I haven't tried using a floor jack or jack stands either. Maybe someone here will help.
In the meantime....
Do one side at a time. Do not criss cross rotation of the tires.
You can probably get the same exact jack as your OEM, at a junkyard pretty cheap. Then stick with the side rails for removal and installation.

Happy Holidays to you.

 

I know about the jack points on the side rails, but I am wondering what jack points can be used when doing a tire rotation. The manual says to rotate the tires from front to back on the same side, and move the back tires to the front on the opposite side. To do this, it will make things easier to lift all four corners at the same time.

I want to lift both sides in the front from one center point and then put jack stands under the side rail jack points and then do the same in the rear. I haven't found anything that indicates where it is safe to lift the vehicle from the center. Any guidance? Pictures would help.

Thank you!

I never get charged for rotations and feel better having it done by my tire dealer because torqueing the nuts correctly is very important.

 

The only problem with that is whether the guy doing the tire rotation is actually doing the job correctly! I had a car at the dealer for another drivetrain problem a couple years ago, and they didn't tighten the wheel nuts at all! They were apparently all just finger tight, they just missed the step. When they started to get a little loose I realize something was seriously wrong!

Also, when I watch them changing tires at the dealer, it doesn't look like a lot of care is going into proper torque for the lug nuts in any case.

 

I have a space saver spare wheel and start off removing a rear road wheel and then fitting the spare, lower jack, raise the front wheel on the same side and put on the rear wheel and then move to the back again swapping front for the spare. I do the same the other side. a total of six jacking processes. I quite like a bit of physical exercise and since retiring have plenty of time to do it this way.
As for tightening I always use whatever is in the boot to re-tighten the wheel nuts, if you do them up with the wheel brace you stand a good chance of undoing them again at the side of the road. I always loosen the wheel nuts after anyone else has tightened them too using the appropriate tools and the re-tighten with the tool in the boot.

 

When I had a large garage, I used to rotate the tires and also swap the summer/winter tires on both cars. I simply used a torque wrench to tighten the lug nuts to the proper torque. I also use anti-seize compound on the wheel where the lug nut contacts to minimize galling of the aluminum wheels. I used jack-stands to minimize the work, only had to jack up each corner once. I don't really have the room or the inclination to do that in my current place. Don't have the big floor jack or the jack-stands anymore.

 

I've never used a torque wrench and never had an issue. Impact guns jus wreck things and i find they dont tighten well enough and agree with the above statements about shawty garage's. Also agree bout tire rotation. Dont kriss cross them. I use the nut on the control arm to jack mine up. Never trust those jack points. They're okay for stands when used in pairs.

 

I use the nut on the control arm to jack mine up.

I guess this is an option for a different jack point. Still requires one wheel at a time, but frees up the side rail jack points to be used by the jack stands. Still surprised there are not front center and rear center jack points.

 

The criss-cross method worked for the old bias-ply tires, but when radials started being used by manufacturers the changed to the front to back. What I haven't seen mentioned here was the need to retorque the lug nuts after 50 miles.

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The criss-cross method worked for the old bias-ply tires, but when radials started being used by manufacturers the changed to the front to back. What I haven't seen mentioned here was the need to retorque the lug nuts after 50 miles.

Hmm, am I misinterpreting the owner's manual? It says to cross cross the tires when not using directional tires. I looked at the sidewalls and did not see an arrow indicating they were directional. On all my other vehicles I just do the same side rotation, but was going to cross cross on the Sportage based on what I saw in this graphic.

 

Sorry. You are correct. I have directional tires.

 

I don't remember if I found a cross frame and jacket the car up from the middle one end at a time. Put jackstands under it and then jacked up the other and put stands under it. Used an impact gun to take the wheels off and did a crossed rotation as the tires are not directional (directional tires ALWAYS have an arrow showing direction of rotation). I then use a torque wrench to put them back on. Drop it back on the ground and check the torque again. I do check them again after 50 to 100 miles but the torque has always been fine. I also use anti-seize were the wheel meets the hub but not on the lugs.

 

I've never had any radials that didn't have direction arrows, but I also recently read that it's OK to cross radials that don't have directional tread. This seems to be recent wisdom as for years I saw nothing stated but don't change the direction of rotation for radial tires.

 

I want to lift both sides in the front from one center point and then put jack stands under the side rail jack points and then do the same in the rear. I haven't found anything that indicates where it is safe to lift the vehicle from the center. Any guidance?

For next time, here's something to consider..

If you need to raise the car evenly for doing work underneath, back it up onto 4 ramps (edit: and actually, for a Sportage, you can drive up onto the ramps going forward, depending on your model year. For Sorentos, you have to back them up though.).

If you want to rotate your tires, you don't need jack stands for that either. Use the spare tire. For example, jack up the front driver's side, take off that wheel and put the spare in its place. Then jack up the rear driver's side, take off that wheel, replace it with the one you removed previously from the front. Then just play musical chairs until they're rotated. This way, you're only applying pressure to the intended jack points on the vehicle, while 3 tires are always securely holding the car in place. Also, it requires only one floor jack, and it's a convenient way to check if your spare is holding air properly.

 

Both my 2017 SX and my 2020 SX had temp spares that you would not want to add to your rotation.

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I don't rotate the tires myself anymore because my tire provider includes that for free. However, I used to use two heavy duty jack stands to raise the front and rear on one side and then put the jack under the passenger door and raise the other side. I have a heavy duty jack for that purpose. That raises all four wheels and rotation is easy. But I would not trust that setup to do work under the car. You need a jack that is rated for at least 2 tons. I have an aluminum racing jack and it worked great. The jack stands were rated for 3 tons each and had a wide base. They are fairly cheap at Harbor Freight. I also have a high impact battery powered impact wrench from Ryobi (Home Depot) and some torque rated sockets for that purpose. The sockets prevent you from overtightening the nuts. There is a torque spec for those nuts and you shouldn't go over it.