GlmnAlyAirCar
Active Member
The whole point of this thread is to deal with the problem of "lift a corner, place a jack stand" where there is only one point on each corner where both the jack and jack stand need to go.
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MASTER THREAD: Jack Points — location, use, damage, pads, etc.
- Thread starter Tam
- Start date
With the wheel lift the jacking point is free for the jackstand.
GlmnAlyAirCar
Active Member
I'd get a full size spare, personally. When I'm on a road trip, I don't usually want to take the space for a jack and spare, but would rely on roadside assistance.
Most of the time these days when I have a flat, it is a relatively slow leak that is discovered in the morning before leaving. The full size spare could be put on and the car driven until I get the chance to get the flat one repaired. Plus being able to use it during tire rotation. I wouldn't want to drive with an off-size spare but for a few miles.
Thanks for posting this. This is the best solution I've seen yet! I do have one question. What jack stands are you using? I made my adapters out of hockey pucks and they are flush on the bottom but most jack stands are angled. Did you make special adapters to fit your jack stands or did you find jack stands that are flush on the top?
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
Are those short enough?
I don't have the car yet, so I'm not sure what the clearance is.
vjason
Member
If you prefer something other than hockey pucks, $60 for 4: https://www.amazon.com/AY-Customs-Adapter-Raising-Vehicle/dp/B07K12932T
mspohr
Well-Known Member
You can raise the entire side of the car with one jack on the front or rear jack pad. Tire rotation should be front to rear and not crossways. (Not good for tires to change their direction of rotation.)
Raise one side of the car and rotate tires on that side. Raise the other side.
Only needs one floor jack.
The jack stands I ended up using were from Harbor Freight (I gave my ones I cut down to a friend with a S) I did not use the top part that ratchets and the stand can support either way and reduces it down to ~ 9 inches as I remember. I store my 3 in the mid-west for the winter and take my S to Florida. I'll do the same for the S in the summer when I return in the Spring. I just like to take the weight or at least the majority of the weight off the tires when it's not used for 5 or 6 months so I need to get all 4 tires off the floor. That's a nice price for the adapters (above) make sure they hold on there own, it's a little difficult to hold the adapter and lower the car and need to be ultra careful if you do this. The wheel lift on it's own I found to be a little tight so I used 2 - 2 by 6's on each side of the wheel under the wheel lift to increase the height another 1.75 inches. Start with the front first so the rears are locked to the ground on one side and just to be doubly safe block the other front. Probably not needed to added safety is always a good thing. If you need more ground clearance use stacked 2 by 6's for 3.5 inches of added lift.
I rotate my tires front to back and only lift one side at the time. I don't bother with jack stands. Instead, I use two floor jacks. One for the front and one for the back, and put wheel chocks on the other side of the car. I know it is safer to use a jack stand. But I am never under the car. So it is a risk I am willing to take. This method saves me so much more time. Also, getting an adapter from harbor freight so you can use your sockets with a cordless drill saves a lot of time too. The adapters only cost a few bucks.
Might wanna have a look at the reviews on Amazon for that Jack. I always read 1 Star reviews on anything and there are a lot of them on that jack. It looked impressive, but looks are deceiving. That's one reason I don't like ebay, because of lack of product reviews.
You have to be careful trusting some reviews on Amazon though. But the reviews appear legit on this.
https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-620479E-Profile-Floor-Safety/dp/B00OCIBPIM
I tried the one jack on the front and the height needed to raise the rear was I felt unsafe. If you just want to do a tire rotation use 2 pneumatic jacks front and rear with adapters. It's easy and pneumatic jacks are cheap. This thread is a little divergent as some just want to rotate tires while others (me) want to get jack stands under there vehicle to take the weight off the tires or work underneath. If working underneath some sort of jack stands are the only way to safely proceed. The earlier question if my adapter are flush, K-Motors are slightly rounded and the jack stands with the top of the jack removed makes a nice impact with these. I guess hockey puck would do the same I'm just a little leery of them cracking. After spending 50k on a car spend 60 to 100 USD on high quality adapters is my recommendation.
If using bottle jacks need to use the stubby ones. The all in one jack stands are a great idea but did not fit under the vehicle or come close unless you drive the vehicle up on ramps then raise the car and remove the ramps. You will need 4 ramps to do this. Seems a little cumbersome. The wheel lift so far seems cheapest and easiest to keep the frame safely off the ground.
If using bottle jacks need to use the stubby ones. The all in one jack stands are a great idea but did not fit under the vehicle or come close unless you drive the vehicle up on ramps then raise the car and remove the ramps. You will need 4 ramps to do this. Seems a little cumbersome. The wheel lift so far seems cheapest and easiest to keep the frame safely off the ground.
I have been using this jack for years lifting all kinds of vehicles:
1.5 Ton Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with RapidPump®
For 80 USD less 20% have not had one issue. It's fairly light weight and very easy to lift up to 6,000 lb. vehicle as long as it's a corner lift.
1.5 Ton Aluminum Racing Floor Jack with RapidPump®
For 80 USD less 20% have not had one issue. It's fairly light weight and very easy to lift up to 6,000 lb. vehicle as long as it's a corner lift.
Very interesting discussion. I have a hard time believing that the wheel lift would work as described. @dmattmul: have you successfully done what you are describing or is that what you are planning to do? If you raise the wheel using the wheel lift and then put a jack stand under that corner once you lower the wheel lift the suspension is going to put that wheel back on the ground. When you jack a car from the isolated side of the suspension,(jack point) the suspension is going to completely unload prior to picking the tire up.
I think that's true. Those Harbor Freight wheel "lifts" are actually called "vehicle positioning dollies". They don't appear to lift the wheel very far at all. Maybe a few inches. It certainly would work if you could lift the wheel high enough, though.
Fusion
Member
You can shave/cut the hockey pucks to fit your needs.
Also there was another discussion where the Tesla mobile service guy came out and said you could jack the car from one point high enough to lift the rear wheel and do the tire rotation that way. There was also posted pictures of that method.
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I have done this on all 4 of my wheels when I wanted to take the weight off the tires for the winter. The trick is to be able to raise the car high enough using the wheel lift to take the suspension play out. You need to place 2 by 6's on each side of the tire and use that to support the wheel lift. By spreading it wide enough you can get the wheel lift under the tire. I'm not near my 3 now so can't take any pictures. If you just want to do a tire rotation use 2 hydraulic jacks plus adapters, much easier. I don't remember if I used 2 - 2 by 6's each side or one. I was in a hurry to get out of Ohio before the snow came. Since I was just trying to take the weight off the wheels or the majority of the weight not sure if they were completely off the ground after finishing since that was not important for me.
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