Make sure to ask HOW you want your tires rotated.

[johnsmellsalot]

I've seen alot of places just rotate tires front to back without crossing them. Even the place I work at won't cross the tires unless the customer asks. It's a good idea to ask for certain rotation patterns if you're concerned about this.

Recommended rotation patterns: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43

 

[daman]

yep i always cross mine,every other oil change for me.

 

[barlowc]

I keep a log of what tires were on what corners and label them with a piece of masking tape when I get them rotated.

 

[JustinC25]

Most shops just rotate front to back.
I tried cross rotating once, then I developed
A radial pull. It was on my girlfriend's (now my wife)
'95 Civic. It had a fairly new set of
Pirelli P400's. It started pulling to the
left, so i swapped the two front tires. Then it started
pulling to the right. So i just put the bad tire
in the rear.

 

[rslifkin]

Generally, I love Town Fair for tires, but I won't let them do rotations for me (even though they're free). I let them do it once, and even though I always stand in the service bay with the Jeep and talk to the tech, they still refused to do a cross rotation. They would only do front to rear. Getting them to rotate the full size spare in was tough enough.

 

[Mr Nice]

Front to back is easier for them so that's standard procedure.

 

[Eddie]

You must look at your owners manual to see which method is recomended for your vehicle. My Mazda CX7 requires rear to cross at front and front to same side back. I always request this rotation pattern and the responce is whatever you want but, we usually just do front to back. I watch them do what I requested. .

 

[JTK]

IMO, as long as each wheel goes to a different hub on the vehicle, the job is done. I've mostly done my own rotations the last 25+ years. I personally haven't noticed any extra benefit one way or another; Cross vs. front/back only.

Joel

 

[Stelth]

Tire rotation is a rip-off. They rotate every time you drive!

 

[SteveSRT8]

Not every car needs or can rotate. If I time it right my fleet trucks get one rotation front to back over the entire life of the tires.

But when you have a crazy weight bias they simply must be.

 

[steveh]

Many tires now are directional tires so it might be safer for them to go front to back.

 

[azjake]

This is why I only go to Discount to get my tires replaced. Tires is all they do, no repairs, nothing else, no upselling, just tires and wheels. Rotations are free for the life of the tires and so is re-balancing if needed. They're the tire experts and they know how they need to be rotated.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: rslifkin
Generally, I love Town Fair for tires, but I won't let them do rotations for me (even though they're free). I let them do it once, and even though I always stand in the service bay with the Jeep and talk to the tech, they still refused to do a cross rotation. They would only do front to rear. Getting them to rotate the full size spare in was tough enough.


They HAVE done cross rotations for me...no idea why you had a problem.

 

[The Critic]

I have never done anything other than front-to-rear and have never seem significantly more wear.

Originally Posted By: azjake
This is why I only go to Discount to get my tires replaced. Tires is all they do, no repairs, nothing else, no upselling, just tires and wheels. Rotations are free for the life of the tires and so is re-balancing if needed. They're the tire experts and they know how they need to be rotated.


They are great salesmen for sure, but they can barely balance tires correctly and never understand that many cars take more than 32 psi, hot or cold.

 

[Papa Bear]

I rotate the way the owner's manual says. Simple enough.

 

[moto94536]

I rotate my own tires on my 2006 camry. I use spare time to do the job. ( more work). x pattern.