Small mod that makes wheel R&R easier for us without a lift

I don't have a lift for my F430 but recently had to R&R all four wheels to replace new center caps. I have a set of threaded rods that screw into the hub for alignment purposes but they are near impossible to use at ground level with just a single floor jack at the lift points. The rear wheel is a beast and the threaded rods are way too short to get into the holes blindly without a two person struggle.

I modified my alignment rods as follows, end drilled them for about an inch 0.25" diameter and fitted about a 10 inch 0.25" dia solid steel rod as an extension, then welded them together and then machine lathed a transition taper from the small rod onto the larger alignment rod. Now, I can see behind the wheel and put the extension rods into their respective bolt holes, raise the jack slightly with the wheel suspended on the rods and slide it home flush with the wheel hub, and bolt it back up. Took about 10 sec to align the wheel and slide it home. just passing this on for anyone who might find this mod useful in their particular circumstances. It saves the back Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login too!
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I see that there had been a question about the tire changing rod mods. Yes, you have to jack the car up enough to get the wheel off the ground. Remove the wheel in usual fashion and screw in the rods into two of the hub holes separated by one hole. Align the rods horizontally. With the extension rods, you don't have to look through the bolt holes on the wheels. just roll wheel up to the rods and watch inside the back side of the wheel and insert the rod tip extensions into the respective bolt hole on the wheel. After starting the insertion into the bolt holes, you can slightly raise the jack a bit higher and suspend the wheel on the rods ( cantilever style) and then the wheel will slide on the rods up to the hub and be in perfect alignment with all the bolt holes. Bolt the wheel on and remove rods . I use an electric scissor jack and that makes it a bit easy to R&R the wheels, but without this mod, the wheel mounting became a chore as I couldn't see the bolt holes lining up with the short rods. so I made the mod so I could see the rear side of the wheel hub without lifting it much at all (just tilt it out to see the back of the hub) and get the rods in the respective holes. Hope this helps with the concept. The rear wheels are a beast to change without these if using a small floor jack but easier if you have a lift and can get the hubs up to eye level.