How much lifting height does a jack need...

to allow full downward travel of my suspension? I have a baja, and it has a slight lift in the front and rear and bigger bfg tires. I want to rotate my tires and check for any play in the suspension. So I need to get a rough estimation of lifting height, before I go out to buy a jack.

Also one more question. Is it recommended to put one side of the truck (drivers side front and rear) on jack stand's while leaving the other side, passenger front and rear still on there tires? I want to rotate my tires front to back, and can only afford two jack stands at the moment.

Thanks abunch

 

The way I rotate my tires is with 2 jack stands lifting up both rear wheels and then I just jack up one of the front tires. Even though you have a lift and bigger tires (I also do) you don't need a higher than average jack. I'll tap into that below though.

I rotate mine by putting the back tires up to the front on their same sides and criss-crossing the fronts towards the back. This allows all of your tires to wear evenly because they'll be rotated around each of your 4 wheels as you continue to rotate them.

Basically:
Front right goes to the back left
Front left goes to the back right
Back right goes to the front right
Back left goes to the front left

As you continue to rotate your tires, they'll wear from every point of view on your truck rather than only on one side front and rear.

Back to the way I jack mine up: hand jack one of the rear tires and place your jack under what I believe is the rear drive shaft and lower the tire so it is just off the ground. Then do the same for the other rear wheel so that both rear wheels are on jack stands.

Next, jack up one of the front wheels by hand jacking on the frame just behind the tire and put that tire on the opposite sides rear if following how I do it or else the manual's version is straight back to the rear. Then put the same sides rear tire forward on the same side. Lower the jack on the front and do the other side by jacking it up and either putting that tire on the opposite sides rear or just straight back and move your last tire onto your remaining wheel.
Sorry if that's a bit confusing, ask any questions you have

Also:
1. Always start threading your lug nut by hand so you don't strip threads
2. Loosen lug nuts before lifting the tire off the ground
3. Tighten lug nuts before you lower the tires back down
4. Always torque to specs (I know for my 06 sport it's 85 foot pounds, probably the same but check your manual)
5. Just saying this in case you've never rotated tires, although I'm guessing you have
6. Be safe haha, make sure your jacks are on solid ground and on a good jacking point on the truck so it doesn't slip off. I know the fronts can be a little sketchy because of lifts and the angles associated. Good luck

 

Really appreciate the help. I've never rotated my tires before so your points are always welcomed. I would rather rotate them front to back though, because I have read that some people experienced an increase in tire noise after crisscrossing there tires. I think it has something to do with the treads biasing towards a certain rotation, and if you change that, it increases road noise. Don't know how true that is, but I feel more confident in that method.

Ya I was looking at some possible jacking points in the front, and there are allot of weird angles. I want to place the front on jack stands contacting the frame. Any ideas where to place them?

I'm gonna hold off lifting it in the air for a little while. I actually just received a pair of omega 6 ton jack stand and a blackhawk/banner jack, and the welds were good but the geometry was really off. And the jack wasnt in good shape either. So Ill be returning them and going to harbor freight or Costco for some jacks.

 

Fair enough, having them rotate between all 4 wheels just allows them to wear more evenly rather than just on one side of the vehicle. Not a huge deal, but allows your tires to last a little bit longer.

I'd guess probably put your jack stands behind the front tires on the frame, 1 on each side assuming you have 2. I do the opposite and put both of my jack stands under the rear driveshaft.

I think I may have confused you a bit haha, I don't lift my truck in the air, I use 2 jack stands and a hand jack. I think using the rear drive shaft is safer than the frame in the front, but just my opinion.

Basically if I were you I'd do this:
1. Lift the left rear tire off the ground with a hand turning jack and then place one of your jack stands under the left side of your rear driveshaft and lower the truck back down onto the jack stand so your left tire is off the ground about an inch.
2. Lift the right rear tire off the ground with your hand turning jack and then place your other jack stand under the right side of the rear driveshaft and then lower the truck back down onto that jack stand so your right tire is again about an inch off the ground.
3. Now, both of your rear tires should be just off the ground (about an inch, enough so you can remove the tire but not so much as you have to lift the tire really high and struggle with lining up your lug nuts). Basically, you should have both jack stands lifting the rear tires off the ground.
4. Now, lift the front right tire off the ground about an inch by placing your jack on the frame behind the tire, make sure it's in a solid, SAFE position, give it a couple shakes before you begin using a hand turning jack to lift the tire up in case it isn't on a safe spot (patience=safety).
5. Remove the front right tire and rear right tire and switch there positions. Tighten up your lug nuts on them as much as you can but don't be too rough (your truck is only on jack stands). Then lower the front right down.
6. Raise the left right tire up now the same way as for the right.
7. Switch your left front and rear tires and tighten up the lug nuts again.
8. Lower your front left tire down.
9. Raise the left rear tire up so you can remove the jack stand and then lower the tire back down.
10. Raise the right rear tire up so you can remove the jack stand and the lower the tire back down.
11. Torque all of your lug nuts to OEM specs (probably 85 foot pounds but check your manual).
12. Torque all of your lug nuts again in about a week just to be safe.

Again, ask any other questions you have, it's not complicated once you understand what you're doing and get your hands dirty haha. Practice too.

Here are some pictures of what I use:

Hand turning jack: This is what mine looks like, it's just the jack that comes with your truck.


Jack stands:

 

If you don't have directional tires it will be better to rotate them like millertime said. You'll get better life out of your tires. When rotating it's common to have some noise because the tires have started to wear uneven. Especially if they are a more aggressive tire. They need time/mileage to wear in.

 

That picture isn't a Tacoma drive train and a Tacoma doesn't have front drive shafts, it has CV axles. You absolutely shouldn't be lifting the front of the truck using the CV axles because they aren't designed to support the weight of your truck. Proper location for lifting is on the frame just behind the front wheel. Jacking instructions are included in the owner's manual. If your jack isn't tall enough, put a block of wood on it but ensure the jack is directly under the frame.

 

Yea, sorry, lift it there. Only 18, still learning everything about vehicles haha and sometimes don't realize what I'm saying as I ramble on about what I do know. Unfortunately, what I was trying to say is that I've lifted my front tires via the cv axles, which now I know was wrong. Fixed the sh** info, sorry about that and thanks Sparky, always appreciate learning more myself.

 

That picture is all kinds of wrong, this is how people get hurt and wreck things by bad info!

The proper way to jack up your truck with a hydraulic floor jack is to put the jack under the center of the rear axle housing (the round part) and lift the rear tires off the ground, now put a jack stand under the housing just inside the lower shock mounts on both sides so when resting on the stands the rear tires are just off the ground, now moving to the front you'll find a hole in the skid plate between the tires thats about 3 or 4 in in dia. thats where the jack goes to jack the front up (if you look into the hole you'll see a u-shaped piece of frame that the jack foot will hit) when jacking the front up it probally won't raise even (mine never has) but you'll be able to get the front tires off the ground. Rotate how ever you want.

 

If you go buy a good service jack then you can't hurt yourself jacking up the truck because you are never under the truck at any point. It's pretty easy to push the stands under too so you are safe, and remember to cross chock the truck at your first lifting point. If you decide to go under the truck to set the stands, a good service jack set properly will be more stable than the bottle jack pictured earlier.

You can hurt the truck of course if you jack on something that can't support the weight.

A good service jack, or floor jack, is the first thing anyone should buy before working underneath a vehicle along with good jack stands of course. Buy 3 ton stands and a 3 ton jack, a 2 ton rated jack or stands is pushing it with a Tacoma or any other truck. You can hurt the truck of course if you jack on something that can't support the weight.

For jacking points the owners manual is ALWAYS right. That's where Toyota wants you to lift from, so lift from there.

 

I guess I just did not know JACK !

 

Correct. This is front lifting point of the truck. Sticks out from the skid plate.

 

I only ever rotate my tires front to rear (I never criss cross them). I've never had any problems with tire wear. I rotate every 5K miles and my tires (for instance, Dueler Revo's) only ever last about 5 years anyway.

I lift the entire rear end of the truck so both wheels are off the ground (craftsman hydraulic jack under diff). I put jackstands under each wheel under the spring perches/plates. I don't have a lift, so I use short jackstands at the rear. I have tall ones, but they're too big for my truck in the rear. Tires are only ever 1" off the ground at any given time.

I take the hydraulic jack to the front (one side at a time) and jack under the frame behind the front wheel at crossmember (frame is beefiest here). I put a tall jackstand under the frame 'as emergency' but generally....I leave the hydraulic jack in place the entire time. Rotate the tires.... lower front end. Then, do the same with the other side. Torquing my wheels to 100ft lbs, etc.

Pretty simple.... Since you have a lift...You might only need the taller/bigger jackstands. Buy ONE set of jackstands (taller set) because you'll need them anyway. Then...you can run a test fit and see if they'll work on the rear.

Oh yea...always use a wheel chock under the ONE tire that's on the ground (opposite front).

 

I don't have directional tire's, but correct me if i'm wrong. I would have to have 4 wheels off the ground to rotate them this way right?

Btw I don't have a garage I can work in. I hope autozone lets me lift my truck in the air in there parking lot lol.

Thanks for the info guys and the pic! That really helps. I'll probably spend a little more and get another pair of stands so ill have 4 of them, and lift the whole thing up in the air.

 

I know this may sound like a stupid question, but just to clarify, when you say spring perch plate, do you mean right underneath the plate which holds the leaf springs together? Is it also safe to put the stands on the diff/axle tube themselves? Thanks

 

Sears has deals for craftsman 3 ton floor jack and 2 jack stands for $99 which is what I did. Do yourself a favor and get a floor jack and some jack stands. You can use a block of wood to add height to your floor jack (common practice). The 3 ton jackstands are a bit short but I think they will work fine for your baja. I finally upgraded to 12 ton jack stands (they're massive) but Im longtravel so I need the added height.

You cant miss the front jacking point on the truck, its behind your bumper and sticks out like a little hump.

 

There are never any stupid questions. Yes...underneath the plate that holds the spring perches. Depending on the jackstands that you have - they may or may not fit in there.

I jack the rear end up from under the diff (right around where the drain is). That's probably the strongest part of the diff.

I would avoid jacking underneath or putting jackstands underneath the axle tubes. If you have to do it...do it at the farthest most spot (nearest the wheels). The problems here is....although, I think the Toy axles are strong enough... that you could 'bend' the tubes. They're not meant to support the entire weight of the vehicle.

 

You can do the 'poor man's rotation". Drop the spare tire. Jack up any wheel you want, remove wheel and replace with spare. Drop truck. Go to corner you want to rotate that tire to. Jack it up, remove tire, install new tire. Drop truck. Repeat until you eventually return around to the spare. jack it up, replace it, and replace it on the cable lift.

You only need one jack, no jack stand, but you do jack the truck up 5 times, rather than twice (once on differential, once on front cross member). As a young college kid, and for a few years after, that's how I rotated 'em. If you use the factory jack, you will get a pretty good arm workout screwing that thing up and down. But it works.

For non-directional, I have always used the half-X rotation pattern. RF -> LR -> LF -> RR -> RF. If you do that consistently, after 4 times every tire will have been on every corner.

Be careful when jacking if you are not on a level surface, of course. Floor jack makes this much easier, just loosen front lugs before jacking or your will need a helper.

 

Make CERTAIN you watch what you are doing. My neighbor jacked his truck (not a Toyota) last year, put it on jack stands and put the stands right under the shock mounts. Turns out the gap between the two sides of the shock mount was about 1" or so wide. The top of his jack stand was about 1.1" or so. Wedged them in so tight it took the two of us an hour of prying and banging to get those jack stands out. When you lower the truck, there is a LOT of weight. The rear axle housing and differential is amazingly strong. But the housings in the middle can bend. I go as far outboard as I can, since they are already beefed up there to handle the spring mounts and shocks.

He said "I thought it looked like a good place." I replied "you thought wrong."

 

If you are wanting to put Jackstand under the frame... consider getting bigger ones; like a 6 or 12 ton. Typically they have a wider base and increased height.

Here is an example:

$99 Sunex 1006A 6-Ton Jack Stand Pair

http://www.amazon.com/Sunex-1006-6-Ton-Jack-Stand/dp/B002XMW984

 

Jack stands on the rear axle and floor jack on the front lift point. Actually the floor jack is on my Pelfreybilt IFS skid in the vicinity of the lift point.