Four tire vs five tire rotation: cost-effective?

Status
Not open for further replies.
K

KitaCam

Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
2,280
Location
SunnySouthFlorida
The thread on rotation has me thinking....

Like the title asks...

Does anyone have any idea (what am I saying, all here have an idea!) or experience in rotating five new tires and see a signiicantly longer tread-life for the set of five over a set of four?
 
Last edited:
I've never been able to buy the exact same tire six years later in order to do a fair comparison.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I've never been able to buy the exact same tire six years later in order to do a fair comparison.


Ah...I see a problem here...
 
Just to add...

As I see it, a 5-tire rotation would cost 25% more than a 4-tire set so I would need to see 25% more miles on the tires to justify it...

...unless I'm missing any other benefit....
 
Last edited:
As I see it, the only reasons to rotate in the spare is:

1) You will have the experience and tools to change the spare out on the road with reduced stress.

2) You know your spare is properly inflated and serviceable. Hopefully you lubricate you cable, etc. while under the car if you have that style.

Manufacturers answer this question for us if all one has is a space-saver. How many vehicle's come with a full-size spare anymore?
 
I'd only do it for an AWD vehicle, such as a Subaru, so I'd have a tire with approximately the same tread depth ready to go, in case that I ruined one.
 
I suspect you'd see 20% longer life if you rotated religiously, due to miles when the tire is sitting idle.

The use of alloy wheels and donut spares has made this fairly obsolete, I guess.
 
The advantage to a five tire rotation, where possible, is to use up the spare. Simple math says that you'll go 25% farther on the set of five than on the set of four, but there is no real cost/mile savings there, you're only realizing the benefit of using up a tire that would otherwise age untouched and unworn.

If the KitaCam has a full size spare on a steel wheel, and if the rest of the wheels are steel, then this is possible.

But I would not recommend that you start driving on the 10 year old spare from your trunk, it's past its prime. Best to leave it in the trunk at this point.
 
Hello, As mrsilv04 said, a 5th matching wheel is something you want for sensitive AWD systems.
I think having a 5th wheel is prudent for any car.

This comes from a guy who hit a discarded mounted wheel one night.
THAT was a big bang! Kira
 
It seems to me that 5-wheel rotation has the advantages listed, but also lets you continue with 4 matched rotatable tires when one of your tires gets unrepairable damage.

With 4 wheel rotation, after one damaged tire, due to fear of mismatches many would feel obligated to buy a new pair of tires, put them on the rear axle and never rotate those 4 tires between back and front again.
 
I do a 5-tire rotation on our GX460. It is full-time 4wd so I like to think it helps spread the wear aroun across all 5 tires. It was purchased brand new and I have incorporated the spare in the rotation as it has a full-size spare with matching alloy wheel. I'm hoping to go 90k miles on the tires and when it comes time for replacement I'll just buy 4 and keep a worn tire as a spare. The other option was to have the spare just age and dry rot underneath.
 
First off there are very few cars on which this would be workable. You need a full size spare on an identical spare wheel.

When it's been possible, I've done it both ways.

I did a 5 wheel rotation on a 1978 Fiesta. It worked fine. Rapid rotation was a requirement anyway as the fronts wore down so fast.

But I don't do it on my 2000 BMW (which has a full size spare on an alloy wheel). BMW doesn't recommend rotating tires and by the time I got it (3 years old, 50000 km) it had a "never been used" spare tire that I couldn't duplicate. So the spare tire sits there, unused and most likely timed out. The lack of rotation hasn't been as much of a problem as I expected. The 4 tires wear quite evenly.

A fine question for you is this - "would you discard that never been used spare and replace it with the least worn tire when I buy the next round of new tires?"

As to the 5 tire rotation concept, I think it's a good idea. You have a spare that is identical to the other 4 tires (including wear), which makes for an easy replacement in case you have a flat and have to drive a long way before repair is possible.
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
The thread on rotation has me thinking....

Like the title asks...

Does anyone have any idea (what am I saying, all here have an idea!) or experience in rotating five new tires and see a signiicantly longer tread-life for the set of five over a set of four?


My truck has 191,000 on it now and I've always done the 5 tire rotation.

It is no more work then the 4 tire - except for removing and replacing the spare

Time wise you can go 20% longer between buying tires.

Tires do age. If I didn't use the 5 tire rotation my spare would be 15 years old - not good.
"Our experience has been that when properly stored and cared for, most street tires have a useful life in service of between six to ten years"
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=183

When going from one brand of tire to another you will have all the same brand.

I'm surprised more people don't do it.

As to tread life, why would it be longer for 5 vs 4? Tread life is determined by the miles driven.
 
Last edited:
I don't think its worth it. To have the 25% extra cost at purchase time (some vehicles have some really expensive tires) and then the tires go 20-25% longer on tread life, what's the benefit? Having to get out the spare can be a little of a PITA and remember which tires have gone where and which hasn't been on spare duty is a pain too. I can perhaps see something like that as important for a Subaru if they're really that picky, but when you need a spare it's usually for not that long of a distance. On a FWD if the flat is on the front then put the rear tire up front and spare on the rear. My 11 year old spare works just fine. Used it a month ago.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I don't think its worth it. To have the 25% extra cost at purchase time (some vehicles have some really expensive tires) and then the tires go 20-25% longer on tread life, what's the benefit?


Do the math - cost/mile driven. It is the same for 5 or 4 tire rotation.
 
I had an F150 with steelies that for whatever reason had a differently styled steelie for a spare.

Either it got switched around via previous owners or it was a conspiracy to upsell somehow.
 
I think if you have a tire get a sidewall puncture in 6 years it would be very worth it.

I had two flats in a 3 month span on the 20 Westbound in the same area.

First blowout sounded weird, thought it was the train at the side of the highway (tracks 80 yards away), shredded the OEM Dunlops that were pretty finished anyway.

Second puncture was on a brand new TrueContact, but pulled over immediately as I had experience from the first flat.

Anyway, after the 3 year mark it would be worth it IMO.
 
I have had this discussion many times over the years with one of my brothers. He rotates 4, I rotate 5. Neither is wrong as rotation is the most important thing. However my reasons for rotating 5 are:

1) To retain full vehicle capability after losing a tire.
Too many stories of people getting stuck in the middle of nowhere during a weekend trip, when the only tire place within 200 miles is closed until Monday. Also offroad operation.

2) You know that the tire is good, since you just handled it, or had it checked, at the last rotation.
If the tire has been in the trunk for 5+ years - or in many cases more than that- is it still safe to use? Properly inflated?

3) Rotation without a full vehicle lift is simpler.
With a floor jack type operation, you jack up each corner and change that tire. With a 4 tire rotation you have to jack the car 5 times to effect the rotation. With 5 tires you are only changing/jacking 4 times to complete the job.

4) Tire wear.
Your tires do last longer using this method. Cost is balanced out by having to purchase 5 tires at once instead of 4, but overall there is no cost difference in the long run. Unless you count that the spare in the trunk is completely wasted without rotating it in.

5) No worries about mismatched tire size.
When someone has driven 35000 miles on a set of tires then get a flat, whatever is in the trunk now has a larger rolling circumference than the rest of the tires. This can cause issues with (as mentioned) AWD vehicles, but also with limited slip differentials and I've heard some FWD vehicles also.
 
I'd rather keep my 'all-season' spare tire new/unused on my 2WD F150
because if I get a flat during wintertime, unlike a worn rotated tire
it will have more bite to match my snow tires until the damaged tire is repaired/replaced.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Egg_Head
Mavis Tire "Free" Tire Rotation Experience: Caveat Emptor
2
Replies
20
Views
691
SOUNDMAN5000
C
Two new tires, 8/32 tread on old tires. New tires on rear? front? rotation?
2 3
Replies
49
Views
3K
z71bill
Donald
Tires at BJs
Replies
11
Views
942
Donald
MurkyAsparagus
Bridgestone Ultraweather Release
Replies
4
Views
2K
mcm0455
M
New Tires vs. Used Tires : Black Friday Edition
Replies
3
Views
656
macarose
Back
Top Bottom