# Best Homemade Tools >  Tire lift and aligner

## ruxu

As both my daily driving car and my forest utility vehicle have quite heavy tires - 255/55-18 and 235/60R15 off-road - the twice a year changing from winter spikes tires to summer tires and vice versa requires lifting and aligning the rims onto the bolt pattern.

As I had a 2ton floor jack with a small oil leak I decided to make a tire lift and aligner of it to make the tire changing easier. Here are some pictures of the modification. The whole mod was made of scrap metal parts and some bearings I had laying around.

   

The third picture of the new/modified parts is missing the bottom support flat bar that can be seen on the second picture.



As I changed the tires on my wife's Ford Focus yesterday I tested the lift even though the tires aren't that heavy on a such small car. It worked as planned and the bolt alignment was very easy to do as you could lift the tire to correct height and rotate the tire.

You could even use a new floor jack for this mod as they cost only 25 Euro.

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bobs409 (May 5, 2017),

DIYer (May 4, 2017),

EnginePaul (Apr 17, 2018),

j.bickley (May 4, 2017),

jeanalvitre (Aug 25, 2018),

Jon (May 4, 2017),

KustomsbyKent (May 4, 2017),

lawlie (Dec 28, 2020),

n9dug (Oct 3, 2020),

Paul Jones (May 4, 2017),

Priemsy (Apr 17, 2018),

Rangi (Aug 7, 2018),

Seedtick (May 4, 2017),

that_other_guy (Oct 20, 2019),

thehomeengineer (May 3, 2018),

Toolmaker51 (May 6, 2017),

Tule (Apr 18, 2018)

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## DIYer

Thanks ruxu! We've added your Tire Lift to our Wheel and Tire category,
as well as to your builder page: ruxu's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:















Tire Lift
 by ruxu

tags:
floor jack, tire, lifting

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## Jon

Nice. Here's a completely different build, but conceptually very similar: Weber Gas Grill Back Saver

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## j.bickley

" you could lift the tire to correct height and rotate the tire."

Very slick, ruxu! Thanks for the idea!
---ortho

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## jniolon

any plans avail... showing sizes, dimensions, materials used.... I need one of these to lift the 20" monsters on my suburban

thanks
John

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## nortin

Nice idea! I can see where this would be a very useful tool. Well done

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## racer-john

Here is the one I built last summer. I have added rollers for the tire since then. 
Works very well on my "89 chev PU as I am 84 yrs young and do not need to
strain my back

.

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jeanalvitre (Aug 25, 2018),

Jon (May 5, 2017),

Priemsy (Apr 17, 2018)

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## ruxu

> any plans avail... showing sizes, dimensions, materials used.... I need one of these to lift the 20" monsters on my suburban
> 
> thanks
> John



No I don't have any plans as I just designed it as I made it. But I went down to the workshop and took a couple of additional pictures and I can here give a more detailed verbal explanation of the parts.

After I had taken the jack apart I cut off a 70mm piece from the wheel end of the side plates.



Here is a picture with the parts numbered for verbal details.



1. 40x40x3mm square pipe, longest edge 200mm, angle end 20degrees, front hole 18mm, rear hole 9mm
2. 40x4mm flat bar 250mm, 9mm holes 20mm and 90mm from end
3. 50x6mm flat bar 200mm, corner chamfered, 11mm hole 15 mm from end and 13mm from edge
4. Bearing clearance shims made from M12 washer by margining hole to 18mm, 4pcs needed
5. Round bar 25mm 240mm, outer end bearing fit 20mm dia 12mm long, mounting end dia 18mm 40mm long then bearing fit 20mm dia 12mm long, M8 bolt threads in both ends.
6. 45/40mm tube 200mm long, 42mm dia 12mm long bearing fit in both ends
7. Bearing 20x42x12mm
8. 40x40x3mm square pipe 200mm

Here is also one picture from the bottom side.



Hopefully this information helps...

Here is also one additional use for the tire lift.

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jeanalvitre (Aug 25, 2018),

PJs (Apr 18, 2018),

Priemsy (May 5, 2018),

Toolmaker51 (May 6, 2017),

Tule (Apr 18, 2018)

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## Frank S

Using the tire lift dolly as a roller stand is a great idea for a tool that otherwise would see little use as a single purpose tool if it were only used when tires were removed or installed on your vehicle

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## DIYer

Thanks racer-john! We've added your Tire Lift and Aligner to our Wheel and Tire category,
as well as to your builder page: racer-john's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:















Tire Lift and Aligner
 by racer-john

tags:
tire, lifting, bottle jack, caster(s)

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## Just For Fun

Ruxu, Thanks for sharing your tire Jack. I like the idea a lot and plan on making one for myself. 

Tim

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## Priemsy

Thanks, Ruxu, I can see myself having a go at one of these.

Paul

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## atte

Super pomysł

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