Topic: DIY seasonal wheel changeover

[mmret]

Ok so I'm going to ask something here. Most cars only have one jack point on each corner. Nothing in the front/rear.

What if I want to get a stand under it? Wouldn't I have to lift using some other point, close to the wheel but not the "real" point, then put the stand underneath the real jacking point?

No. Jack on the jacking point. Then you can put the jack stand on a hard point to the chassis....like where the control arm mounts to the car. It's a very robust part. You could also use a cross member or similar robust point...

Ok.

Also I have been using the same jack that NoSan linked on the jack points...which are just pinch welds really. But I have read somewhere that pinch welds should only be used with the scissor jack that comes with the car?

[rrocket]

Ok so I'm going to ask something here. Most cars only have one jack point on each corner. Nothing in the front/rear.

What if I want to get a stand under it? Wouldn't I have to lift using some other point, close to the wheel but not the "real" point, then put the stand underneath the real jacking point?

No. Jack on the jacking point. Then you can put the jack stand on a hard point to the chassis....like where the control arm mounts to the car. It's a very robust part. You could also use a cross member or similar robust point...

Ok.

Also I have been using the same jack that NoSan linked on the jack points...which are just pinch welds really. But I have read somewhere that pinch welds should only be used with the scissor jack that comes with the car?

If you're sloppy about it, you can bend them. Just be sure you have it dead center.

Fwiw, every service center or dealer hoists the car using the jack points with their hoists

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[mmret]

Hmm wouldn't the thing you just linked help with that?

That said if you have a good flat contact pad on the jack I have a hard time seeing how the weld would buckle unless its just....crappily made or rusted. Just seems strange. I've always made sure that the weld is in the "bottom" of the jack and not sitting on the "teeth."

[rrocket]

Hmm wouldn't the thing you just linked help with that?

That said if you have a good flat contact pad on the jack I have a hard time seeing how the weld would buckle unless its just....crappily made or rusted. Just seems strange. I've always made sure that the weld is in the "bottom" of the jack and not sitting on the "teeth."

Yes, the thing I linked help.

[ArticSteve]

Also I have been using the same jack that NoSan linked on the jack points...which are just pinch welds really. But I have read somewhere that pinch welds should only be used with the scissor jack that comes with the car?


Correct.  For emergencies.  Lousy place  to lift a vehicle.

Right job takes the right tool.   Common theme in repair and building of anything.   Using one of those "jacks" as per the OP's pic is bottom of the barrel.  It works, but it sucks.  Like driving a Yaris with 4 ppl around north America.  Works, but it sucks. 

If you have 2 cents to rub together get a low clearance long reach floor jack and lift the vehicle up from the middle on the interior frame rail.

[mmret]

If you have 2 cents to rub together get a low clearance long reach floor jack and lift the vehicle up from the middle on the interior frame rail.

See, I do have 2 cents to rub together, but I just want to be 100% sure that I'm lifting it on a part that will hold. Not 99% sure, but 100% sure.

I will go looking down there tomorrow, perhaps something obvious will present itself.

EDIT: this one, ya?
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-aluminum-steel-garage-jack-3-ton-0091036p.html#srp

[ArticSteve]

EDIT: this one, ya?

3 things not great:      Don't need the 3 ton.   Says minimum 4 inch.   Think $300 is $100. too much.  I'll do a current search.

As for where to place one of these long reach jobbies this may give you a possible idea (2 inside arrows/not exactly representative)    :

[ArticSteve]

This is a better illustration.  Ignore the "garage jacking points" (6 circles) .   Note those two inner frame rail not far past those perimeter "jacking points" that are designed for the onboard spare tire jack.   Those are the one's to look for.

[ArticSteve]

Nothing on sale, but this looks OK.  The jack must have drain and refill fittings.  Zooming in on this it appears it has.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/1-1-2-ton-aluminum-floor-jack/A-p8448987e

[mmret]

I would hold out for a Canadian tires sale and get a full set of wrenches and sockets on sale. No point in only getting 3 tools....but thats just me.

The set that GBA linked at Crappy tire is a great deal. But it only has deep sockets up to 19mm and regular depth up to 21mm.

Getting a set of deep sockets up to 24/27mm would be a good call for the long run perhaps.

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[Davep]

One little foible I have is that I always try to buy 6 point sockets and box ends rather than 12 points, particularly if I'm buying entry level tools. A 6 point tool is easier to control and not slip off the nut/bolt head and round off the faces. Which also means, fewer bloody knuckles when the tool slips in a confined space.    (Plus cheaper tools will have greater tolerances and softer metal making them more prone to slip.) 

[Noto]

Bring your car over to my place,

I'll likely buy the requisite tools and then drive to your place to do the changeover under expert (13-year old) supervision

If you have 2 cents to rub together get a low clearance long reach floor jack and lift the vehicle up from the middle on the interior frame rail.

I guess this is my point: I'd really like to learn how to do it properly.  The wheel changeover is the easy part - I just want to make sure I'm jacking the car up properly so as to not do damage to it (or myself  ).

This anti-seize stuff - absolutely necessary? 

I'm also thinking about getting wheel locks since the car will be living on the driveway all year round...in the bad 'hood I grew up in ( ) people too often woke up to their cars sitting on cinder blocks and their wheels gone.  I figure for $30, a set of wheel locks would be a worthwhile insurance policy.

Really, it's not hard...and I commend you for wanting to do this.

PM or text me if you have questions.

Thanks, Ron!  I really appreciate that.

[Ex-airbalancer]

I would skipwheel locks more of a pain in the ass

[EV Dan]

I'm also thinking about getting wheel locks since the car will be living on the driveway all year round...in the bad 'hood I grew up in ( ) people too often woke up to their cars sitting on cinder blocks and their wheels gone.  I figure for $30, a set of wheel locks would be a worthwhile insurance policy.

They brought cinder blocks? That's actually a nice and polite way to go about it, not the worst of the communities then 

[tpl]

The use of anti-seize with hub-centric alloy wheels  will save a lot of cursing and swearing for a few bucks every 10 years.    Alloy wheels on steel hubs + salt water + heating and cooling  makes for a nearly permanent fit.  I have freed them without a sledge hammer by lying on my back and kicking each side of the wheel alternately...hard...several times**.   After that you carefully clean the hubs with a wire brush and add a tiny smear of anti-seize and it never happens again.

** which is another good reason for a good trolley jack safely in position.


Another piece of advice not mentioned so far.    Don't lift the car more than you need to,  you just need the wheel(s) you are changing an inch off the ground.  In the unlikely event of the car falling of the jack when a wheel is of then the less it has to fall, the less damage will be done.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Bring your car over to my place,

I'll likely buy the requisite tools and then drive to your place to do the changeover under expert (13-year old) supervision

If you have 2 cents to rub together get a low clearance long reach floor jack and lift the vehicle up from the middle on the interior frame rail.

I guess this is my point: I'd really like to learn how to do it properly.  The wheel changeover is the easy part - I just want to make sure I'm jacking the car up properly so as to not do damage to it (or myself  ).

This anti-seize stuff - absolutely necessary? 

I'm also thinking about getting wheel locks since the car will be living on the driveway all year round...in the bad 'hood I grew up in ( ) people too often woke up to their cars sitting on cinder blocks and their wheels gone.  I figure for $30, a set of wheel locks would be a worthwhile insurance policy.

Really, it's not hard...and I commend you for wanting to do this.

PM or text me if you have questions.

Thanks, Ron!  I really appreciate that.

Don't get the anti-seize, then wheel locks aren't necessary

[tenpenny]

Last year, the tool/key for my wheel locks broke.  Took it to a garage, they had to weld a nut onto the wheel lock to get it off, even the reverse-thread removal things wouldn't work.  I'll never use wheel locks again.

Not worth the trouble.

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[tortoise]

I've never used anti sieze and haven't had any issues. YMMY and all that.

[mmret]

I've never used anti sieze and haven't had any issues. YMMY and all that.

Aluminum wheel on steel hub plus winter and salt is bad. Had a hell of a time getting the wheel off the V60 last spring. Needed a rubber mallet.

Don't know if it's similarly effective but I blast a ton of WD40 in there when the winters go on.

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[tortoise]

These were aluminum wheels. In Ottawa, where the salt flows like wine.