Rotating tire question

I searched but couldn’t find an answer.

I rotated my tires yesterday and it was a hassle with a car seat in the way to get to the factory jack to help me rotate the tires. I also have a hydraulic jack and jack stand to help.

how are you guys rotating your tires most efficiently?

 

Efficiently? A slight financial outflow to a business with a lift and technicians while you enjoy comfy seating in a waiting room…

realistically, they get rotated when the truck is already on a lift having something else done and I remember to say something which usually happens once or twice in the life cycle of the tire (I’ll also usually replace the tires by the time they hit 50% tread either due to changing the size or proactively replacing them prior to a winter trip)

 

I’ve made friends with a local tire shop. I usually drop in during the week and ask if they’ll rotate my wheels. I usually kick them $20-$40 or buy them breakfast. Could I do it myself? Yes. But it’s time I’m saving and these guys are careful with my wheels.

 

Assuming DIY: Hydraulic jack and 2 or 4 jack stands.
Depends if you're doing front to back or corner to corner. (X-pattern.)
You should alternate patterns.

If front to back:
Only jack the one side at a time. Only need two jack stands.

If X-pattern:
Jack front: 2 stands.
Jack rear: 2 stands.

While I DO like the idea of @Mallcrl :
"Efficiently? A slight financial outflow to a business with a lift and technicians while you enjoy comfy seating in a waiting room…"
If I had stock wheels and lug nuts...maybe. But still, probably not.
Great in theory, but for me, not in practice.

I have trust issues. I want to KNOW wheels are on correctly and lugs are torqued to spec. and any damage is from my own F-up.

*Edit to add:*
Hydraulic jack. I won't mess with the factory jack unless I'm on the side of the road. 2T with a SECURE (purpose built) riser for the jack pad.
Also bought larger (taller) jackstands when I got the truck.

 

I should add that in my specific case, the only ones I really trust working on the vehicle (to where I don't need to double check the work) is a good friend's shop... I've happily driven 6hrs each way to have them do an oil change in the winter when I don't feel like laying on the driveway.

If I don't know the person working on the truck personally, I definitely have trust issues... Part of that probably comes from working in the industry for 20+ years at this point and seeing the good alongside the bad

 

If you rotate your own tires, a floor jack is a must. And at least 2 jack stands.

 

Get a second hydraulic jack

I throw caution to the wind wind when rotating tires and skip the jack stands. Takes about 15 minutes with the electric impact wrench.

 

if you rotate your own tires, a floor jack is a must have. And 2 jack stands.

1. Loosen lug nuts on all 4 wheels
2. Jack rear up by the pumpkin, and place jack stands under both sides of the rear axle.
3. Remove rear wheels
4. Individually jack up each front side, remove wheels and rotate with rear wheels. Insure all lug nuts are snug.
5. Lower all 4 sides to the ground, and torque lug nuts to spec. Done.

 

Reminds me of the old joke....
Rotate my tires?
They rotate everytime I drive my truck!!!

 

I have an impact wrench and the 21mm and used it for the first time. It did save a lot of time

 

a nerd killing the joke would say something along the line of, “while that may be true, the weight of the motor on the front tire wears it out quicker than the rears.”

and then get his ass kicked

 

I have 2 floor jacks, a mess of jack stands and an electric impact (that I can't use on my truck lugs cause it will damage them). I rotate them at every oil change while the oil is cooling down a little or draining. I get them all really snug in the air to keep them centered and torque them to spec on the ground (around 85-90 ftlbs for my truck, not 175 ftlbs like the air jockey guns).

 

I grew up working on heavy equipment, dump trucks, road tractors, etc. Now, as an old guy, I enjoy maintaining my vehicles, so I do the tire rotations on my truck. I still use the procedure I learned years ago: the drive tires move straight to the front and the front tires cross to the rear - RR to RF, LR to LF, RF to LR, and LF to RR. Every tire is eventually in every position on the truck.

 

I used a truck ramp to change the oil and didn’t think I could do the tires at the same time

 

Neither of my Tundras needed ramps to access the filter or oil drain plug

 

Really?
I used to use my air impact on em all the time.
You just needed to start them by hand so you dont run the risk of cross threading em.

 

i kinda like the space it provides. I’m looking into getting a mechanics creeper also

 

Aftermarket black lugs. The air gun can mar the surface of them.

 

Ramps make the oil change a lot easier, if you have the silly auto air dam. I know you can access the drain plug and oil filter from behind the front wheels without ramps, but it's not as convenient, especially with no lift or big tires.

That said, I'm with others who prefer to let a proper shop do the basic maintenance. I bring my trusted local mechanic the oil and filters. He charges me $65 for labor to do the oil change and rotation. I'm usually in and out in less than 30 minutes. Well worth the price for me.

 

Second the floor jack and jack stands. I spent a few hundred at Harbor Freight and upgraded to the 3 Ton jack and larger stands. It was a bit too sketchy with my old set up. Also I have a 4 way and bottle jack under the back seat. Screw that OEM jack and lug wrench. That seems like a death trap.

 

Yeah....had the Blue Chrome Lug Nuts on my FJ.
But I was never really concerned about messing up the finish on em since my FJ was already fully decorated with RedNeck pinstriping.
As in brush and branch scratches all down the sides.
Also ran steel wheels so I could just hammer em back into shape rather than have them shed chunks of aluminium.

 

Floor jack, jack stands, impact wrench and torque wrench. We have four cars and I rotate all the tires since I don't trust dealerships, tire shops or anyone else to do it right and why spend the $ when I can get it done in a minimal amount of time. A shop broke a stud on my Honda 20+ years ago zipping nuts on with an impact so never again.