Questions On Jacks & Jack Stands

I have a 2007 Aveo5 SVM. I am almost at 6,000 miles and would like to rotate the tires. I am thinking that I should get a hydraulic jack and four jack stands. My questions are:

1) Where/what do I put the hydraualic jack under when raising each wheel (front and back)?

2) Page 340 of my owner's manual says: "Locate the notch in the frame near each wheel which the jack head fits in. Position the jack and raise the jack head until it fits firmly into the notch in the vehicle's frame nearest the flat tire." My guess is that aftermarket jack stands won't fit exactly into the notch the manual is referring to. Where should I place the jack stands by each wheel after I have jacked the wheel up with the hydraulic jack?

Please be as detailed as possible so I get it right. Photos would be great.

Thanks,

Steve

Since its a new 2007 why kill yourself to rotate the tires. Have the dealer do this for you at the next oil change. It will run about 20 bucks. Well worth it.

Since its a new 2007 why kill yourself to rotate the tires. Have the dealer do this for you at the next oil change. It will run about 20 bucks. Well worth it.

Because I want to do it myself. Eventually I want to replace the brake pads and do other work on the cars so I will need to get it up on jack stands. Do you know the answers to my questions?

I use jackstands that have a curve in the center. It's not quite deep enough so my tabs are slightly crushed. I only did that after 50k miles. Not sure I would have done that at 6k. Years ago I had jackstands with a cutout for the tab, it was an actual slit. Not sure what happened to them and have not been able to find any since.

What you need to do is get yourself a 3ton floor jack (around $60) and a pair of 3ton jack stands with deep curves (around $16). Then follow the following steps.
1. Engage the emergency brakes. Push the emergency brakes lever always down.
2. Locate the midpoint of the engine support bar underneath the engine, place the jack at that point and jack the front end of the car up.
3. When both front wheels are off the ground, locate the two notches on the side frames near the front wheels and put the jack stands there (one on each side). Make sure that the jack stand curves are in between the notches so that they won't bend or crush the car's frame at those points.
4. Slowly lower your car until the front end of the car is completely resting on the jack stands. Make sure that the car is securely resting on the stands one more time and release the jack.
5. Locate the support steel bar that supports the rear end of the car and use the floor jack to jack up either side of the car. If you want to rotate the left side first then place the floor jack near the left rear wheel and jack it up. Do it one side at a time. Once a rear wheel is up you can unbolt the lugnuts and do the rotation. Once you've done rotating one side, slowly lower the rear end of the car and repeat this step on the other side.
6. Once both sides of the car are rotated, take the floor jack to the front end, find the midpoint of the front end support bar, place the jack at that point, jack the front end up until the front end is above the jack stands, take the jack stand out and slowly release the floor jack to bring the front end down.
7. Release the emergency brakes and you're done.

1. Engage the emergency brakes. Push the emergency brakes lever always down.

Actually it is safer to let the car roll to the jack (meaning parking brake NOT on). The jack has enormously high rolling resistance, which means the saddle tends to slip much easier than if the wheels of the car roll towards the jack.


Depending on the condition of your pinch welds, you may be able to jack it up from the side, making the whole job much easier and faster. If they're the same thickness in the middle as at the notch for the factory jack, I'd give it a shot. On my Beretta, lifting at about the front of the drivers seat lifts the front and rear wheel equally.

I wouldn't tell you not to use jack stands, but I also wouldn't tell you that I use them unless any part of me is under the car :wink:.

Also, remember to loosen the lug nuts about 1 turn before you raise the wheel off the ground.