So this is the way I've rotated my Civic tires since I've had the car:

Jack up the front under the front jack area, put two jack stands underneath the car in the front (one on right, one on left). Then gone to the back, used the tow hook to jack up the back of the car, and put 2 more jackstands back there (one on right, one on left).

Problem is, my Craftsman jack bit the dust. Sucks b/c it was low profile (low enough to get under the civic) but could jack the back way up (I needed full 18" to get the wheels off the ground in the back).

Wondering if there is another way to do this that is efficient? Because I will not be shelling out big bucks for the same jack (broke twice, this time not under warranty). And I am having a hard time finding a low profile jack that will elevate to at least 18". Northern tool has one but it only goes to 17" - might not be enough. Might have to get a normal jack, drive the car up on the ramps, then slide the jack under for the front to get it to fit.

Any suggestions on jacks/and rotating tires?

 

i know it's going against what you originally mentioned, but everything else you could try would probably hurt you, the car, or a combination of both. after working on 9 of my cars over the years, i'd highly recommend purchasing a reliable jack, again, even if you're not happy with the craftsman jack. hop on over to some local car shop (not sure what's in your area - but how about a pep boys, autozone, or something similar?), and see if they have a heavy-duty jack. one of those should last you a while. it sounds like the original one you bought might've been a lemon.

i believe the process you mentioned was correct. jack one side of the car up, remove front and rear wheels, swap them, tighten enough so that you can't adjust the nuts anymore, and drop it down slowly. complete the tightening in a criss-cross pattern:
1 2
3 4
go from 1 to 4, then 2 to 3, making sure all are at specified torque (can't remember offhand, check the manual?). repeat this on both sides.

good luck...

 

i have directional treads so i rotate front to back, back to front
i just jack up one side of the car at a time

 

it doesn't matter what kind of tire you have (all-season, direction, asymmetrical), they always need to be rotated front to back. this is due to the fact that the suspension's camber will make the tires wear appropriately for the side that each pair is on. you don't want the wear to be swapped to the other side of the car.

additionally - and i forgot to mention (this is quite obvious), make sure you loosen the lugs before you jack the car up

 

I'll let you use my lift and impact. If your close to Cincinnati.

 

Impact ftw

 

haha 800 ft lbs of loosening torque FTW! It takes me like 1 min and 12 sec to rotate my steelies.

 

I put the jack on a couple of 1x6's in the back.

I rotate the front straight back and criss-cross the rears, as recommended in the service manual.