Model 3 dual motor tire rotation - do it yourself question

[dstewart3]

Any advice on DIY tire rotation? Can I simply rotate front tires to back? Is crossing recommended? I could not find any such advice in the owner's manual.
Also, can I simply place a floor jack under the front lift point (with a jack pad) to change the tires front to back on one side?
Also, what is the torque value on the lug nuts?
Thx

 

[ATPMSD]

Tire Rotation 101 - Tire Alignment, Balance, & Rotation

Discover tire rotation, balancing, and alignment information from Bridgestone. Learn more about tire rotation to maximize your vehicle's performance here.

www.bridgestoneamericas.com

As to torque, is it on page 188 of the M3 manual: 129 Lb. Ft. If you do it yourself be sure to put the car in Jack Mode. I am sure others who have done their own rotation will be able to offer better first hand advice.

 

[todd2fst4u]

 

[Dolemite]

Tire Rotation 101 - Tire Alignment, Balance, & Rotation

Discover tire rotation, balancing, and alignment information from Bridgestone. Learn more about tire rotation to maximize your vehicle's performance here.

www.bridgestoneamericas.com

As to torque, is it on page 188 of the M3 manual: 129 Lb. Ft. If you do it yourself be sure to put the car in Jack Mode. I am sure others who have done their own rotation will be able to offer better first hand advice.

No such thing in Model 3

 

[ATPMSD]

No such thing in Model 3

As to Jack Mode, you are of course correct. I have an S and did not check to see if the 3 has Jack Mode.

 

[jvoisin]

As to Jack Mode, you are of course correct. I have an S and did not check to see if the 3 has Jack Mode.

Jack mode is usually something you see when a car/truck has air-ride. My RAM Rebel has air suspension and if you don't enable jack mode and try and jack up one corner it will try to level the truck.. jack mode disables that behaviour.. and suspect it's only on the S with air-suspension.

 

[dsgerbc]

Any advice on DIY tire rotation? Can I simply rotate front tires to back? Is crossing recommended? I could not find any such advice in the owner's manual.
Also, can I simply place a floor jack under the front lift point (with a jack pad) to change the tires front to back on one side?
Also, what is the torque value on the lug nuts?
Thx

M3 is not DIY friendly for tire rotations. Do not trust a hydraulic jack to hold.

You need to buy either proper scissor jacks that are good for the weight, or invest into proper pass-through jackstands for your hydraulic jacks. The latter are pricy. I'm aware of Jackpoint ones and Rennstand, there might be more.

Obviously, you'll need more of those to do a criss-cross rotation.

 

[SK360]

M3 is not DIY friendly for tire rotations. Do not trust a hydraulic jack to hold.

You need to buy either proper scissor jacks that are good for the weight, or invest into proper pass-through jackstands for your hydraulic jacks. The latter are pricy. I'm aware of Jackpoint ones and Rennstand, there might be more.

Obviously, you'll need more of those to do a criss-cross rotation.

Huh. If just going front to back the Model 3 is just fine. I swap wheels multiple times per week with a 15 year old harbor freight Jack.

 

[dsgerbc]

Individual risk preferences differ. Some ride bikes w/o any safety gear and are fine until they are not.
I'll just leave this here

 

[ATPMSD]

There have been a number of posts in other forums which claim Discount Tire will do a rotation for free.

 

[SK360]

Individual risk preferences differ. Some ride bikes w/o any safety gear and are fine until they are not.
I'll just leave this here

If you're climbing under your car while changing tires, you may be doing it wrong.

 

[dsgerbc]

If you're climbing under your car while changing tires, you may be doing it wrong.

My point is that hydraulics fail and aren't good for safety-critical applications w/o mechanical backups. Whether it takes your suspension/brake components, or your hand, is not really relevant.
The ghetto way of doing what you're doing marginally safer in an ICE car is to stuff a spare wheel under the car so it doesn't crash all the way to the ground. In an ICE car you'd place it under the body on a side. Not sure I'd want a wheel positioned there, since if anything goes wrong it could puncture the battery cell.
I have a A single rennstand, for SCCA autox applications, where they can ask you to leave if you're swapping tires using only your jack. $140 doesn't seem like too much money to me to avoid a preventable disaster, but to each their own.

 

[Black306]

If you're climbing under your car while changing tires, you may be doing it wrong.

May be??

 

[SK360]

My point is that hydraulics fail and aren't good for safety-critical applications w/o mechanical backups. Whether it takes your suspension/brake components, or your hand, is not really relevant.
The ghetto way of doing what you're doing marginally safer in an ICE car is to stuff a spare wheel under the car so it doesn't crash all the way to the ground. In an ICE car you'd place it under the body on a side. Not sure I'd want a wheel positioned there, since if anything goes wrong it could puncture the battery cell.
I have a A single rennstand, for SCCA autox applications, where they can ask you to leave if you're swapping tires using only your jack. $140 doesn't seem like too much money to me to avoid a preventable disaster, but to each their own.

Rule 1.3.2.U in the Solo rulebook: "Competitors are responsible for using proper support (e.g., jackstands) to safely support a raised vehicle if any person is underneath that vehicle."

I’ve never once seen it applied to someone swapping tires at an event as they shouldn’t be underneath their vehicle. I agree fully on properly supporting it if you are going under it and I use ramps/jackstands or quickjacks for doing more serious work.

But hey, like you said each to their own.

 

[dsgerbc]

Sticking one's hands into the wheel well qualifies as being under the car. But it's kinda pointless to argue technicalities.

If a jack fails, and your head is not technically under the car but near it, it may not turn out fine. If the jack fails when you're about to seat your replacement wheel on your hub, the wheel can fly pretty far/hard.

I have nothing against others taking chances with their health, many do every day without a second thought. But once you have thought about it, spending a few bucks to avoid it seems like a no-brainer to me. A lot of humans, however, will instead get irrationally attached to their past choices.

 

[Dolemite]

I came up with a way to get the entire car up on 4 jack stands without any special tools or equipment but I’m afraid to post it because I’ll get *sugar* for it.

 

[Black306]

I came up with a way to get the entire car up on 4 jack stands without any special tools or equipment but I’m afraid to post it because I’ll get *sugar* for it.

You’re going to get *sugar* if you don’t tell us.

Does it involve getting the car on 2 wheels first?

 

[Black306]

Personally, the one and only time I have been involved in a lifted car incident, it was with a car on jack stands, not a jack(s); 100% user error (not my part); add maybe 20-7,000% based on the level of stupidity. Lifting a car solely on a jack to change a tire is acceptable risk, assuming stupidity isn’t involved.

 

[Watts_Up]

Huh. If just going front to back the Model 3 is just fine.

Yes, don't cross left and right, unless you want your four rims having curb rashes... !!!

 

[gearchruncher]

M3 is not DIY friendly for tire rotations. Do not trust a hydraulic jack to hold.

Why do you say the M3 is particularly not friendly for tire rotations? From everything after this you appear focused on *any* car falling.
I haven't found lifting the M3 any easier/harder than any other car I have worked on.

If you do a lot of work / rotations on your car at your house, Quickjacks are totally worth it.