? about some tools for 15K service

[klenger]

I'm comming up on 15K and plan to change out the oil, oil filter, transmission fluid, xfer case fluid, fuel filter, and rotate the tires.



1) I have all the disposables with the exception of some greese for the front end. I can't seem to find any specs in the owner's manual about what greese to use. Does it make any difference or are they all pretty much the same.



2) I am also considering getting a floor jack and stands to do the tire rotation. I kind of like the idea of a light weight aluminum jack. Sears has a 4000 lb jack on sale for $180. It sure looks pretty. Question is, is a 4000 lb jack OK for occasional use, mostly rotating the tires? I do not plan any regular heavy use for the jack. Sears also has a 3000 model for $120. It can be seen at http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00950240000 For some reason, they don't have the 4K model on their website.



Thanks for the help.

 

[Grunt]

I don't have the specs for the grease but it calls for synthetic (I used Texaco)



As for floor jacks, I would suggest getting at least a 3 1/2 ton floor jack

 

[macdaddy]

Any local tire and wheel dealer should rotate them and repair flats for free, with the agreement that you'll be back for tire purchases ETC.



I always balance the fronts when I rotate.

Mac

 

[JohnnyH]

Ken... . I have a crafstman 3 ton/ 6000 lb extra high lift sport utility floor jack. It has no problem lifting the entire rear, under the diff. The front I do one side at a time, under the axle. I wouldnt want to do the front with a smaller jack than I have now. It handles it, but not by much.



John

 

[klenger]

Thanks for the comments.



I am also interested in your thoughts as to what is the best pattern for 4 wheel tire rotation. According to the owner's manual, the recommend pattern is to criss-corss the tires side to side. I think that Discount Tire has been doing mine front to back only, but I'm not sure. The reason I am considering rotating them myself is to avoid the 1-1/2 hour wait at Discount Tire to get the work done, but if the recommended pattern is to criss-corss, then it may be worth having them do it as I would have to jack up all four wheels at the same time to do it myself.



About the floor jack: Am I foolish to believe that you should be able to use the jack up to it's rated capacity? The front axle on my truck is about 4500 lbs. I would think that a 4000 lb jack could raise one wheel at a time. I realize that one would not want to use a floor jack up to it rated capacity every day, but would it really hurt to use it up to 60% of it's capacity twice / year? My issue is not with the cost of a heavier jack as I can buy a higher capacity steel jack for less money than the one I am looking at, but I don't what to store a big heavy jack for such low usage. I am also considering using a bottle jack that I already have, but would prefer the convenience of a floor jack. Regardless of what jack I use, I will use jack stands under each wheel when working on it.



Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[DHess]

Ken,



Can't remember if my floor jack is a 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 ton but I have been using it for years with no problems. When rotating the tires I jack the rear and use jack stands, remove the tires, then jack one front side, change the tires, lower, and then do the other front. As far as rotating pattern, I move the rears straight to the front and cross the fronts going to the rear.



Dave

 

[JohnnyH]

Ken, Here is how I do my rotations using 1 jack and 2 jackstands.



First I jack up the rear, support the axle using 2 jackstands and remove the jack. Remove both rear tires and just roll them to the front of the truck. That is where they are going to go. Ex Left Rear goes to Left Front/ Right Rear goes to Right Front.



Next jack up the left front, remove tire and roll it to the right rear. This is where the criss cross comes in. Put the left tire on ( Previous left rear) and lower the left front.



Do the same on the right front, putting that tire to the left rear.



Put both rears back on. Jack up the rear one more time, remove the stands and you are done.



The whole job takes me about 40 minutes, and that is without air tools. I also put a little never seize on the wheel studs and wheel mating surface.

 

[rbattelle]

Klenger, I'm surprised at you not rotating your own tires! Shame on you!



I rotate every 6k with the same pattern others' have reported (the crossing pattern) except that I work my spare tire into the pattern (I put it on the RF and the RR becomes the new spare). I don't currently own a floor jack, because I can't decide on which one to get. I really want a 5-ton long-reach jack, but they are spendy!



The service manual says nothing at all about synthetic grease... not sure about the owners manual. Service manual says use NLGI (National Lubricating Grease Institute) GC rated grease for the chassis and LB rated for wheel bearings. I bought a tube of Mobil 1 synthetic that has an NLGI rating of "GC-LB", meaning it's rated for both applications. I squeeze in enough grease to ooze out of the seals on the outer tie rod ends, which is usually much less than 1 pump on my gun. I lube them every 6000 miles.



Klenger, do you have a copy of Machinery's Handbook? If not, you need to get one right away... you'd love it. For those that have one, check out the discussion about grease. Fascinating.



On edit: Here's a link to the grease I'm currently using. I'm not saying this is such a wonderful grease, it's just what I happened to pick up at the store. It seems no better or worse than the other greases I've used in the past.



-Ryan

 

[RJOL]

Klenger... I "second" the idea of working the spare in. It will increase your tire mileage, and you might as well use it. Also... If you have a Harbor Freight outlet in AZ, you can buy a 3 ton jack for under $90. Here is the site:



http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=34271



These aren't the highest quality jacks out there (made in China) but they work great for home use. I use to have a 2 ton jack, and I couldn't lift the front end of my 2001. I could lift one side at a time. The back axle was no problem... Have fun...

 

[EEdmondson]

I have a 3 1/2 ton floor jack I bought at Kragens for less than $100 on sale. Will it lift 3 1/2 tons? I doubt it, but it works for occasional use in my garage. I think it's what you're looking for.



DHess and JohnnyH, I'm going to use your method the next time I rotate my tires.

 

[JohnnyH]

I would consider rotating the spare in, but it would look funny running 3 chrome and 1 black wheel.

 

[RJOL]

I would consider rotating the spare in, but it would look funny running 3 chrome and 1 black wheel.

Yes... But if he takes it into the tire dealer (read his second post), I think they could overcome this enormous problem... :-laf

 

[LightmanE300]

JMHO but I think it's crazy to try to use a little 3000-4000lb jack . I don't think with a safety related item like a jack you want to be using it to it's full 100% capacity. They do occasionally fail/blow out, and I think the likelihood of that happenening when a jack is STRESSED by being required to lift it's full capacity, you're asking for trouble. Better safe than sorry when jacks are so inexpensive. I got my 3. 5ton jack from sears for like $70 with stands. .

 

[Tim]

A jack is only made to life the truck, not support weight. As long as you use jack stands after lifting your truck, a 3,000 lb one is fine.



I've had a 3,000 lb floor jack forever. It's older than I am, a craftsman that was purchased circa 1975. It works fine and I have three 1 ton trucks.



Dunno why you'd need anything more than that.

 

[RJOL]

A jack is only made to life the truck, not support weight. As long as you use jack stands after lifting your truck, a 3,000 lb one is fine.



I've had a 3,000 lb floor jack forever. It's older than I am, a craftsman that was purchased circa 1975. It works fine and I have three 1 ton trucks.



Dunno why you'd need anything more than that.

The front end of these trucks weight in at over 4500lbs. If your able to lift it with a 3000lb jack, I guess you have one super jack. If you just want to lift one front wheel off the ground to change it, then a 3000lb jack should do the trick, but I seriously doubt you are lifting the entire front end off the ground with that jack...

 

[opjohnny]

You don't want to lift the front by the pumkin. Lift one side at a time. The rear is borderline ok, better not at all. Was not designed to be lifted by the pumkin(center section). I lift my 2900 lb Mustang by the 8. 8 center section but the truck is too heavy to take a chance. I probably should not do the Mustang that way.

 

[JohnnyH]

You don't want to lift the front by the pumkin. Lift one side at a time. The rear is borderline ok, better not at all. Was not designed to be lifted by the pumkin(center section). I lift my 2900 lb Mustang by the 8. 8 center section but the truck is too heavy to take a chance. I probably should not do the Mustang that way.

Yeah, I could see something breaking on the front if you tried that. Then again it is not centered in the front anyway, so it becomes foolproof. I dont think the rear is too heavy to lift that way, but you bring up a good point.

 

[EEdmondson]

I got my 3. 5ton jack from sears for like $70 with stands. .

Just because a jack says "3. 5 tons" on it, doesn't mean it will safely lift that amount. I used to have a commercial 1. 5 ton jack that was stronger than my cheap (but adequate) 3. 5 ton jack.

 

[rbattelle]

The rear is borderline ok, better not at all. Was not designed to be lifted by the pumkin(center section).

Although I agree with not lifting the front by the pumpkin, I respectfully disagree about not lifting the rear by the pumpkin. I believe it's perfectly safe to do so, and that's why AAM provided a jacking pad on it.



-Ryan

 

[klenger]

Thanks for the feedback. Keep it comming. I do not plan to lift more than one wheel at a time, and I do plan to use jack stands to support it. I guess that means I would need 4 jack stands to do a criss-cross rotation, but they are cheap compared to the floor jack. I know I can get a fairly heavy duty jack for less than the aluminum 4K one I am looking at, but I would really rather own the lighter jack. Using a 4K jack to lift one front wheel at a time would only be excerizing the jack at 60% of it's capacity.