Rotation Confession
- Thread starter Phishin
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Whatever works for you, it's cool. Me, free rotations and balance go with tires purchased at Discount Tire, so ~6k+ mi. get it done (also do free rotations even on tires not purchased at DT).
As noted above, does help with keeping tire warranty valid, in force at DT. And no real hassle, usually ~30 minutes. Also side benefit, gives me a chance to get a good look at brake pads.
As noted above, does help with keeping tire warranty valid, in force at DT. And no real hassle, usually ~30 minutes. Also side benefit, gives me a chance to get a good look at brake pads.
My Fusion and Taurus are both AWD so I always rotate them every 5,000 miles. Not rotating tires on AWD can possibly be problematic so I play it safe.
I rotate when I change summer to winter and back again. I don't even mark 'em, just dig through and find the two best for up front and the two runners up, which aren't more than 2/32 worse BTW, for the rear. If they get a side to side rotation that's a happy coincidence.
Raise the rear end and swap 'em.
Let her down.
Front to rear each side. Done.
If there's a full sized spare work it in with consistency.
EX: The spare in Sis' Cherokee was mounted LR.
I'd swap the LR wheel for the spare after the above process was done.
Tires wear evenly and get inspected as do the brakes. Kira
Let her down.
Front to rear each side. Done.
If there's a full sized spare work it in with consistency.
EX: The spare in Sis' Cherokee was mounted LR.
I'd swap the LR wheel for the spare after the above process was done.
Tires wear evenly and get inspected as do the brakes. Kira
Originally Posted By: gpguy
I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.
I run a lot of Fords, Es Fs and now Transits.
Suggest putting a 1,000 lb load in the bed and then doing the alignment. The trucks run nose high on the highway, droop the front axle and tend to wear the edges. In the DRW configurations I buy, I put a 2,000 lb load over the axle, seems to have fixed a large part of the early wear issue.
I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.
I run a lot of Fords, Es Fs and now Transits.
Suggest putting a 1,000 lb load in the bed and then doing the alignment. The trucks run nose high on the highway, droop the front axle and tend to wear the edges. In the DRW configurations I buy, I put a 2,000 lb load over the axle, seems to have fixed a large part of the early wear issue.
Originally Posted By: Phishin
People LOVE rotating tires every oil change. To me, it seems like so much hassle (time spent in my driveway or waiting in a shop) 6-10 times per set of tires just to squeeze a little more life outta their rubber.
I personally don't do it for the extra life. I do it for a few reasons:
(1) Noise. Tires typically get noisy on my vehicles long before 66k miles. I'd wager that your tires are a lot noisier than they'd be if they were rotated regularly, but it takes a while for that noise to creep up. I'm sensitive to noise, so I keep them rotated regularly for that reason.
(2) Inspection. Removing the tires regularly allows me to inspect the brakes and things like CV boots and dampers before the point that they fail.
(3) Even wear. It's rare that a vehicle will wear the tires dead even, especially a FWD one. You may have the one out of one hundred that does, but I like keeping all tires at the same tread depth, so I can replace all at the same time.
(4) Cleaning. I'm OCD. When I rotate the tires, I take the opportunity to scrub the inner sidewall of the tire and wash all of the brake dust out of the hoop of the rim. My stuff looks like new this way.
I feel that one hour spent in my garage twice a year on a Saturday morning is a small price to pay for what I get in return.
People LOVE rotating tires every oil change. To me, it seems like so much hassle (time spent in my driveway or waiting in a shop) 6-10 times per set of tires just to squeeze a little more life outta their rubber.
I personally don't do it for the extra life. I do it for a few reasons:
(1) Noise. Tires typically get noisy on my vehicles long before 66k miles. I'd wager that your tires are a lot noisier than they'd be if they were rotated regularly, but it takes a while for that noise to creep up. I'm sensitive to noise, so I keep them rotated regularly for that reason.
(2) Inspection. Removing the tires regularly allows me to inspect the brakes and things like CV boots and dampers before the point that they fail.
(3) Even wear. It's rare that a vehicle will wear the tires dead even, especially a FWD one. You may have the one out of one hundred that does, but I like keeping all tires at the same tread depth, so I can replace all at the same time.
(4) Cleaning. I'm OCD. When I rotate the tires, I take the opportunity to scrub the inner sidewall of the tire and wash all of the brake dust out of the hoop of the rim. My stuff looks like new this way.
I feel that one hour spent in my garage twice a year on a Saturday morning is a small price to pay for what I get in return.
I usually "rotate" in the spring/fall when I swap out tires for winter or summer.
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Originally Posted By: Danno
Originally Posted By: gpguy
I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.
I run a lot of Fords, Es Fs and now Transits.
Suggest putting a 1,000 lb load in the bed and then doing the alignment. The trucks run nose high on the highway, droop the front axle and tend to wear the edges. In the DRW configurations I buy, I put a 2,000 lb load over the axle, seems to have fixed a large part of the early wear issue.
My truck has always worn the tires more on the outside then the inside. Maybe that's why. The front end comes up and it gets toed in some going empty down the highway. Think of the tire wear as the equivalent to a flat topped roof that's angled slightly. That's how they wear on the front. I never have a load that squats the truck.
Originally Posted By: gpguy
I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.
I run a lot of Fords, Es Fs and now Transits.
Suggest putting a 1,000 lb load in the bed and then doing the alignment. The trucks run nose high on the highway, droop the front axle and tend to wear the edges. In the DRW configurations I buy, I put a 2,000 lb load over the axle, seems to have fixed a large part of the early wear issue.
My truck has always worn the tires more on the outside then the inside. Maybe that's why. The front end comes up and it gets toed in some going empty down the highway. Think of the tire wear as the equivalent to a flat topped roof that's angled slightly. That's how they wear on the front. I never have a load that squats the truck.
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: Danno
Originally Posted By: gpguy
I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.
I run a lot of Fords, Es Fs and now Transits.
Suggest putting a 1,000 lb load in the bed and then doing the alignment. The trucks run nose high on the highway, droop the front axle and tend to wear the edges. In the DRW configurations I buy, I put a 2,000 lb load over the axle, seems to have fixed a large part of the early wear issue.
My truck has always worn the tires more on the outside then the inside. Maybe that's why. The front end comes up and it gets toed in some going empty down the highway. Think of the tire wear as the equivalent to a flat topped roof that's angled slightly. That's how they wear on the front. I never have a load that squats the truck.
The 1 ton dodge trucks don't have the tie rod going from knuckle to knuckle? They use a Y setup like the Jeeps?
I think that's part of the reason why my Jeep always wears its front tires. The front springs I have in it are super soft so it's always towing itself out when I go over small bumps.
Originally Posted By: Danno
Originally Posted By: gpguy
I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.
I run a lot of Fords, Es Fs and now Transits.
Suggest putting a 1,000 lb load in the bed and then doing the alignment. The trucks run nose high on the highway, droop the front axle and tend to wear the edges. In the DRW configurations I buy, I put a 2,000 lb load over the axle, seems to have fixed a large part of the early wear issue.
My truck has always worn the tires more on the outside then the inside. Maybe that's why. The front end comes up and it gets toed in some going empty down the highway. Think of the tire wear as the equivalent to a flat topped roof that's angled slightly. That's how they wear on the front. I never have a load that squats the truck.
The 1 ton dodge trucks don't have the tie rod going from knuckle to knuckle? They use a Y setup like the Jeeps?
I think that's part of the reason why my Jeep always wears its front tires. The front springs I have in it are super soft so it's always towing itself out when I go over small bumps.
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Mine does it's 2wd. It has a tie rod on each side of the steering rack. Is that what you mean? It doesn't have the steering dampener like the 4wd models do. If I actually rotated them every 6000 it probably wouldn't be too noticeable, but the wear adds up when you don't rotate them.
Well, I have a real tire tread depth gauge coming in the mail. I'll get the numbers and report back here.
I see a lot of people on the Subie boards just rotate their tires when there is a 2/32" difference between front and rear.
That makes sense.
I see a lot of people on the Subie boards just rotate their tires when there is a 2/32" difference between front and rear.
That makes sense.
Came into an interesting situation.
Had a set of new goodyear eagles installed on the matrix. Two years later, got a sidewall puncture.
Bought two new tires, they mounted them on the front.
Have not rotated the tires in 18 months.
Everything is wearing nice and flat no issues, this is a FWD car with an open diff.
I'm kind of waiting for them to all wear out to get a matched set of new tires again.
Had a set of new goodyear eagles installed on the matrix. Two years later, got a sidewall puncture.
Bought two new tires, they mounted them on the front.
Have not rotated the tires in 18 months.
Everything is wearing nice and flat no issues, this is a FWD car with an open diff.
I'm kind of waiting for them to all wear out to get a matched set of new tires again.
Originally Posted By: CT8
I like to buy two tires at a time.
The advantage of buying 4 tires at once:
Four matching tires(brand and model) are better (performance/handling) than 2 matching tires on the same axle.
Rebates are usually for 4 installed tires, not 2. Rebate amount can be as much as $150-200 or more for a set of 4.
I like to buy two tires at a time.
The advantage of buying 4 tires at once:
Four matching tires(brand and model) are better (performance/handling) than 2 matching tires on the same axle.
Rebates are usually for 4 installed tires, not 2. Rebate amount can be as much as $150-200 or more for a set of 4.
If your tires wear evenly (big "if"), rotations can be occasional. Of course if you have a problem vehicle you'll need to rotate much more often.
I like the 2/32" difference plan (for vehicles that wear evenly).
I like the 2/32" difference plan (for vehicles that wear evenly).
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I rotate mine maybe twice during the life and once the fronts get close to wearing out I throw them on the rear since it gets little wear and then I can just replace all four at once. That's what I did with the last set and I got to 57,000 miles. Now on this set I'm only at like 34,000 and it seems like they're wearing faster. Then again my alignment get messed up an wore the corners off the front tires in about 2 weeks.
I only rotate mine when I switch between summer/winter wheels. Since I have to put them on anyway, it is no additional effort at that point.
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I only rotate mine when I switch between summer/winter wheels. Since I have to put them on anyway, it is no additional effort at that point.
That's all I do too, just put the two with the most tread on the front every time. When I ran winters for all seasons on the Tracker I didn't bother rotating them as the tires wore reasonably evenly and they were hardening up anyways from age and perhaps summer heat.
I only rotate mine when I switch between summer/winter wheels. Since I have to put them on anyway, it is no additional effort at that point.
That's all I do too, just put the two with the most tread on the front every time. When I ran winters for all seasons on the Tracker I didn't bother rotating them as the tires wore reasonably evenly and they were hardening up anyways from age and perhaps summer heat.
I usually rotate at 10k when I change oil on the Corolla. Figure on letting Costco do them at 5k including balance now on that and the civic. Recently got 4 new tires on each car. Bridgestone turanza serenity plus on the Corolla and Michelin defenders on the civic.
It's extremely rare for me to rotate the tires. Our Subaru Outback had 92,000 miles on the Michelin Harmonys when I replaced them-all were within 1/32nd of each other and they were only replaced due to age. They were never rotated. The Durango was rotated once a couple years ago when I did the brakes, and I've never rotated the tires on the pickup-it only gets a couple thousand miles each year on it. The Cadillac has about 20,000 miles on the current Michelin Energy tires, and I don't know if they've been rotated. But all are wearing equally, so I don't plan to rotate them unless I remove the tires for some other reason.
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