Rotating Tires is Not That Easy

I got a new jack and jack stand set from Sears that was on sale for a total of $42.79. Using Sears.com and the 5-minute in-store pickup worked out well. It was perfect because my car weighs about 4200-4300 lbs, which is just a little too much for a 2-ton rated jack set. 3-ton sets are more costly, but I found a Craftsman set on sale at Sears and it was 2-1/4 tons. Perfect. I also bought two wheel chocks made by Buyers Products Company (5"x6"x5" Part No. WC1467A $8.87 each) from Walmart and a 21mm 12 point 3/8" drive socket from Sears (Part No. 50677). After inspecting each tire and having a plan to rotate the tires, I brought all my tools outside only to find that I couldn't get any lug nuts off because they were too tight. The tool that came with the car seemed to bend and couldn't loosen the lug nuts, so I tried my torque wrench with the new 21mm socket. The torque wrench felt like it was going to break. Since the 21mm socket cost $8.02 from Sears and wasn't 6 points, I returned it. Another problem with the socket was that it was a deep socket, but the wrench barely cleared the side of the tire and wheel. Therefore, if I somehow cracked the lug nut open, my knuckles probably would have paid the price. Using a socket extension was even more flimsy and felt like it was going to break.

The cross-shaped tire iron I saw at Walmart was about $8 and it will probably work better so that is my plan to rotate tires. The 21mm socket would work well, but a breaker bar that has some clearance from the wheels and tires would probably be necessary. At least, I learned the exact size of the lug nuts. I had to change the 22mm socket for a 21mm socket initially.

One last thing I bought was a set of Gas Saver Low Air Pressure Indicating Tire Valve Caps (TH0401) made by Legacy Manufacturing Company for $4.87 at Walmart. I decided to try these out and so far they seem pretty good, but they stick out a lot farther than I imagined and they look a little crazy. In addition the packaging, says they are accurate to +/- 2 PSI (pounds per square inch). It would have been better if they were more accurate since they don't go red until the tire pressure goes below 27PSI which is already 5PSI below the recommended 32 PSI. Being under-inflated by 7PSI seems like a lot, but hopefully it will be easier to see when the tires need air so that I can get better gas mileage.