DISCOVERY I MADE WHILE JACKING UP THE LEAF

[powersurge]

That video looks scary.. because they are torsioning the ENTIRE vehicle body. My original post was made because you have NO CHOICE in that when you raise the front tire, the rear also lifts. This is kind of nice if you want to quickly swap tires.

Of course, if you were doing rear brakes, you would use two front/ back jack stands....

[RockyNv]

That video looks scary.. because they are torsioning the ENTIRE vehicle body. My original post was made because you have NO CHOICE in that when you raise the front tire, the rear also lifts. This is kind of nice if you want to quickly swap tires.

Of course, if you were doing rear brakes, you would use two front/ back jack stands....

Understood however sometimes we need to state common sense out loud as there will be someone out there that will jack one up fully or possible overloaded with a higher potential for an incident.

The video where the truck received severe body damage because there was a partial load evenly distributed in the bed when they did the test was even more unsettling.

Here is one with Howie Long comparing loaded trucks (wait for the pop on the first pair tested):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKMQjm7i2Jw

[sub3marathonman]

I've always rotated the tires using two Prius jacks. It really isn't that much extra work to have the second one there, and I do them each several turns then do the other one. Also, it probably isn't necessary, but I always try to avoid opening any door or hatchback when any car is on jacks.

One benefit or rotating the tires myself is that I always get the little stones out from the treads, it always seemed to be unnecessary as other stones will just get right back, but I always did it anyway. This last time, on the outer edge, I noticed it was difficult to remove one, and as I worked a bit further I saw it was a small piece of metal in the tire. I got it out, but I think if it would have been left in it would have continued to be driven further and further into the tire as the tire wore down until it would have caused a leak and wrecked the tire, since it was on the outer portion that can't be repaired with a patch.

[PianoAl]

Sorry if this is obvious ...

You can rotate tires without having to jack up more than one at a time, as long as you have a spare. I've done this many times, and you only have to jack up and down five times instead of four.

[powagoat]

Is that not normal? On all my other cars I can lift the whole side by using a jack in front (3 ton jack) and then I put a jackstand under the rear jack point and lower it down so the car rests on both the jack and jackstand.

[DaveinOlyWA]

My Prius did the same thing but I don't think its a good idea. I always use two floor jacks when I rotate. I use the good one (pumps faster) on the front and the bad one (bought at garage sale for $5 came with no handle so use long ratchet extension) for the back. it takes all of maybe an extra 3 mins per side with two jacks over one....

[VitaminJ]

This ain't your Ford Fairlane gramps! It's a modern unibody car, it's way stiffer than that old iron. Use two jacks if it makes you feel better I guess

powagoat, you should use two jack-stands in that scenario. Don't trust the jack to hold up the car by itself, even if you're not working under it, it could fall and ruin your brake disc or something else.

[2011RedLeaf]

Useless Trivia: The old air-cooled VW beetles with all the weight in the back had only one jack point, Both wheels came off the ground, making chocking even more important. There was a square tube into which a rod from the side of the jack was inserted. The jack used the same type screw mechanism as a camping trailer.

[tesleaf]

All mini Cooper cars and miatae i have owned lift the whole side.
Short wheelbase and light curb weight.

[garsh]

I had thought powersurge discovered that his keyboard HAD A CAPS LOCK KEY.