Rotating tires at home

[adgjqetuo]

I want to rotate my tires at home - is this a safe route to take?

Using a 4-ton floor jack and two 2-ton jack stands - lifting on the crumple point as outlined in the manual:

I was trying to avoid using the spare if possible - my concern is mainly with tire 1 and 4 being jacked up at the same time. Jacking tire 4 up with 1 on a jack stand - could that cause too much force on that corner?


1) Lift up tire 1 with floor jack and support with jack stand. Remove tire.

2) Leaving tire 1 on jack stand: Lift up tire 2 with floor jack and jack stand and remove tire / replace with tire 1.

3) Lower back tire 2 (tire 1 still on jack stand): Lift up tire 3 with floor jack and jack stand and remove tire / replace with tire 2

4) Lower back tire 3 (tire 1 still on jack stand): Lift up tire 4 with floor jack and jack stand and remove tire / replace with tire 3

5) Lower back tire 4 (tire 1 still on jack stand): add tire 4 to tire 1 spot and lower back down.

 

[MikeM.]

Wouldn't it be easier to just block the entire vehicle and swap all 4 out at once?

Living in NJ, you might consider getting another set of rims with winter tires on them. I only rotate my tires when I switch from summer to winter and I only rotate front/back and back/front (never side/side). I have not noticed any uneven wear doing this on all my snow tire equipped vehicles over the last 20 years and it allows you to purchase tires with directional tread (when you are not rotating side to side).

 

[adgjqetuo]

That wouldn't help us much - my wife drives too much - we have 21k miles on it already. We have to rotate tires 3-4 times a year or so.

I was just trying to save some money having the dealer do it.

 

[piotrek91]

I was trying to avoid using the spare if possible - my concern is mainly with tire 1 and 4 being jacked up at the same time. Jacking tire 4 up with 1 on a jack stand - could that cause too much force on that corner?
.

I'm not sure if I follow your procedure, but having two opposite corner of the car lifted at the same time on a jack and jack stand sound very unstable.

Why not just use the spare instead of the jack stand?

It's only one extra step to swap out the spare with tire #4 at the end.
It recently took me less than 30 minutes to rotate my tires using the scissor jack and the spare.

 

[brillo54]

I'm not sure if I follow your procedure, but having two opposite corner of the car lifted at the same time on a jack and jack stand sound very unstable.

Why not just use the spare instead of the jack stand?

It's only one extra step to swap out the spare with tire #4 at the end.
It recently took me less than 30 minutes to rotate my tires using the scissor jack and the spare.

I agree. The spare isn't that hard to get to plus while you have it out, you can check it for proper inflation.

 

[inlinev]

Use the spare. Or jack all 4 corners onto stands. Jacking opposite corners is dangerous because it is unstable.

 

[CX5-SO]

Use Floor jack under proper front center jack point, jackstands to front body notches.
Use Floor jack under proper rear center jack point, jackstands to rear body notches.
Rotate at will.

 

[erhayes]

++ cx5-so

 

[Ride92]

Use Floor jack under proper front center jack point, jackstands to front body notches.
Use Floor jack under proper rear center jack point, jackstands to rear body notches.
Rotate at will.

What this guy said!!!! I used these jack points when I pulled the wheels off to paint my calipers. Had the car up like that for maybe 2-3 hours without a problem.

 

[garyd9]

On the AWD jacking diagram, is that rear point a direct contact with the rear differential? No problem with the car tipping to one side with this method?

 

[MikeM.]

On the AWD jacking diagram, is that rear point a direct contact with the rear differential? No problem with the car tipping to one side with this method?

It's not quite centered but, as long as the ground is level and the car is unloaded, it works fine. That's what the solid aluminum piece extending down from the rear differential case is for.

 

[CX5-SO]

Yeah, center the jack saddle directly against the rear diff.. As long as you are on level ground and have the front of the vehicle still on it's tires or on jackstands, the jack will raise the rear of the vehicle straight up.

 

[CX-5um]

Use Floor jack under proper front center jack point, jackstands to front body notches.
Use Floor jack under proper rear center jack point, jackstands to rear body notches.
Rotate at will.

Cool pics. So these are actual jack points. Where are the points for jack stands?

 

[gova]

I do it on both my CX-5s

Lift via rear point only. Swap both wheels. Done.

 

[Ride92]

Cool pics. So these are actual jack points. Where are the points for jack stands?

The Jack stands should still be placed on the pinch welds located along bottom of the car under the doors. If you look at the pinch welds you will see where the designed spot for jack stands are, or refer to you owners manual. they just behind the front tires and just in front of the rear tires.

 

[rjdee]

One point to add: Don't remove the 1st wheel until you have the other side lifted. If the jack slips or something else happens, you don't want the car to crash down on the hub or frame. If the tire is still on the hub, the car will only drop an inch or so.

 

[doughboy52]

Use Floor jack under proper front center jack point, jackstands to front body notches.
Use Floor jack under proper rear center jack point, jackstands to rear body notches.
Rotate at will.

I don't see how it's possible to even get a floor jack that far under with enough clearance to crank it - maybe my cheap Torin 6-ton steel jack isn't ideal? Up till now I've just done one corner at a time.

 

[CX5-SO]

I dunno. My cheapo Tractor Supply "Big Red" 3-ton works good.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

A little overkill for just rotating tires though.

 

[doughboy52]

I dunno. My cheapo Tractor Supply "Big Red" 3-ton works good.

That's similar to what mine is - a big red from pep boys. I just always felt like the bar would be bumping into the bumper. Guess I'll look a little more closely next time and give it another go!