Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Jack Stands that fit under Model S when suspension is set to high - store for winter

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Ok, I'm looking for stands that will fit under my Model S while in high suspension so when I lower the suspension the car rest on the stands for the winter. Wondering what everyone else is doing that aren't planning on driving their S for the winter.
Thanks Joe
 
My wife has been borrowing my S an awful lot recently... maybe I can "borrow" yours for the winter months so that I don't have to drive her ICE vehicle? That saves you the expense of getting jack stands... just a matter of paying for the depreciation per mile driven. ;)
 
Ok, I'm looking for stands that will fit under my Model S while in high suspension so when I lower the suspension the car rest on the stands for the winter. Wondering what everyone else is doing that aren't planning on driving their S for the winter.
Thanks Joe

Do you have a measurement that will work? You could test with wood shims.
 
Make stands out of wood

Vfx: Your wood shims idea got me thinking. Make some cheap stands out of wood using 4x4 post and some plywood sides for stabilization. From what i'm reading it should easily support the Tesla from the woods compression pound figures I'm finding.

From what I've read short of tweeking for different types of wood, it can support 600lbs/sq inch. So a 3.5x3.5" post (actual dim.) is 12.25sqin x 600 = 7,350lbs per post.
 
Ok, I'm looking for stands that will fit under my Model S while in high suspension so when I lower the suspension the car rest on the stands for the winter. Wondering what everyone else is doing that aren't planning on driving their S for the winter.
Thanks Joe


Not sure if this fits the bill, since the closed height is still 9", but I used these for the first time last year for brake pad/tire swaps and they are really nice--solid, stable, and the ability to infinitely adjust the height rather than doing it in "steps" like normal jack stands is great.

http://www.jettools.com/us/en/view-series/sj-series-screw-jacks/SJScrewJack
 
Ok, I'm looking for stands that will fit under my Model S while in high suspension so when I lower the suspension the car rest on the stands for the winter. Wondering what everyone else is doing that aren't planning on driving their S for the winter.
Thanks Joe

If this works, it would mean you could change your wheels for the Fall and Spring changeover without a jack - that would be pretty nice. The stands would need to fit, as the OP says, and be VERY stable - even if it worked I'm not sure I'd feel safe changing wheels with the car on 4 stands. But the key questions are whether the suspension will actually move to the highest and then the lowest setting while parked, and whether the difference is enough to lift the tires off the ground. Has anyone actually tried this?
 
If this works, it would mean you could change your wheels for the Fall and Spring changeover without a jack - that would be pretty nice. The stands would need to fit, as the OP says, and be VERY stable - even if it worked I'm not sure I'd feel safe changing wheels with the car on 4 stands. But the key questions are whether the suspension will actually move to the highest and then the lowest setting while parked, and whether the difference is enough to lift the tires off the ground. Has anyone actually tried this?

I might give it a try in a couple weeks when I go to change over to my winter wheel set. I'm hoping someone else tries it first though. :)
 
If this works, it would mean you could change your wheels for the Fall and Spring changeover without a jack - that would be pretty nice. The stands would need to fit, as the OP says, and be VERY stable - even if it worked I'm not sure I'd feel safe changing wheels with the car on 4 stands. But the key questions are whether the suspension will actually move to the highest and then the lowest setting while parked, and whether the difference is enough to lift the tires off the ground. Has anyone actually tried this?

The car will change height when in P, but it has to be on to do so which means someone must sit in the car. There is a fair amount of travel, but I don't know if it's enough, also it's a bladder system so I don't think it has any tire lifting power. It won't be as easy as this. The action starts at 6 minutes.
 
If this works, it would mean you could change your wheels for the Fall and Spring changeover without a jack - that would be pretty nice. The stands would need to fit, as the OP says, and be VERY stable - even if it worked I'm not sure I'd feel safe changing wheels with the car on 4 stands. But the key questions are whether the suspension will actually move to the highest and then the lowest setting while parked, and whether the difference is enough to lift the tires off the ground. Has anyone actually tried this?

I don't think the suspension can lift the wheels when the car is supported on jacks/blocks. If you "lower" the car while supported on blocks you only lessen the pressure in the air suspension bladders. You lessen the force wheels apply to the ground but you do not eliminate or reverse the force.

Don't have my Model S yet to measure but I strongly suspect the lift pads are more than 4" above the ground and not much more than 8" with suspension fully extended. There is a "jack" mode mentioned in the owner's manual. But no higher than that one could use 4x4 post on its side cut to perhaps 8" long and shim it with another identically cut 4x4 post or 2x4 or 1x4 as needed to fit.
 
I don't think the suspension can lift the wheels when the car is supported on jacks/blocks. If you "lower" the car while supported on blocks you only lessen the pressure in the air suspension bladders. You lessen the force wheels apply to the ground but you do not eliminate or reverse the force.

Makes sense. So that means if the OP wants his wheels off the ground, this method wouldn't work for storage either, although reducing the weight on the tires might be enough. In any case, I've seen on TMC and elsewhere that putting your car on blocks for the winter isn't necessary. Just put an extra 10psi in the tires for storage.

It would have been kinda cool to change wheels without a jack, though :smile:
 
Makes sense. So that means if the OP wants his wheels off the ground, this method wouldn't work for storage either, although reducing the weight on the tires might be enough. In any case, I've seen on TMC and elsewhere that putting your car on blocks for the winter isn't necessary. Just put an extra 10psi in the tires for storage.

It would be better for the tires if they were removed from the car and inflation reduced to 8-10 psi.
 
Not sure if this fits the bill, since the closed height is still 9", but I used these for the first time last year for brake pad/tire swaps and they are really nice--solid, stable, and the ability to infinitely adjust the height rather than doing it in "steps" like normal jack stands is great.

http://www.jettools.com/us/en/view-series/sj-series-screw-jacks/SJScrewJack


JST: Thanks for the link. Those are nice stands that aren't to expensive compared to others I have seen. I'll have to measure if they will work.

Didn't think about no lifting power. So for this to work I would have to have the car rest on stands a little higher than what the air-subspention could lift on high? Be interesting if someone can test if a tire can still be removed from setting the car on stands from high down to low.

Really need to remove the tires off the car if not on the ground?