Are you looking for a piece of information on how to rotate tires with two jack stands? If so, you have landed at the right place. Of course, you need to rotate the vehicle’s tires as it increases the lifespan of your tires. Read the article, and you will understand everything till the end.
If you rotate your tires regularly, we appreciate your work. As we know, all the tires wear down as time passes. The wear and tear of tires also depend on your driving habits, driving condition, and the kind of vehicle.
Rotating tires after a certain period becomes essential to keep your tires in good condition and have a smooth ride. If you don’t rotate them regularly, the tires will wear out at a high rate.
Why Rotate Tire? The Need
What will you get to rotate your tires regularly? Because it extends the life of your tires by preventing uneven wear. Many experts recommend rotating tires after every 6000 miles or every oil change. Or you can rotate them after every three months.
Also, the front tires carry 60% of the car weight, due to which your front tires wear quickly compared to rear ones. And, some tires are near to the engine, receiving more power pushing them to overwork more than the secondary tires.
Follow the specific rotation pattern. Different vehicles have different ways of tire rotation. You can also take help from your car’s owner’s manual for the pattern, and also this article will pump up your knowledge in that regard.
There are many ways to rotate your tires; however, we will walk you through how to rotate tires with two jack stands. So, let’s go to rotate your car’s tires without any hesitation.
How To Rotate Tires With Two Jack Stands? Safety Tips
Here are some of the safety tips that you should keep in mind when you are going to rotate your vehicle tires with two jack stands such as;
- Don’t go for tire rotation if you are not very confident to do this task successfully.
- If you cannot rotate tires, you can ask professional mechanics to replace tires.
- Check the load-bearing capacity of jack stands to support the vehicle’s weight.
- Use a 2-tons bearing capacity jack stand for cars and a 3-tons capacity stand for trucks.
- Ensure that you are using the exact tire rotation pattern. Follow the car’s manual for this.
- Before starting the rotation process, ensure the jack stand supports the vehicle’s weight.
- Lift your vehicle gently. Also, use protective gloves to prevent finger injury.
- Make sure that you tighten the lug nuts correctly before driving your car.
Tools You’ll Need
- Floor jack
- Jack stands
- Torque wrench
- Lug nut wrench
- Mechanic’s gloves
Step By Step Guide On How To Rotate Tires With Two Jack Stands
Now, it’s time to discuss step by step how you can rotate the tires with two jack stands. So, let’s get started:
Step One: Arrange Your Working Area
When you are going to do any maintenance in your vehicle, the first thing you need to do is park your car on the flat, hard-level ground. If your vehicle is on a hard surface, it will prevent the jack stands from sinking because the hard ground provides a rigid base to them.
Further, don’t forget to pull the hand brake. Also, take help from the car’s owner’s manual for finding lifting points. For smaller cars, you can locate the lifting points behind the front wheels and in front of the back wheels.
Second Step: Recognize The Rotation Pattern
The most crucial step during the rotation of tires is to recognize the rotation pattern of tires. The two most essential elements that affect the rotation pattern of your tires are the direction of the treads and the vehicle’s transmission. We have a directional and non-directional pattern for the case of the tread patterns.
- Directional Tires
Directional tires are designed to be used either for the left side of the vehicle or the right side.
- Non-Directional Tires
While for non-directional tires, the tread pattern of these tires is ideally designed for any kind of wheel. You can switch these tires in any direction(from the driver’s side to the passenger’s side and vice versa).
- Vehicle’s Transmission
In the case of transmission, you need to know whether your car is a rear-wheel-drive or a front-wheel drive. If the vehicle is a front-wheel drive, the rear tires will diagonally replace the front tires while the front tires shift straight to the back.
The method will be the opposite of the front-wheel-drive vehicles for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. It means that the front tires will diagonally replace the rear tires while the rear tires will move straight to the front.
Step Three: Loosen The Lug Nuts
After identifying the rotation pattern, the next step is to loosen the nuts with a lug wrench while the car is on the ground. The lug nuts are loosened before lifting the vehicle because when the tires are in the air, they spin, and it is challenging to loosen the lug nuts.
Don’t loosen the lug nuts on all the tires, just those tires that you will be rotating with your two jack stands.
Step Four: Lift The Vehicle
So for lifting the car, you probably will have a car jack; it might be a floor jack or any other jack. Use the appropriate jack point to jack up the vehicle, and lift it gently. Raise the car high enough so that you can easily fit the jack stand.
Next, pick the first jack stand and place it underneath the vehicle. Then raise another point of the car, maybe the front or rear part, and position the second jack stand. To better understand this concept, let’s know some different available rotation patterns.
- Rotating Front Tires
If the tires are non-directional, then proceeding the process of rotation, first loosen the lug nuts before raising the vehicle. When you are done, bring the floor jack and lift the front right side of the car. Position a jack stand underneath the corner of the vehicle on the jack point.
Then move to the front left side, raise it and place a second jack stand behind the tire. Once you have hauled up the car’s front section, remove the lug nuts and rotate your front tires. After you rotate the front tires, then tighten the lug nuts.
- Rotating Sides Tires
Use the side rotation pattern if the rotating tires have the same size and are directional. In this case, you will interchange the front driver side tire with a rear driver side tire. Also, you can replace the front passenger side tire with a rear passenger side tire.
So, to rotate tires with a side pattern, first, you’d have to untie the lug nuts before you jack the front and rear driver’s side tire. Lift the front driver’s side wheel and place the first jack stand under the jack point with a jack. Then, move to the rear driver’s side wheel and place the second jack stand.
Now, rotate the tire by removing the lug nuts entirely. After placing the tires in a new position, tighten the lug nuts. Now lift the rear side slightly to remove the jack stand and lower the wheel to the ground. After dropping the backside, jack up the front part, remove the jack stand, and drop the wheel to the ground.
- Rotating Diagonal Tires
The diagonal rotation pattern is much more dangerous with two jack stands. Rotating your vehicle tires could be risky by using this method. So for this particular rotation pattern, you must be very careful to avoid damaging your vehicle or injuring yourself.
Don’t worry; we will provide some steps to rotate the tires with a diagonal pattern. The first thing you need to do is loosen all four tires lug nuts. Next, move up the left and right rear sides of the car with the help of the floor jack.
Place the first jack stand underneath the left rear jack point and the second one to the right rear jack point to raise the back part. When you are done, move to the front right side of the car, lift it to the desired height, and leave the floor jack in a raised condition.
Remember, the jacks are always used for lifting purposes instead of holding. Therefore, be careful when using a jack to hold the vehicle’s weight. Now, three car tires are in the air, proceeding the process, removing the rear left tire and replacing it with the front right tire.
After these two tires come to the new position, restore the lug nuts and lower the jack. Use the floor jack to move up the front left tire when you are done. Replace the front left tire with the right rear tire, restore the lug nuts for these tires, and lower the jack.
Also, lower the rear right and left sections of the car using the floor jack. When all four tires come to the ground, use the lug wrench to tighten the nuts.
Final Words
The article clearly shows that rotating tires with two jack stands is not complicated if you have a basic understanding. We suggest that you rotate tires with three jack stands as it will be safe, especially in the case of x-pattern or diagonal pattern rotation.
But if you are willing to rotate tires with two jack stands, follow the above method. Use the rotation pattern recommended in your car’s owner’s manual. Hopefully, this article has delivered all the information on how to rotate tires with two jack stands.
