DIY Tire Rotation?

[R1TBrett]

Discount Tire rotates for free...

If I could convince them to clean and ceramic the wheels upon rotation once a year then that would be perfect.

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[BrianNakata]

I don't technically rotate my tires, but I switch between 20" and 22" wheels/tires when Winter/Spring arrive.

Also, I agree with others on this thread that I measure tread depth to determine what tires go where. The two tires with the greatest tread depth go in the front. I also have spares for both wheel sets so that one also gets measured and "rotated" in as well (the tire with the least tread depth becomes the spare).

This changeover takes me a little over an hour.

 

[Dave415]

What ride height do you drive on? I have found standard height all the time gets even wear

@Gasmiser12 I drive a Dual Motor Max, standard height on auto, so the suspension moves up and down quite a bit.

 

[ElGuano]

Such a timely thread revival. I'm doing my first tire rotation tomorrow.

 

[usulio]

Interesting. Jacking from Low ride height and putting stands under the control arms is not the usual way to do it. I'd imagine it involves a lot of travel to get the wheels to come up off the ground, then lowering way back down to get onto the jack stands. But it if works, it works.

 

[Davethadog]

I get it done in about 20 minutes with a m12 stubby, a torque wrench, and two jacks with pucks.

 

[Gasmiser12]

@Gasmiser12 I drive a Dual Motor Max, standard height on auto, so the suspension moves up and down quite a bit.

ah,ok. Maybe just turnoff auto so locked on Standard height?

 

[ElGuano]

Oof. Just rotated my tires (first time in my life doing it).

I'll be honest. It's probably the scariest thing I've ever done. I almost aborted a couple of times, and all of the "Discount Tire/America's Tire will mess up the jack points" concerns I've had since first owning the truck completely evaporated.

But I pressed on, for better or worse.

I used a CAT locking bottle jack/stand, and two 6T jack stands. I started at the passenger rear tire and followed the "back to front, front diagonally to back" in the user manual.

At one point, I almost dropped the truck. I knew that keeping a jack straight under the truck while lifting was something to look out for, but as I was jacking the truck up, I looked at the puck and it was literally tilting out of the jack point! I panicked a bit as I actually had to keep raising the truck UP a bit in order to activate the safety lever and then release the pressure to drop it. I triple-checked from that point on, and positioned the jack a few mm inward from then on, no problem.

Actually removing and rotating the tires was simple, just like a tire change. Having a cross wrench and torque wrench with a non-marring 22mm socket really helped things go faster.

Also, the fact that the car kind of settles slowly even in highest height and tire change mode left me in a situation where I was almost completely stuck with no way of jacking the car down . And of course it was due to my overzealousness of trying to have a backup jackstand for the first wheel which I had to support from the control arm. I set the jack stand on the control arm, and then positioned a second jack stand over the raised jack point for that wheel, and the car settled onto it and I couldn't get it out. Luckily, raising the front wheel on the same side few inches raised the back enough to lift off the jack point. Whew.

So now, I'm left thinking....am I going to do this again in 7500 miles? Well, now I know I can. But I'm seriously considering if it's worth the anxiety and all the gotchas I put myself into! Gonna sleep on it I think.

 

[Time2Roll]

Why yes, I do in fact do my own rotations…

Stupid seized rim…

On a real note OP, you may like the extra tall jack puck. JackPuckXL - I appreciate the hell out of mine.

Seized to the hub? Loosen the lugs one turn and drive it the length of the driveway.

 

[Polar]

Seized to the hub? Loosen the lugs one turn and drive it the length of the driveway.

Ever tried that in tire change mode … when it lowers your truck as you put it back in drive while the suspension settles and presses the tires outward? It’s not great for that traditional approach.

 

[Zoidz]

Oof. Just rotated my tires (first time in my life doing it).

I'll be honest. It's probably the scariest thing I've ever done. I almost aborted a couple of times, and all of the "Discount Tire/America's Tire will mess up the jack points" concerns I've had since first owning the truck completely evaporated.

But I pressed on, for better or worse.

I used a CAT locking bottle jack/stand, and two 6T jack stands. I started at the passenger rear tire and followed the "back to front, front diagonally to back" in the user manual.

At one point, I almost dropped the truck. I knew that keeping a jack straight under the truck while lifting was something to look out for, but as I was jacking the truck up, I looked at the puck and it was literally tilting out of the jack point! I panicked a bit as I actually had to keep raising the truck UP a bit in order to activate the safety lever and then release the pressure to drop it. I triple-checked from that point on, and positioned the jack a few mm inward from then on, no problem.

Actually removing and rotating the tires was simple, just like a tire change. Having a cross wrench and torque wrench with a non-marring 22mm socket really helped things go faster.

Also, the fact that the car kind of settles slowly even in highest height and tire change mode left me in a situation where I was almost completely stuck with no way of jacking the car down . And of course it was due to my overzealousness of trying to have a backup jackstand for the first wheel which I had to support from the control arm. I set the jack stand on the control arm, and then positioned a second jack stand over the raised jack point for that wheel, and the car settled onto it and I couldn't get it out. Luckily, raising the front wheel on the same side few inches raised the back enough to lift off the jack point. Whew.

So now, I'm left thinking....am I going to do this again in 7500 miles? Well, now I know I can. But I'm seriously considering if it's worth the anxiety and all the gotchas I put myself into! Gonna sleep on it I think.

I've rotated tires myself on all my vehicles over the years. It's easier to rotate front <-> back on the same side. Despite the manual's X recommendation, I've never had uneven wear issues, and same side front to back is A LOT quicker and easier.

 

[Dave415]

Oof. Just rotated my tires (first time in my life doing it).

I'll be honest. It's probably the scariest thing I've ever done. I almost aborted a couple of times, and all of the "Discount Tire/America's Tire will mess up the jack points" concerns I've had since first owning the truck completely evaporated.

But I pressed on, for better or worse.

I used a CAT locking bottle jack/stand, and two 6T jack stands. I started at the passenger rear tire and followed the "back to front, front diagonally to back" in the user manual.

At one point, I almost dropped the truck. I knew that keeping a jack straight under the truck while lifting was something to look out for, but as I was jacking the truck up, I looked at the puck and it was literally tilting out of the jack point! I panicked a bit as I actually had to keep raising the truck UP a bit in order to activate the safety lever and then release the pressure to drop it. I triple-checked from that point on, and positioned the jack a few mm inward from then on, no problem.

Actually removing and rotating the tires was simple, just like a tire change. Having a cross wrench and torque wrench with a non-marring 22mm socket really helped things go faster.

Also, the fact that the car kind of settles slowly even in highest height and tire change mode left me in a situation where I was almost completely stuck with no way of jacking the car down . And of course it was due to my overzealousness of trying to have a backup jackstand for the first wheel which I had to support from the control arm. I set the jack stand on the control arm, and then positioned a second jack stand over the raised jack point for that wheel, and the car settled onto it and I couldn't get it out. Luckily, raising the front wheel on the same side few inches raised the back enough to lift off the jack point. Whew.

So now, I'm left thinking....am I going to do this again in 7500 miles? Well, now I know I can. But I'm seriously considering if it's worth the anxiety and all the gotchas I put myself into! Gonna sleep on it I think.

Glad you didn't drop the car! If I am reading correctly, I think you jacked diagonal corners bringing a rear tire to the opposite front corner. I think that may be less stable (imagine a four legged chair with one set of longer diagonal legs).

When I did the rotation, I avoided the diagonals by swapping the rear tires first, then swapped left side, then swapped right side. All of then two at a time, still achieving a cross pattern rotation.

Also, I used a floor jack, which moves inward as the car goes up. Perhaps more stable than a bottle jack.

 

[iamnid]

I've done it twice now on my R1S. I do front to back on the same side. I have a large floor jack that I typically put in the front jacking position and a 10 ton bottle jack that I use in the rear position. If I recall correctly, I have to stack 2 pucks to get the bottle jack to lift high enough despite it being the specific bottle jack recommended by the Jackpuck company. I usually lift mostly with the floor jack and then adjust the bottle jack to maintain the height in the back. I'd prefer to have 2 floor jacks as the bottle jack seems a little sketchy and you have to keep repositioning it and the pucks as the vehicle is raised. I used to rotate tires on my Model Y this way albeit with only the one floor jack. I do it in tire change mode. I use a large breaker bar, non-marring socket and a torque wrench to finish up. It usually takes me 45-60 minutes. I've not had too much trouble removing the rim from the hub. I usually just have to apply inward pressure to the bottom of the wheel with my foot and it pops free. The wheel/tire combo is a LOT heavier than it was on my Model Y.

 

[ElGuano]

Glad you didn't drop the car! If I am reading correctly, I think you jacked diagonal corners bringing a rear tire to the opposite front corner. I think that may be less stable (imagine a four legged chair with one set of longer diagonal legs).

When I did the rotation, I avoided the diagonals by swapping the rear tires first, then swapped left side, then swapped right side. All of then two at a time, still achieving a cross pattern rotation.

Also, I used a floor jack, which moves inward as the car goes up. Perhaps more stable than a bottle jack.

So it was actually failing on the first corner jacked up, nothing else was raise at the time. As I understand it, as the truck goes up, it doesn't raise straight up with the jack, it goes in a wide arc, which makes initial jack placement very important. I was raising the rear too, which is higher off the ground to begin with.

I think I might swap it out for a floor jack....

 

[usulio]

So it was actually failing on the first corner jacked up, nothing else was raise at the time. As I understand it, as the truck goes up, it doesn't raise straight up with the jack, it goes in a wide arc, which makes initial jack placement very important. I was raising the rear too, which is higher off the ground to begin with.

I think I might swap it out for a floor jack....

Floor jack sounds a lot easier. I use a bottle jack and the “double lift method” where every time I lift a point, I raise it up until it tilts, then go back down and reposition the jack, then up again.

I also do a 5 tire rotation which means only one corner is off the ground at a time, definitely recommended if you have a full size spare.

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