I notice that the Nissan Versa, it list rotation interval of 5,000 miles while the Subaru outback seems to indicate a rotation of 10,000 miles. Any idea why one car would double the interval of another? I guess in the past, I always rotated my tires every 2 oil change which was about 10,000 miles, so I am wondering 5,000 seemed a bit aggressive.
Paul
Tire Rotation interval
- Thread starter Paul_Siu
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5000 mile rotation does seem excessive, unless there is some anomaly with how the 4 tires are wearing. I'm one of the lucky people, my current P/U truck and past vehicles tires wear evenly side to side so I rotate once when the rear tires are down to 50% and then replace when all 4 are worn down to there safe limit. been working this way for 30+ years .
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I do a 5 tire rotation on my Rubicon every 5K. Does not cost me anything at DT so why not?
I wasn't aware that any owner's manual listed tire rotation intervals.
If you have AWD rotation ought to be more frequent especially if you have traction control also in this case brake pad inspection ought to be more frequent.
The more frequent the rotation the more even the wear.
I get free tire rotations every 6,000 miles but get it done every 5k to keep on an easy schedule. I like to replace all my tires at once so I want all to wear evenly.
I rotate when the front to rear tread dept difference is ~ 2/32 which turns out to agree with my vehicles recommendation of 7,500 miles. Ed
Every 5k for me, since i have it jacked up for oil change anyhow
Ok,
I decided to check the tire sites, reasoning that tire manufacturer probably has restriction on tire rotation in regards to warranty. I check the Goodyear site, and they said they recommend every 3,000 to 6,000 miles. Michelin's site said 6,000 to 8,000. Not sure why there is such a difference. Maybe 5,000 miles is not so far fetch after all.
Alternate question, I notice that the manual often say 5,000 miles or every 6 months. Let's say you drive less than 1,000 miles a year (suppose you are retired or the car is only use for weekends). Do you actually rotate the tire when at 6 months mark even though you may have driven only 500 miles? I was curious about the rationale of that recommendation.
Paul
I've made it a habit of looking at the tread a few times a year. In between that, the dealer that performs the LOF on my cars typically checks them or as a matter of "business practice" recommends they be rotated.
Going by the book may be a simple way of remembering or keeping track but I just don't believe it equates to real world. We all experience too many variables for ne size fits all and tires come in different compounds for wear and tire life.
Where we live, how we drive, how well monitor air pressure, alignment issues, how the roads are where we live and drive, how many miles a year....
I do believe it's really as simple just looking at the tire wear and tread depth, even or uneven etc.... 5000 to 7000 miles maybe ? That's once a year for me.
No. Miles would be the measure. 
If tires get old, even if not driven many miles, rubber and side walls deteriorate and it's an important safety issue so just realize it's best to visually inspect them a few times a year and keep tabs on them or ask a professional if in doubt. 
THIS ^ Smart and simple.
Originally Posted by Paul_Siu
Ok,
I decided to check the tire sites, reasoning that tire manufacturer probably has restriction on tire rotation in regards to warranty. I check the Goodyear site, and they said they recommend every 3,000 to 6,000 miles. Michelin's site said 6,000 to 8,000. Not sure why there is such a difference. Maybe 5,000 miles is not so far fetch after all.
Alternate question, I notice that the manual often say 5,000 miles or every 6 months. Let's say you drive less than 1,000 miles a year (suppose you are retired or the car is only use for weekends). Do you actually rotate the tire when at 6 months mark even though you may have driven only 500 miles? I was curious about the rationale of that recommendation.
Paul
If tires get old, even if not driven many miles, rubber and side walls deteriorate and it's an important safety issue so just realize it's best to visually inspect them a few times a year and keep tabs on them or ask a professional if in doubt.
Originally Posted by Propflux01
Every 5k for me, since i have it jacked up for oil change anyhow
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Originally Posted by Paul_Siu
Ok,
I decided to check the tire sites, reasoning that tire manufacturer probably has restriction on tire rotation in regards to warranty. I check the Goodyear site, and they said they recommend every 3,000 to 6,000 miles. Michelin's site said 6,000 to 8,000. Not sure why there is such a difference. Maybe 5,000 miles is not so far fetch after all.
Alternate question, I notice that the manual often say 5,000 miles or every 6 months. Let's say you drive less than 1,000 miles a year (suppose you are retired or the car is only use for weekends). Do you actually rotate the tire when at 6 months mark even though you may have driven only 500 miles? I was curious about the rationale of that recommendation.
Paul
I think it also depends on who does the rotations and the cost. I change my own oil every 5000 km, and I am doing it on a hoist at work. I like to let the oil drain for an hour or so, so instead of just sitting there doing nothing, I will pull the wheels off, check the balance and rotate them back onto the car. Also allows me to inspect the brakes properly. So, rotating them every 5000 km does not cost me any extra money or time. My tires are always perfectly evenly worn at all four corners, well, except for the 1 series because it has staggered tires front/rear. On that car I will rotate left-right every oil change.
I think I saw in an owners' manual a range of 5000-8000 miles. My Saturn used to go about 6000 a year so I rotated every other oil change once a year. Tire wear on all four was close enough when time to replace them.
If you don't change tires for winter then just do rotations every second oil change.
If you change for winter - rotations can be done during the tire changes and depending on mileage driven in between changes you can do another rotation/s in between.
I poked around and the only thing I can see about time-based tire changes is from a dealer posting that said that tire should be swapped every year because one set of tire get extra weight and should be swapped out. I don't find that reasoning to be sound, so I would ignore it.
I think the confusion for me was the old advise that you should rotate your tire after every other oil change. However, that was in the old days when you had to change your oil every 3,000 miles so your tire got rotated at 6,000 miles, which is within the range. Now oil change is every 5K-6K, so tire swap every oil change it is.
Paul
Lots of comments here, based on my own experiences over the years I have a question for members,
I see that many people base there tire rotations on mileage, would it not make more sense to do your rotations based on tire wear??? or another way to put it, rotate based on the differences in tire wear (uneven tire wear) between the 4 tires? Isn't mileage arbitrary? This would assume a 4 tire rotation and would not work well if a person was doing a 5 tire rotation. Like I said in a earlier post, my current P/U truck I have been fortunate enough to do 1 rotation, when the rear tires (which wear slightly quicker than the fronts, being rear wheel drive) are down to about 50 %, the front would still be near 60%, do a front to rear rotation and allow the tires wear down again. at the end of the tire life, all 4 are typically within 1/32 - 2/32". At that point I replace them. My last set of tires were Michelin AT-2 (LT265-70-17) and lasted 103,000 km, 64,000 miles. I did the first and only rotation on that set at 30,000 miles.
My argument here is if I chose to do 5000, or 10,000 mile rotations I would still be replacing them at about the same mileage. I understand this may not work for every application, and doesn't, just showing an example where I believe mileage does not need to dictate rotations. Comments.
Another observation, a high mileage vehicle that gets tire rotations every 5,000 miles, next thing you know the center caps go missing because the threads are worn out and the self tapping fasteners no longer hold and your lug nuts are butchered and need replacement..
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Originally Posted by dubber09
If you don't change tires for winter then just do rotations every second oil change.
If you change for winter - rotations can be done during the tire changes and depending on mileage driven in between changes you can do another rotation/s in between.
Long intervals may be fine for tires that have high UTQG wear rating, something like 700 or more.
Lower wear ratings... at 10,000 miles, especially a FWD car, you'll see more a difference between the front and rear tires.
Having a FWD vehicle that gets driven primarily in the city will wear down the fronts fairly fast.
Yes, I thought the reason for tire rotation was to distributed the wear, since the drive wheel will wear faster. Even on AWD, the weight isn't distributed 50/50 so there would be different wear, too.
After 5000 miles, I don't notice too much difference in wear between the tires, so may be by the time we can notice wear, it's a bit too late?
Paul
