Rotating Tires 6M or 1Y

[CB900F2]

Has their been any studies does where the same model of car, each with the same sets of tires, and one was rotated every 6M ver the other being every 1Y...

And then seeing if their was any difference in longevity and even wear between the two sets of tires..

Thanks all..

 

[skyactiv]

If there hasn't been there will be. Any new study no matter how odd/weird/worthless a university can come up with is awarded with grant money by the government.

 

[k1xv]

I always thought tire rotation schedules are based on mileage, not time.

 

[supton]

I always thought tire rotation schedules are based on mileage, not time.

Ditto. Rotations are done to even out wear. It’s the miles not the years.

 

[himemsys]

I try to rotate every 5k-8k. But I also try to time that to happen at a set time. For two of my cars that get driven 7k or less per year, it's once a year around the same time. Another car gets driven >10k per year so it gets done every 6 months.

 

[Dave1027]

I think it also depends on how well your wheels are aligned and driving style. Vehicles with well aligned wheels don't need their tires rotated as much because they wear better. Also, if you drive like a granny you can go more miles between rotations. But if you drive aggressively, high speed turns, quick acceleration or hard braking, that can also wear the tires more.

 

[CapriRacer]

From what I have been able to pickup, irreversible irregular wear can show up starting at 20k miles. You need to be rotating well before that.

 

[dubber09]

IMHO, the longer you wait on rotation the higher the chances of uneven wear to accelerate, mileage dependant. If one drives very little annually, then annual rotations are perfectly fine.
I go by season, basically, rotation every second oil change, then I mark tires which corner they come from when swap with winters; similar when going back to non-winters. Front tires wear faster on our cars so I keep an eye on wear to make sure they are worn about same front to back on AWD Sportage.
It kinda works out 2 oil changes before tires swap/rotation for winter. One oil change on winters so they get rotated every about 4k miles.

 

[burbguy82]

In my experience, it is vehicle dependant, not milage, and definitely not time dependant. Some cars eat tires and other do not. Same car, same usage, different driving habits loads etc.

Just because you rotate the tires more or less does not guarantee much of anything.

A tire gauge would answer this for you easily, over a period of miles, say 5000-8000

 

[fdcg27]

Back in the day when I did my own rotations, I'd swap them front to back at around a third of estimated tire life and this worked out fine. At the time, Michelin recommended not cross rotating their tires.
These days, with free rotations from the installer, I do it every 10K or so and still just have them swapped front to back.

 

[ripcord]

I just try to do it at most oil changes. Sometimes I skip it if I'm in a hurry. Seems to work well enough.

 

[Patman]

I’m one of those people who never rotates his tires but I still get incredibly long life from them anyway. With all of the Corvettes I have had I can’t rotate them anyway since they have all had wider back tires (and one inch larger wheels too)
But with the 3 Civics I have owned I never got them rotated, but I also find that all 4 tires will wear evenly for me. Right now I have over 100,000 km on my current tires on my 2016 Civic and if they weren’t so terrible in the snow I probably could’ve gotten another 30 to 40,000 km from them! So for me it would have been a total waste of time and money to have been rotating them on a regular basis. I do tend to drive this car very gently though and it is driven 90% on the highway as well.

 

[Just a civilian pilot]

I never get my tire rotated and they last super long.

I get the alignment checked ( lots of potholes in Quebec ) each spring and it’s free unless it’s out of spec.

 

[himemsys]

I’m one of those people who never rotates his tires but I still get incredibly long life from them anyway. With all of the Corvettes I have had I can’t rotate them anyway since they have all had wider back tires (and one inch larger wheels too)
But with the 3 Civics I have owned I never got them rotated, but I also find that all 4 tires will wear evenly for me. Right now I have over 100,000 km on my current tires on my 2016 Civic and if they weren’t so terrible in the snow I probably could’ve gotten another 30 to 40,000 km from them! So for me it would have been a total waste of time and money to have been rotating them on a regular basis. I do tend to drive this car very gently though and it is driven 90% on the highway as well.

Yeah, it depends on how hard you drive the vehicle. Edge wear increases on front tires if you corner sharply often. Rear tires wear more if rear wheel drive and you peel out a lot. With grandpa driving, rotating is not as critical.

Just changed the original tires on our 2018 CRV and there was zero edge wear. Contact surfaces were worn past the wear indicator though at 45k miles and with snow season coming up, I didn't want to risk pushing them any further.

 

[Patman]

Yeah, it depends on how hard you drive the vehicle. Edge wear increases on front tires if you corner sharply often. Rear tires wear more if rear wheel drive and you peel out a lot. With grandpa driving, rotating is not as critical.

Just changed the original tires on our 2018 CRV and there was zero edge wear. Contact surfaces were worn past the wear indicator though at 45k miles and with snow season coming up, I didn't want to risk pushing them any further.

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this but I still have the original back tires on my 2018 Corvette and they have 65,000 miles on them! I have probably another 5-7k life left in them too! I don’t hammer the car hard off the line, only when on the roll, so that’s how I have managed to keep them going for so long (plus I do mostly long highway drives with the car)

 

[Frankrank]

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this but I still have the original back tires on my 2018 Corvette and they have 65,000 miles on them! I have probably another 5-7k life left in them too! I don’t hammer the car hard off the line, only when on the roll, so that’s how I have managed to keep them going for so long (plus I do mostly long highway drives with the car)

Tires age out after 6 years from manufacture date. I would replace them.

Get this for $11. You can check depth and wear patterns.

 

[John105]

Ditto. Rotations are done to even out wear. It’s the miles not the years.

Yeah I think for some reason 5k comes up a lot. Imho Michelin is more realistic, 6-8k.

On my 98 maxima I decided to experiment and not rotate at all. My fronts were gone at 27k, and rears looked like they’d go another 30k. Unscientific, true.

BMW has staggered so no rotations. Rwd. RE050A’s, rears shot in 41k to almost bald. Fronts looked like 4/32” but I had plugged RFT’s so tossed at same mileage.

I think rotations will help almost all cars. Jmoymmv

 

[supton]

Yeah I think for some reason 5k comes up a lot. Imho Michelin is more realistic, 6-8k.

I like Toyota's "do things every 5k". Rotations every 5k, oil change every 10k. Makes tracking what to do easier. But as always, YMMV.

My Tundra seemed fine with no rotations, but every FWD I've ever owned "needed" 5k rotations to keep feathering low. Which has always gotten worse once the car got past 100k. Same roads in the truck, but different dynamics.

 

[Patman]

Tires age out after 6 years from manufacture date. I would replace them.

I will be replacing them next summer, I just wanted to see how long they would last

 

[himemsys]

I rotate once a year, which comes about to every 5k-10k miles. The warranty on the Cooper Endeavor Plus tires we just bought for the CRV requires 8k rotations to maintain the warranty.