I get my tires rotated at the dealer. Should I mention to them to make certain they clean the drum and the inside of the wheel or with that just make them mad? I always have to push my brakes hard to stop, more than I think should be normal. I was wondering on my drive home today if they could be adjusted to give more braking power with less pressure. But, at least I haven't felt any shuttering.

 

Frankly, Goose, I've done it both ways. But I "lean" toward using the spare for the first install (usually the driver front), then work my way back and x-cross. removing the spare and installing the last "street" tire.

It takes more time and is a little more work. But it's my preference....can't tell you why, specifically.

 

I've only done one tire rotation myself so far but am due for another soon.

The problem I have is that the pavement in our carport has sunken down over the years where the wheels are.
That area also happens to be very near where the jack stands would sit so they would make contact with the subframe assembly.

I haven't figured out yet if I can get the car jacked up safely to get it completely on jack stands.

 

What type of attachment is on the drill? Is it a cloth polisher?

 

I use the scissor jack along with a floor jack. My driving doesn't seem to warrant the "X" rotation. My tires seem to just wear evenly for the most part. So I just swap the front to back. After the second rotation, I jack up the rear and swap those. That way they get a slow "X".........

I don't so a lot of "in town" driving btw. I know you are msotly highway also, so your results may be the same. But only you can see what your tires are doing.

 

It's a type of "plastic" material with imbedded grit. After several uses, I just throw it away because it's from the "el Cheapo" store.....Harbor Freight (around $2.50 US).

There is also wire wheels of the same configuration. They tend to be a little more aggressive.

Also I believe, 3M makes a plastic grit product. But I haven't located one that fits the shape of the item in the picture. It easily cleans the "hard to get areas" because of its flexibility.

 

OK, thanks.

We have a Harbor Freight equivalent up here...Princess Auto.
I have to go there for something else, so I'll look for one of those as well. Got a rotation coming up soon.

 

Black Rose, you mentioned a floor jack pad adapter. Did you get that at a auto parts store or where? Didn't realize they made them. I made one from a heavy block or wood with a "T" groove cut in it to fit the channel on the car and then put in a heavy strip of metal at the base of the groove to prevent the weight of the car from splitting it. I'm sure others that use floor jacks would also like to know where to get an adapter so not to damage that pinch point on the car.

 

Hello all. This is my first post here. Been reading here since earlier this year when we bought an '07 Premier Edition.

Anyway, I was going to mention I think allot of the corrosion on the hub is being caused by dissimillar metals. Corrosion will form between the aluminum wheel and the steel or iron hub.

If you don't believe it try putting aluminum caps on your valve stems. In a short time they will not come off without pliers. Then you'll end up twisting the end of the valve stem off and have a flat. Trust me I know from experience.

Also, this is why wheel weights for aluminum wheels are coated. If they are not coated, the wheel will begin to corrode around the lead weight and quickly become pitted and ruin the finish. This also happened to me one time when a dealer balanced my tires without coated weights. They ended up replacing my rims. A very expensive mistake.

 

I was searching the net one day, looking for info on how to best use a floor jack to lift a unibody vehicle and not damage the lift point, when I found it.

I got mine from Eastwood. It is kind of expensive, but it is certainly a specialilzed piece of hardware.

Here's the link: http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?i...emType=PRODUCT

It's actually made by GRIP (Grand Rapids Industrial Products) - part number 44577. It's made of 1/8" thick steel, 5 inches long, 2 inches wide.