What's the Best Way to jack/stand & Remove All Three Wheels at once?

[BadMonk]

I'm probably overthinking this but I'll ask anyway.

I've had my '21 F3 in the air for everything from sway bar, shocks, maintenance, etc. But I've never taken off all three wheels at the same time. I'm changing out the three tires. Since the tail has to go up in the air more than the front, should I remove the rear wheel first, jack stand it and go for the fronts? Or put all three up on jacks stands at the same time? My concern is balancing the bike while removing wheels.

I have a large floor jack, small floor jack, scissors jack, four jack stands...and a Harbor Freight bike lift that I dislike using. Any thoughts on 'the process' while keeping the bike secure? Thanks.

 

[ZFGBravo]

I'm probably overthinking this but I'll ask anyway.

I've had my '21 F3 in the air for everything from sway bar, shocks, maintenance, etc. But I've never taken off all three wheels at the same time. I'm changing out the three tires. Since the tail has to go up in the air more than the front, should I remove the rear wheel first, jack stand it and go for the fronts? Or put all three up on jacks stands at the same time? My concern is balancing the bike while removing wheels.

I have a large floor jack, small floor jack, scissors jack, four jack stands...and a Harbor Freight bike lift that I dislike using. Any thoughts on 'the process' while keeping the bike secure? Thanks.

Depends on how much you want to spend. The one I am looking at is a tad $$$$, but looks to be worth it.

https://us.on-bike.com/motorcycle-lifts/canam-spyder-trike-lift#

 

[BadMonk]

That trike lift is awesome. I'd seen it a couple years and thought about it then. Now, it wouldn't get enough use to pay for itself. Good luck with your decision ... if you have the funds and the space, go for it!

 

[Bfromla]

Ya, balance is a key thing & risk at any height!



FYI, this is at a dealer's with skilled operators. If attempting DIY with common tools, I'd suggest breaking the lug nuts loose while securely on the ground, & the same for tightening them to torque specs. There are ways to keep belt alignment/tension the same without adjusting. Good luck with your quest.

 

[BadMonk]

I operated one when just out of HS. Best tool in the whole dang lumber yard but also outside my budget.
I've had the Sypder up as far as the HF bike lift would take it but the wheels were on for that trip. Balance was a concern, of course, but very doable. Taking off all wheels at the same time while in the air, yeah that's another story. So I thought someone might have run that course already. Reckon I may end up doing a piece meal tire change.

 

[PMK]

Certainly it can be done, but not so sure the risk vs reward makes it something to attempt.

Pretty simple though, jack the Spyder, jack stands with pads under the front lower shock mounts.
Put the frame rail onto safely stacked 2x6 wooden tower you fabricate.

Not only do you need height, the Spyder should have no tendency to want to wobble side to side. The wooden trestle, designed and built correctly, then properly positioned should provide this.

 

[Peter Aawen]

I'm probably overthinking this but I'll ask anyway.

I've had my '21 F3 in the air for everything from sway bar, shocks, maintenance, etc. But I've never taken off all three wheels at the same time. I'm changing out the three tires. Since the tail has to go up in the air more than the front, should I remove the rear wheel first, jack stand it and go for the fronts? Or put all three up on jacks stands at the same time? My concern is balancing the bike while removing wheels.

I have a large floor jack, small floor jack, scissors jack, four jack stands...and a Harbor Freight bike lift that I dislike using. Any thoughts on 'the process' while keeping the bike secure? Thanks.

It probably is over-thinking it, but if you need to take all three wheels away somewhere for the removing of old tires/mounting of new tires, then for whatever it's worth:

I'd do as Bfromla suggests & break the lug nuts loose first; then get the front end up but leave the wheels on, albeit with mildly loose lug nuts, & jack stand that end; only then, while it's still got the wheels on up front just to be sure to be sure, would I jack the back end up, put it on a stand/stands, & remove the rear wheel. :lecturef_smilie: Only once the rear wheel is off and you KNOW that it's still all pretty stable would I suggest you then pull the front wheels off. :thumbup:

Then you can take all three away to wherever/do whatever is necessary; and when you get 'em back, put them on in the reverse order you took everything off! hyea:

Note: If you're going to remove it (probably gonna need to in order to replace tires ) and your rear sprocket is already mounted correctly so that it's not got one spoke obscuring the valve stem, then mark your rear sprocket & the rim before removing the sprocket so that you can make sure it goes back on in the same place/position that it was before - and also mark each of the rubber pillow type 'cush-drive' bags wrt the rim too, so that you can make sure that they go back in the same spots they came out of! It's enough of a pain if you get the sprocket misaligned during the re-install process, but it's much more of a pain if you mess up where the cush-drive pillows go & you can't get that sprocket back on properly!! :gaah:

Goid Luck! :cheers:

 

[BadMonk]

Lots of food for thought here. Thanks for the responses.

Peter, your Note was interesting. I knew about squaring away the tire valve. However marking it beforehand will eliminate the 'guess work' and I'll make a note of that. Honestly I had no idea about the rubber isolators or pillows. Very good to know; less frustration is a good thing.

 

[Bfromla]

Also good go ahead & clean off any brake dust, grease the rear bearings(3)

 

[Mikey]

I have sat here and tried to come up with a SAFE plain of attack to your question. I know what you're tiring to do by taking off all your tires and get them done at the same time. I also know from everything I've done in the past what it takes to get the rear tire off these things. If you were to remove the rear tire, then put the axle shaft back in the bike and put a jackstand under that shaft in the center, then took two jacks under both A arms and evenly jack up the front carefully you could get the job done with no mishaps, I hope. But be careful please! Being a three wheeled item with odd balance points, things can get weird in a hurry!

 

[BadMonk]

I had a similar thought too, Mikey. My thinking was to put both the lower shock bolt and axle back into place. Doing that would stabilize the tail very well, slide jack stands in there and probably good to go for the front end. I'm going to get after it either today or tomorrow. Pretty sure it can be done safely.

I'm not one to take chances with raised vehicles. When working on our cars, I can spend more time getting the load secured just right than actually doing the repair job. I'm not for fiddling around with raised squirrely vehicles. It may time some time and thought but it will be squared away before proceeding.

Thanks all!

 

[Peter Aawen]

I'd put one jackstand under each of the front 'A' arms; and one jackstand under each of the swing arms at the other end - Letting them collapse upward until they'll go no further gives you the greatest stability. That way, there's no need to put the shock bolt &/or axle back in until the wheel is going back on; and there's no need to risk bending the shock bolt &/or the axle by supporting the back-end weight of the Spyder on the middle of either, especially not by supporting the middle of the axle in way it was never intended to be loaded by putting a single jackstand under the middle of it! Just put one under each side swing arm! :lecturef_smilie:

You did say you had 4 jackstands, so why not use them?! :dontknow:

 

[BadMonk]

The swingarm will fold upwards without the shock attached, right? If the shock is secured with a bolt, the swing arm won't move up and down so more stability. I'd still use four jack stands and in the way you stated. There's not much weight in the rail with the wheel removed. At least that's my thought for the moment.

 

[KW1M]

Certainly it can be done, but not so sure the risk vs reward makes it something to attempt.

Pretty simple though, jack the Spyder, jack stands with pads under the front lower shock mounts.
Put the frame rail onto safely stacked 2x6 wooden tower you fabricate.

Not only do you need height, the Spyder should have no tendency to want to wobble side to side. The wooden trestle, designed and built correctly, then properly positioned should provide this.

Getting ready for front shock, sway bar install - bought the heavier HF lift:

https://www.harborfreight.com/1500-lb-aluminum-atv-motorcycle-lift-63397.html

Would love a picture of your 2x6 "tower setup". Think I already have some 4x4 or 6x6 posts I can recycle.

Thanks!

 

[BadMonk]

Rear wheel is off. Tail is securely on jack stands. The swingarm moves waaay less than I anticipated. No need to play with the shock bolt and axle. Thanks again to everyone.

Peter, having read many of your tech posts on this forum, I should have known you were nailing it... but some of us are stubborn that way. Just ask my wife. Anyhow, your tech posts are always insightful and detailed. Much appreciated.

 

[UtahPete]

I'd put one jackstand under each of the front 'A' arms; and one jackstand under each of the swing arms at the other end - Letting them collapse upward until they'll go no further gives you the greatest stability. That way, there's no need to put the shock bolt &/or axle back in until the wheel is going back on; and there's no need to risk bending the shock bolt &/or the axle by supporting the back-end weight of the Spyder on the middle of either, especially not by supporting the middle of the axle in way it was never intended to be loaded by putting a single jackstand under the middle of it! Just put one under each side swing arm! :lecturef_smilie:

You did say you had 4 jackstands, so why not use them?! :dontknow:

Peter, quick question; how do you get the front end up high enough in the first place to be able to put jack stands under the A-arms? When I use ramps to get the front end up, then the ramps are in the way. I know I've been able to do this before, but don't remember how. I think this is one of those logistical problems that prompted me to investigate the Big Blue.

 

[Peter Aawen]

@UtahPete, quick answer - I use a jack.

But if you want the 'not so quick' answer, read on...

I have a low profile automotive trolley jack that slides under the Spyder from either side &/or the front, and with the rear wheel chocked, I raise the front of Spyder (carefully) by lifting on the main spar underneath until it's high enough to slide the axle stands under the A arms (car sized jobbies with 4 legs, but not the 4WD or Truck hi-lift jobbies I've got!), usually with a padded wooden spacer on the top plate added into the mix, but if you're careful about placement (and maybe your lug nuts are a bit loose too - always loosen them BEFORE lifting if you're taking the wheels off!) you can position the axle stand under the very outer end of the A arms where they merge into one piece to support the spindle, rather than positioning them across/under the 2 shafts of the arms themselves. The trolley jack has an overall lift height that's enough to remove an OEM Sway bar, so raising it high enough to slide axle stands under the A arms isn't an issue at all, and it's either lifting from the centre of the front of the Spyder, or from behind, under one (either side) of the foot plates/pegs, so it can't be in the way of the axle stands going in or once in place. It's Easy As!

That said, I also have an ATV jack that's like the Harbor Freight or PitBull jacks you guys have over there, and I sometimes use it instead, sliding it in under either foot plate/peg and lifting the whole bike at once in order to put all of the axle stands in at once, but I generally only do that when I have an offsider around to provide a second set of eyes and maybe a bit of a balancing hand. Altho I guess that if I had to, I could do it that way alone, but it would require juuust a wee tad more care & attention to keeping everything balanced properly when raised that high.

And once the front is up on axle stands and stable, I use the same jack to lift the rear by lifting the front of the swing arms via a wooden block straddling the very front of both arms where they merge into a broad plate just in front of the rear shock lower mount. I've got a pretty substantial lump of 4 x 4-ish hardwood that's about 10" long which has one of its long sides slotted in two place to allow it to go around the front of the supporting braces/plates the lower shock bolts go into, and the jack with the block on the lifting face basically lifts the swing arms in between the bolt that secures the bottom of the ACS Air Bag and the lower shock mount. That let's me lift the rear high enough to slide a 'single post' (a flat metal base about 10" square with a 2" square metal tube welded into the centre and a slightly smaller squ tube that slides up and down inside and uses a pin thru holes in both tubes to set the height) type axle stand under the end of each swing arm, or in front of the rear axle if whatever job I'm doing warrants that or not. IIRC, I have actually used the 'normal' 4 legged axle stands back there, but it was pretty fiddly to get them in a place that'd support the swing arms and still clear the wheel. These single post axle stands are much simpler to use/place, and while they don't have anywhere near the load capacity of the 4 legged auto axle stands and might be a bit iffy under a heavy car, they are more than capable of carrying the much lighter weight of a Spyder rear wheel.

Once the Spyder is raised and on FOUR axle stands, it's not going anywhere, and it can be set at a height that's comfortable for me to work on while sitting on the low mechanic's stool I have, which is on casters so that I can readily scoot around the entire bike if needed. All up, like I said, it's pretty much Easy As!

 

[UtahPete]

Peter, that's a fantastic explanation (no surprise there), and I've figured out what a trolley jack is

But, I haven't yet found anything like your single post axle stand.