6 (for space and grip on wet cement floor) with it in highest, no problems.

 

[nukem384]

I just rotated my R1S 22"s a couple weekends ago. I already had a 3.5 ton floor jack, so I bought a 6 ton bottle jack, 2 pucks to do 1 side at a time (front to back and back to front only), and a bigger torque wrench since the one I had didn't go up to 140 ft-lbs.

Didn't notice that the bottle jack only went up to 18.5" until I was in the middle of rotating them, so had to run out to AutoZone and buy another 3.5 ton floor jack that went up to 30.5" w/ extenders.

All told, it cost me $456 for the 2 pucks ($90), torque wrench ($101) and the additional 3.5 ton floor jack ($265), and that's not counting the 6 bottle jack ($58) that was useless.

Let's just say that my wife doesn't hesitate to remind me when the topic comes up that I could have taken it down the street to the FIrestone and had them rotate them for $40.

BTW, I have 4 jack stands but the frame rails are only exposed at the 4 jack puck points, so I don't know how one would be able to rotate them w/o at least 2 floor jacks.

Just tell the wifey it's an investment. It's not like you're only rotating your tires once. You'll make that money back eventually. $40 per, that's 12 tire rotations. Rotate tires every 5k, that's 60k miles. Don't know how long you're planning on keeping the car, but I'll easily be able to pass that on ours someday .

Also have a like $200+ jack. Used to do car work on like all the family cars, I dunno, maybe 6+ different cars. Easily made my ROI on that and it's still going strong.

 

[nukem384]

So, I am planning on doing my own tire rotation (maybe) but I am a little confused. I saw some less than elegant ways this was done on YouTube but and I was hoping to do be better. I guess I have not looked to see if the tires are directional meaning they should not change sides. So for now I plan to change them as typically done, meaning the back two move up on the same side and the front two swap sides and go to the back.
I have one floor jack and four jack stands and was planning to buy at least one puck. I was hoping to use the floor jack with the puck to raise a wheel and then put a jack stand underneath near where the control arm and subFrame meet (on the corresponding side) and move around the car doing back and then front. I have not looked under that well to see if this is a legitimate option.

Anyone rotate their tires? Any suggestions besides just taking it to discount tire?

I've always rotated any tires I had front to back. Keep it simple and don't worry about switching sides and all that. IMO, there's no real benefit to doing that and you're setting yourself up for potential failure with the directional tires, as you've mentioned and other things like unbalanced tires when flipping sides.

I've done this on 2WD cars and 4WD cars I've had, so it doesn't really make a difference.

 

[gokcabaga]

Pep boys does free rotations too

 

[Steve A.]

It's 15", not 18.5". You'll find the suspension does sit/stay higher as you jack it up though. I literally just did mine last night with an 18", EV Sportline puck, and a 2x6 (for space and grip on wet cement floor) with it in highest, no problems.

Well, I definitely unscrewed the bottle jack all the way and used the EV sportline puck but the 22" tire did not leave the floor.

Sponsored