DIY How to change tires correctly?

[swemme]

Here the winter season is on it's way and the press now have articles saying that if you have an electric car you should not change your tires by your self. The message is if you do it wrong you may bend the battery pack that later can create a fire. There is a few examples as well when this have happened. Not on any MME tho.

In the past I've used a jack-screw in the designated place next to each wheel and raised the car and replaced the tire. The car will then twist a little but has never thought that it would hurt the car.

If I like to change the tires by my self, how should I do it? Is the battery pack that sensitive?

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[MyLittlePony2022]

Here the winter season is on it's way and the press now have articles saying that if you have an electric car you should not change your tires by your self. The message is if you do it wrong you may bend the battery pack that later can create a fire. There is a few examples as well when this have happened. Not on any MME tho.

In the past I've used a jack-screw in the designated place next to each wheel and raised the car and replaced the tire. The car will then twist a little but has never thought that it would hurt the car.

If I like to change the tires by my self, how should I do it? Is the battery pack that sensitive?

You have great timing. SnBGC just posted on his tire change on Saturday.

 

[swemme]

Oh thanks. Missed that.

 

[DYohn]

That is an excellent thread with lots of great pictures.

Also, someone had earlier posted this:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/attachments/mach-e-jacking-and-lifting-pdf.13266/

 

[SnBGC]

I prefer to lift the car one side at a time vs at a corner. I have seen windshields crack on C3 Corvettes and some other vehicles when lifting at the corners. The glass roof on the Mach-E makes me nervous about lifting at the corners. It's probably okay but if given the choice then lifting one side at a time is probably your best option.

 

[phidauex]

Here the winter season is on it's way and the press now have articles saying that if you have an electric car you should not change your tires by your self. The message is if you do it wrong you may bend the battery pack that later can create a fire. There is a few examples as well when this have happened. Not on any MME tho.

In the past I've used a jack-screw in the designated place next to each wheel and raised the car and replaced the tire. The car will then twist a little but has never thought that it would hurt the car.

If I like to change the tires by my self, how should I do it? Is the battery pack that sensitive?

You can damage any vehicle by lifting it wrong - this is just one of those cases where the news loves to hassle the new thing, "Ooo, your fancy EV, what if it exploded because you changed the tires??"

The MachE is easy to lift, but here are a few tips:

• The jack points are shown on the towing and service guide (image below), you can find them because there are two sets of arrows molded into the plastic trim at each jack point. The possibly counter-intuitive thing is that you do not want to jack on the obvious looking metal beam, but instead a bit outboard on the slightly recessed spot between the big bolt heads. That is the major structural member of the whole battery pack.
• You will appreciate having a set of lifting pucks or even just some cut squares of 2x4 to make sure your jack pad is spreading the force out in that area.
• I haven't had any trouble lifting one corner at a time, the battery pack is extremely rigid. But I may still get a jack cross-beam so I can lift one whole side just to make my life easier.
• The car is heavy - if you have a 1.5 ton jack, consider upgrading to a 2 ton or 3 ton to make your life easier.
• Make sure your torque wrench goes up to 150 ft-lbs, which is the stock spec for lug nuts.
• Also make sure you have a nice clean deep 21mm socket for the lug nuts.

Many more tips and information here: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/jacking-lifting-mach-e.6009/

 

[Mach-Lee]

FYI the service manual has been updated to highlight the guardrail (blue) which you should NOT use. Jack in yellow areas, not blue.

 

[Scooby24]

Thank you for the updates. Is there a service manual available for purchase?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thank you for the updates. Is there a service manual available for purchase?

https://www.helminc.com/helm/produc...m=result&Style=helm&Sku=FCS2164921&itemtype=N

 

[RMoore]

So is there any way to lift the front or back using say a 2.5 ton hydraulic jack and then use a pair of jack stands? The diagram above shows such a jack in the little box but it seems as though you can only use that in one of the 4 spots. How would you then get the jack stand in there?

 

[phidauex]

So is there any way to lift the front or back using say a 2.5 ton hydraulic jack and then use a pair of jack stands? The diagram above shows such a jack in the little box but it seems as though you can only use that in one of the 4 spots. How would you then get the jack stand in there?

The actual jacking area is pretty wide, you can jack on one end of the zone, and put the jack stand on the other. Once you see the actual structural beam it makes more sense - the whole area fore and aft of the actual yellow spot is the same structural member, so the position doesn’t have to be completely precise (as long as you are on the right member).

 

[Trick.Mach-E]

FYI the service manual has been updated to highlight the guardrail (blue) which you should NOT use. Jack in yellow areas, not blue.

When I did a tire rotation I did follow the yellow marked locations on the picture above for the front. For the rear I had the jack slightly forward from the yellow so I could place a car jack in the yellow box area. I guess its too late to ask now if that's a problem doing so! It didn't appear to be an issue...

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