Hey everyone, new here. Wanted to ask this question to get the thoughts of the community. So I’ve been interested in doing my own tire rotations for my MS, and I’m pretty handy so I know the process. I’d also like to do the recommended rotation pattern for AWD where back tires go to the front and the front cross to the back in an X.
What I’m debating is how to get the car up on all 4 safely in order to do this and also with budget in mind. Here’s 4 approaches I have noticed and the cost as of right now for the parts in 2023
Note: I’m not going to include the cost of tools which are shared across all rotations such as breaker bar, torque wrench etc
QuickJack Approach:
- 5000TL quick jack: 1699
- Tesla jack pads: 25
= Total: 1724
Rennstand Approach:
- one 3 ton jack: 160
- 4x Rennstand, this assumes getting it at Teslarati with a 10% sale: 792
- wheel chock: 20
= 972
Jack with Safety bar:
- 2x Powerbuilt Xtra Low Profile Floor Vehicle Jack with Safety Bar (2 ton): 560
- 2x Esco Flat top jack stand: 120
- Tesla jack pads: 25
- wheel chock: 20
= 725
Spare Tire Approach:
- one 3 ton jack: 160
- Tesla jack pads: 25
- One Esco Flat top jack stand: 60
- wheel chock: 20
- Spare Tire: 300
= 565
The QuickJack and Rennstand have been discussed in detail and are the safest IMO but also most costly.
I looked into using the Powerbuilt Xtra Low Profile Floor Vehicle Jack with Safety Bar which acts as a stand with the safety bar to lock it in place but note that this floor jack is rated at 2 tons and the MS is over that capacity so I’m worried that over time this would cause the floor jack to fail since for a short amount of time this floor jack would bear all the weight before I can get the Jack stand underneath it.
There’s also another approach with the Powerbuilt U-jack but again this is a 2 ton jack so similar worries here.
The last approach with a spare tire I haven’t really seen any posts about this and I was curious if this is a potential solution. So the idea would be to buy a spare tire or hec it can even be a used and worn tire so long as it can be filled with air. I just need the wheel to match the hub and bore pattern. Im estimating this would be $300 or so. So what I would do is:
- Place wheel chock on side that is not being lifted
- Lift one side of the MS and place jack stand
- Remove both tires and move back to the front. Put in spare tire in the back, hand tight the lug nuts
- Lower car, move wheel chocks, and then raise other side
- Move back wheel to front, and put in wheel from diagonal side at the rear
- Lower car, move wheel chocks, and then raise first side again
- Remove spare tire and install remaining regular tire
This approach does not raise all 4 wheels and I think it feels fairly safe even without a safety bar floor jack given 2 wheels are on the ground with wheel chocks. But I also never did this before so please let me know if this is good/bad idea. Clearly this would involve a little more time due to the back and forth but the cost of this is substantially less than the other options
What I’m debating is how to get the car up on all 4 safely in order to do this and also with budget in mind. Here’s 4 approaches I have noticed and the cost as of right now for the parts in 2023
Note: I’m not going to include the cost of tools which are shared across all rotations such as breaker bar, torque wrench etc
QuickJack Approach:
- 5000TL quick jack: 1699
- Tesla jack pads: 25
= Total: 1724
Rennstand Approach:
- one 3 ton jack: 160
- 4x Rennstand, this assumes getting it at Teslarati with a 10% sale: 792
- wheel chock: 20
= 972
Jack with Safety bar:
- 2x Powerbuilt Xtra Low Profile Floor Vehicle Jack with Safety Bar (2 ton): 560
- 2x Esco Flat top jack stand: 120
- Tesla jack pads: 25
- wheel chock: 20
= 725
Spare Tire Approach:
- one 3 ton jack: 160
- Tesla jack pads: 25
- One Esco Flat top jack stand: 60
- wheel chock: 20
- Spare Tire: 300
= 565
The QuickJack and Rennstand have been discussed in detail and are the safest IMO but also most costly.
I looked into using the Powerbuilt Xtra Low Profile Floor Vehicle Jack with Safety Bar which acts as a stand with the safety bar to lock it in place but note that this floor jack is rated at 2 tons and the MS is over that capacity so I’m worried that over time this would cause the floor jack to fail since for a short amount of time this floor jack would bear all the weight before I can get the Jack stand underneath it.
There’s also another approach with the Powerbuilt U-jack but again this is a 2 ton jack so similar worries here.
The last approach with a spare tire I haven’t really seen any posts about this and I was curious if this is a potential solution. So the idea would be to buy a spare tire or hec it can even be a used and worn tire so long as it can be filled with air. I just need the wheel to match the hub and bore pattern. Im estimating this would be $300 or so. So what I would do is:
- Place wheel chock on side that is not being lifted
- Lift one side of the MS and place jack stand
- Remove both tires and move back to the front. Put in spare tire in the back, hand tight the lug nuts
- Lower car, move wheel chocks, and then raise other side
- Move back wheel to front, and put in wheel from diagonal side at the rear
- Lower car, move wheel chocks, and then raise first side again
- Remove spare tire and install remaining regular tire
This approach does not raise all 4 wheels and I think it feels fairly safe even without a safety bar floor jack given 2 wheels are on the ground with wheel chocks. But I also never did this before so please let me know if this is good/bad idea. Clearly this would involve a little more time due to the back and forth but the cost of this is substantially less than the other options