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[noxredna]

Curious.. Do you buy one of those heavy duty car jacks?

[Bimmer Nerd]

its not really that bad to change tires, or wheels, just buy 4 of those heavy duty racks for extra safety (2 is enough) and then just unscew/screw the bolts and your done, takes max of 30 min.

[schnell325]

I have for years changed over summers to winters and back again. A good, low profile jack and stands along with an air compressor and air gun....perfect every time.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by noxredna

Curious.. Do you buy one of those heavy duty car jacks?

Yeah, been doing it for years. I've got an old Walker US-made 1 1/2T floor jack (few US-made any more). You can pick up one side using one position. Need a pair of jack stands for safety, as well as breaker bar, lug socket, tire wrench and torque wrench.

[tooshay]

where do you put the jack stand? i have trouble finding a place to put the jack stand? if you got a picture of where you put it, it would really help. thanks

[MDCTFTW]

Only women can't change a wheel.

[SV Concepts III]

I definitely recommending spending the money on a sturdy floor jack. Kragen sells a nice aluminum racing jack that is lightweight and stories in a small area as well.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by tooshay

where do you put the jack stand? i have trouble finding a place to put the jack stand? if you got a picture of where you put it, it would really help. thanks

You can put them almost anywhere if you leave the car weight supported by the jack and just have them as safety measures. I typically put them near the pivot point of there the suspension arms connect to the body, as that is a reinforced area.

[UltimateBMW]

I would love to change my own wheels at home. I have 2 concerns though.

First is, I was under the impression that you could alter the alignment when changing tires. confrim/deny?

Second, I have a paranoia about tightening a lugnut too much or too little resulting in a failure possibly worse. Anyone have a solution for this that wouldn't require me to go out and buy a air compressor and air gun just to change the wheels on one car?

[Radiation Joe]

Concern 1 is false unless you put some kind of freaky wheels with significantly (20mm) different offset.

Concern 2 is simply solved by using a torque wrench. The bolts are not fastened particularly tight.

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

Concern 1 is false unless you put some kind of freaky wheels with significantly (20mm) different offset.

Concern 2 is simply solved by using a torque wrench. The bolts are not fastened particularly tight.

+1. Lug torque is about 90 ft. lb. You don't use an air wrench for anything but speed (or breaking loose frozen fasteners), which is not necesssary at home. Get a good crossbar metric lug wrench and torque wrench, along with a breaker bar and nylon-sleeved 19 mm socket. I buy tools with the philosophy that they'll last my lifetime so always get the best. You can get torque wrenches for $30-250 +/-. Extreme precision is not necessary with wheels, but may be more critical if you ever fo engine work. I still have Snap-On sockets and wrenches I bought 40 years ago in college that I have never had a single failure with.