Honestly, I've never had an issue hand loosening the lug nuts without using an extension and I've swapped out all 4 wheels 4 times now. And i'm using about 12" of leverage so it's not that much. I doubt you'll have a problem.
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Honestly, I've never had an issue hand loosening the lug nuts without using an extension and I've swapped out all 4 wheels 4 times now. And i'm using about 12" of leverage so it's not that much. I doubt you'll have a problem.
Yes, I was able to safely do it.
You can lift the whole car by all four pads.
Or just half the car by two pads. Either a whole side, front, or rear.
Jack mode ON for air suspension people.
Car in PARK.
Keep in mind, front wheels are free rolling, while in Park. Jacking up the whole rear means you must be blocking the front wheels, or it could roll away on you.
I don't recommend lifting by 2 diagonal pads.
I wouldn't use the cheapest of the 2 ton jacks you get Walmart. That's cutting it a little close.
Use heavy duty ones, that can each take 3.5 tons.
With Premium wheels, it is always a good idea to remove the lugs and reinstall with hand tools. I've had tire dealers put lugs on backwards, strip lugs when trying to run on with impact wrenches, damage rims causing nearly $1000 in damage, etc. I now only go to one tire dealer here who works primarily on premium wheels and cars. Discount Tire is one tire dealer I will never use (again).
The safest way is to get a pair of Jackpoint jackstands. They have a "puck" that you jack up and then slide the stand under and remove the jack. That way you are jacking on the jack point and need only one floor jack.
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Check the specs on a Corvette. They are similar. Big car, big power, big wheels = big torque.
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The last tire shop I used wrecked all 20 Tesla nuts when taking them off. They used a torque wrench to install, but the damage was done on the removal.
beeeerock
Active Member
Those are sweet! Never seen them before, but looks like Jay Leno approves...!
Yeah, I'm seeing that. It still intrigues me though, because making them tighter isn't likely to change the shear strength of the bolt... not that I can visualize anyway. Perhaps it's more about preventing the wheel holes from going oblong. Must be...
Either way, trying to break one loose in the spring after a winter of corrosion will be huge fun. It won't be 130 lbft then - the initial break will take significantly more! That's where the impact wrench shines...! :biggrin:
mspohr
Well-Known Member
Jackpoint jackstands look nice but at $300 it would be much cheaper (and less hassle in use) to just buy a second floor jack.
<humour>It would also be cheaper to buy a used Yugo</humour> The main reasons I purchased Jackpoint stands were a) jack stands are inherently safer than floor jacks, and b) two floor jacks take up a lot more room the garage (at least in my garage they do).
HankLloydRight
No Roads
Several comments for this thread.
I've been swapping summer/winter wheels on my e39 M5 for a dozen years now. For both breaking the bolts and re-tightening them, I got one of these
Gorilla Extendable Power Wrench Set 1334
To keep the wheels from rusting/sticking to the hubs over the winter, I use these religiously -- Wheel Mates (I got mine at BavAuto.com), but I haven't used them on the Tesla yet since I had no problems removing my winter wheels this past weekend.
I also have one of these for torquiing the bolts down:
Amazon.com: Powerbuilt 940962 1/2 Drive Digital Torque Adapter, 29 to 147 ft-lbs: Home Improvement
Finally, what do you guys think of this QuickJack QuickJack- Portable Car Lift- EZ Portable Car Lift - Ranger Products
PRI 2014: Quickjack is the Safe, Easy, Portable Way to Lift Your Car - YouTube
or EzCarLift: EZ CAR LIFT - FREE-STANDING USE-ANYWHERE CAR LIFT! FAST. SAFE. STRONG.EASY.
I'm trying to find a solution to jack up one side of the car at a time to swap two wheels, then turn the car around, and then lift the other side. I really hate jackup up one wheel at a time.
I've been swapping summer/winter wheels on my e39 M5 for a dozen years now. For both breaking the bolts and re-tightening them, I got one of these
Gorilla Extendable Power Wrench Set 1334
To keep the wheels from rusting/sticking to the hubs over the winter, I use these religiously -- Wheel Mates (I got mine at BavAuto.com), but I haven't used them on the Tesla yet since I had no problems removing my winter wheels this past weekend.
I also have one of these for torquiing the bolts down:
Amazon.com: Powerbuilt 940962 1/2 Drive Digital Torque Adapter, 29 to 147 ft-lbs: Home Improvement
Finally, what do you guys think of this QuickJack QuickJack- Portable Car Lift- EZ Portable Car Lift - Ranger Products
PRI 2014: Quickjack is the Safe, Easy, Portable Way to Lift Your Car - YouTube
or EzCarLift: EZ CAR LIFT - FREE-STANDING USE-ANYWHERE CAR LIFT! FAST. SAFE. STRONG.EASY.
I'm trying to find a solution to jack up one side of the car at a time to swap two wheels, then turn the car around, and then lift the other side. I really hate jackup up one wheel at a time.
mknox
Well-Known Member
I always put the suspension on "High" and in "Jack Mode" so the auto suspension should be locked out, but I have only lifted one corner at a time. I was wondering if lifting onc corner, then a second corner on the same side (to do a tire rotation) would be safe.
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Actually, with a breaker bar it isn't that bad. I've had tire shop idiots hammer lug nuts on way tighter than that, based on the effort I had to expend with my breaker bar to loosen them off later.
beeeerock
Active Member
LOL, completely agree. As a teenager I recall a buddy and myself rounding out a star lug wrench on his '63 Chev pickup, somewhere away from assistance. With one of us pulling up and the other pushing down, there must have been in excess of 300 lbft exerted. It took a quality socket and a long bar to finally get that tire changed - after some considerable walking...
Lesson learned about tire shop knuckle heads, believe me!If you allow for another 50% or more torque needed to break the corrosion etc after a winter, that 130 lbft is now 200... at least for that instant. Through a one foot bar, that's a 200 lb deadlift... times all those lug nuts. Not fun. The long bar will be needed for sure! And then probably an extension to offset it far enough to avoid hitting a fender. It's no surprise there isn't a spare tire included with this car, whether there's space for it or not! :biggrin:
@beerock: Get a 24 inch breaker bar, 21mm 6point socket, and enter '130 foot pounds' into your genetic code = all you need for the ModelS.
Air Suspension: Thinking way back, I can't recall if this ever fought me when changing wheels. And I don't recall bothering with JACK MODE either. Nowadays the SAS jumps up to VERY HIGH as I approach the rancho so maybe this is why it never fights me as I (typically) jack up one whole side at a time.
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Air Suspension: Thinking way back, I can't recall if this ever fought me when changing wheels. And I don't recall bothering with JACK MODE either. Nowadays the SAS jumps up to VERY HIGH as I approach the rancho so maybe this is why it never fights me as I (typically) jack up one whole side at a time.
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HankLloydRight
No Roads
How do you jack up one side at a time? Two floor jacks?
I'm looking for a "one-jack" solution to do this (one side at a time) and I've haven't been able to find anything capable.
mknox
Well-Known Member
HankLloydRight
No Roads
But that still requires me to jack and unjack each corner. That's what I already do.
mknox
Well-Known Member
The idea is that you lift one corner and set it down on the Jackstand, then move your trolley jack to the next corner and repeat. Only one jack required. There are some pictures showing this on the web site (although it is the rear that is lifted, not one side, but I assume the principle is the same):
EDIT: Or did I not understand what you meant by a "one jack" solution? I doubt there is anything that would let you lift two corners of the car with one floor jack all at the same time.
HankLloydRight
No Roads
Exactly.
I've been researching small, portable car lifts just for changing wheels, light-duty type lifts. I found two:
EZCarLift: EZ CAR LIFT - FREE-STANDING USE-ANYWHERE CAR LIFT! FAST. SAFE. STRONG.EASY. I've been emailing with the inventor/owner, and he sells a "single unit" unit for lifting one side at a time, but won't work for the Model S (well, it might work.. still unclear).
The other is: Quick Jack: QuickJack- Portable Car Lift- EZ Portable Car Lift - Ranger Products But they won't sell me "half" of a unit (to lift one side at a time).
I'm looking for something like this, with one jacking procedure, lift up one side at a time so I can swap winter/summer wheels without jacking up each corner one at a time with a standard floor jack (which is what I'm doing now, and is a PIA!)
beeeerock
Active Member
Not that it's really relevant, but I like the seasonal tire change on my mother's Volvo S-70. The jack from the trunk fits to a single lift point on each side of the car, and lifts the whole side of the car. Both tires swapped with one lift... nice! I wish more cars were set up this way!
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