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Ray B

Ray B

Active Member
I have been swapping winter tires (mounted) every April/November but my hydraulic jack died when working on the last wheel in November.

I am looking at replacements and most say to only use to lift up the car and use Jack stands (which I have). I haven't been doing that until now, but figure that is a wise thing to do. Is there a preferred spot to place the jack stand while the car is hoisted up by a jack by the jacking spot?

I noticed one jack brand (Powerbuilt by Alltrade Tools) on Amazon includes a safety bar that supposedly eliminates the need for jack stands. However, the reviews are bad (early failures, no warranty support, plus there is no gentle let down - it drops the car).

Curious if anyone uses jack stands (and how) or can recommend a good hydraulic jack.
 
Funny, I just bought a jack. Wanted a to
light one, because all I use it for is to change tires. Worked hard to get one with good reviews that was mostly aluminum and not rated for a gigantic weight,so not too heavy.

Going to return it. Still too heavy and awkward. Going to keep using my one from AutoZone.

I understand this wasn’t your question, but just another viewpoint: I would never, ever put any part of my body under the car without jackstands. But for changing tires, I’m comfortable putting the jack up using the jackstand point, changing the tire out, and lowering it. It’s only about two minutes extra Jack time. I think I’d be more likely to lose my hand if the jack collapsed while I was messing around lining up the jackstands than with this approach.

Curious what others do. Again, zero interest in being under or reaching under the car without jackstands-but changing a tire doesn’t involve any such thing.




Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
I’m not really a fan of the logic that I’m about to use, but, we’ve been jacking up cars on the side of the road with some pretty rickety jacks for the last 100 or so years, mostly without incident. A block of wood could serve the same purpose as a jack stand, a redundant safety, while changing a tire.

This isn’t advice, just a personal choice, I’m comfortable changing a tire with nothing more than a hydraulic jack to lift the car.
 
I have not personally tried it so I can't speak from experience, but you are supposed to be able to do this:

In addition to the four normal jack-points, there are also lifting points that are centered at both the rear and the front of the car.
Theoretically you can lift the entire rear and place stands at the two rear jack points. Likewise with the front, but I think the front lift point is significantly harder to reach (need a low profile floor jack and the lift point is well back from the front of the vehicle).

When lifting the entire rear (or front), your jack is supporting roughly half of the vehicle weight (>2K lbs).

This procedure is described (and these lift points depicted) in the attached Honda document, under the "Floor Jack" section...
Has anyone actually done this?
 

Attachments

Or, instead of a new jack, buy a lift ! I just rotated my tires earlier today.
With a 4-post lift, I can raise the car, set up 4 jack stands with 4 x 4 beams, then lower the car onto this arrangement to gain access to all 4 wheels at the same time. Of course a 2-post lift is more straightforward, but you can't use what you don't have !

upload_2021-4-7_16-25-52.webp

upload_2021-4-7_16-26-48.webp

upload_2021-4-7_16-30-5.webp
 
I have used the front and rear center lift points for a couple of tire swaps. For the front I drive up onto 2x8’s that I cut to length of say 24”,and then another length of 12” that I put on top of those in the center. So they are like little ramps to lift the front end up 4” (3” actual) so I can slide my jack under the car now to use the front center jack point.

But all that takes too much time now so I’ve been jacking up one wheel and swapping them out quickly Nascar style. :)
 
Dr. Kris said:
I also swap summer and winter tires every year but have never used jack stands for it, I guess I don't understand the logic behind it. A descent roller jack is more than adequate and can be had for ~$100. This is the one I have, works great:

3 ton Low Profile Professional Rapid Pump® Floor Jack, Orange (harborfreight.com)
Click to expand...

I agree that any jack alone should be sufficient for changing tires as long as you're extremely careful not to put any part of your body under the drop zone. But for those of us who don't "get" to swap tires twice a year, rotating tires without a spare to put on means figuring out how to hold up at least 2 points at a time, which I wouldn't do with jacks. Using the center jack points to put 4 jack stands in place might take more time, but there's then one fewer tire change to do in the recommended front->back, back->front crossed pattern.

Of course, now that I look it up it seems the bolt pattern of my 2007 Civic is the same, so using that car's spare tire temporarily might work; not to drive on, just to hold up the car while changing the rest.
 
My garage has a flat concrete floor. I lift one side of the car at a time to rotate my tires from front to back. I have a "high" lift big heavy floor jack that does most of the lifting at the front lift point. I use a small bottle jack to get the back tire off the floor. I do have a pair of jack stands, but I don't use them as I am never under the car.

On uneven surfaces or whenever any part of your body is in the drop zone, definitely use jack stands or car ramps. I use a pair of heavy homebuilt wood car ramps, whenever I change the oil and filter.
 
I rotate my Clarity's tires (cross to the front as in the manual) by:

1.) Jack the back of the car off the ground on the rear lift hoop, then use jack stands under the two rear side jack points.

2.) Swap the rear tires left to right.

3.) Remove the jack stands and lower the car to the ground.

4.) Jack the left side using the left front side jack point and place a jack stand under the left rear side jack point.

5.) Swap the back and front left side tires.

6.) Remove the jack stand and lower the car to the ground.

7.) Repeat 4.) through 6.) for the right side.

I have changed the oil (three times) by driving the front wheels up a pair of Rhino 8" lift ramps (from Menards). The Clarity is too low to get my floor jack under the front center lift point. However, if I ever need to lift the front without the ramps, I will just drive the front wheels onto a couple of stacked 2x8's pairs (or even the ramps) to be able to get the floor jack under the front lift point. Then I will use jack stands under the two front side jack points. If I ever want all four wheels off the ground at the same time, I could do the same for the rear after jacking up the front. I have done this for my Volvo S80 which weighs just four hundred pounds less than the Clarity.

LeoP
 
Ray B said:
I have been swapping winter tires (mounted) every April/November but my hydraulic jack died when working on the last wheel in November.

I am looking at replacements and most say to only use to lift up the car and use Jack stands (which I have). I haven't been doing that until now, but figure that is a wise thing to do. Is there a preferred spot to place the jack stand while the car is hoisted up by a jack by the jacking spot?

I noticed one jack brand (Powerbuilt by Alltrade Tools) on Amazon includes a safety bar that supposedly eliminates the need for jack stands. However, the reviews are bad (early failures, no warranty support, plus there is no gentle let down - it drops the car).

Curious if anyone uses jack stands (and how) or can recommend a good hydraulic jack.
Click to expand...
I have not used a jack or stands on my Clarity yet. I’ve only owned the car for a few months. But, in general, you can jack a car up using a floor jack placed under the arm of the wheel and then place the jack stand under the recommended jack point. For simply removing a wheel I don’t necessarily use a jack stand. A floor jack is sufficient as long as you work on the car as if it will imminently fail. In other words, keep your hands, feet, head out of places where they would be crushed if the jack failed suddenly. **Always** use jack stand(s) if you plan on getting underneath the car.
 
leop said:
I, myself, would not jack up our Clarity with a floor jack under the lower suspension arms. The Clarity suspension arms are made from aluminum.

LeoP
Click to expand...
So you’re saying that a suspension arm that supports the weight of the car is not able to support the weight of the car? Think about it. Your tires are made of rubber which is way softer than aluminum and yet they suppport the weight of the car.
 
PHEVDave said:
So you’re saying that a suspension arm that supports the weight of the car is not able to support the weight of the car? Think about it. Your tires are made of rubber which is way softer than aluminum and yet they suppport the weight of the car.
Click to expand...
Perhaps the ribs and channels designed to lighten the suspension inboard of the wheels may not offer surfaces that will support the Clarity as well as the ends to which the wheels attach.
 
In absolutely no way do either the front and lower suspension arms for the Honda Clarity PHEV provide any support of the weight of the vehicle. These arms support loads (forces) that are, for the most part, solely in a plane parallel to the ground. The weight of the vehicle (a force) goes through the springs directly to the hubs then through the hubs to the wheels and tires to the ground. The front suspension is a McPherson strut type while the rear suspension is a neat five link type described elsewhere in this forum:

https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...link-rear-suspension-of-a-honda-clarity.7320/

Furthermore, a jack cannot get to the hubs (or suspension arm outer ends) on a Clarity PHEV because those hub points are well inside the wheels.

Finally, the rubber sidewalls of the Clarity, especially the very thin sidewalls on the standard low rolling resistance tires, provide just about no support for the weight of the car. Just about all of the support is provided by the air (at a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure) in the tires.

LeoP
 
insightman said:
Perhaps the ribs and channels designed to lighten the suspension inboard of the wheels may not offer surfaces that will support the Clarity as well as the ends to which the wheels attach.
Click to expand...
Usually if I jack a car at the suspension arm I am usually placing the jack very nearly under one end of the arm or the other where it attaches either to the wheel hub or the sub frame. I’ve never noticed any damage to the suspension arm on any of the cars that I own. But, as I mentioned in the previous post, I have not yet had the opportunity to put the Clarity up on jack stands so maybe I’ll find that the suspension arms are weak and feeble. Probably not, but maybe.
 
Quite a whole back, somebody posted a LOT of photos of the undercarriage of a Clarity.
You can see from these views why the rear suspension parts are probably not a good place to be jacking...
They are odd shapes at odd angles, and the ends are too close to the wheels to position a jack properly.

Here are some rear views (Note the center lift point at the top of the 1st photo.. Pretty convenient):

upload_2021-4-10_19-1-20.webp

upload_2021-4-10_19-2-19.webp

upload_2021-4-10_19-2-50.webp

upload_2021-4-10_19-3-12.webp


And here is a view of the front. Again, the suspension parts - not so good for jacking.
The central lift point is forward of the Catalytic Converter and Aft of the oil-change cover:

upload_2021-4-10_19-4-0.webp
 
The Honda Predelivery inspection service bulletin is quite specific about the allowable jacking points (the two central points MrFixit describes above and the four side lift points (as described in the owner's manual and in MrFixit's post above):

"Get familiar with the jacking and lift points shown below. Use of any other points can cause deformation/damage."

LeoP
 
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