Are tyre rotations necessary?

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FCD

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I hear about people always rotating their tyres to make them wear more evenly.
I have never EVER done that, and all the tyres on my cars ahve never had any abnormal wear...
I am getting a new 625$ set of tyres in spring, is it worth trying out??
 
CapriRacer says front tires typically wear at 2.5x the rate of rear tires. I want my tires to wear out at the same time so I do rotations. I also don't want some to be cupping or wearing differently. Often rotations should help this.
 
Yes you should rotate your tires. I do it once a year. I don't have any tire warranty or other reasons to do it more frequently than that. Peace of mind for me.
 
It's not so much abnormal wear, it's so that they wear evenly. Usually the fronts wear a bit more on the edges than the rears due to making turns. Also on front wheel drive cars, the front tires tend to wear a lot more than the rear so instead of having the fronts wear out earlier than the rears, you rotate them. Certain other cars like Mercedes tends to have it set up so that the insides of the tires on the front tends to wear out more so by rotating them to the rear, you get a little more life out of the whole set of tires. I think they've set up the alignment so that it will wear properly if you're doing 100+ on the autobahn, but no one really does that here so everyone complains about the insides wearing out and there's no adjustment for it.
 
I don't rotate tires. They last well past their warranty period. However, if upon inspection, I'd rotate them if they were wearing unevenly.
 
Its uncommon common sense... You can see and feel tire wear if you look and feel the tires. If they are wearing uneven or oddly rotate them, fix component or alignment issue
 
With rear wheel drive they tend to wear more even (closer to the same rate)

but the fronts will wear on the edges from cornering. so its best to rotate.
also will prevent some tires from getting noisy.
 
I dont really see the point. It seems like unnecessary labor to me. If nothing is abnormal and, the kicker, it doesnt make the ride any smoother or the suspension last longer then why.

Some cars use directional tires and on top of that, some cars have different sized fronts as they do rears- so each tire corner is specific- but these are usually sports cars and are rare.


Now, if you like to have a look-see, then yes. You can examine the treads, inner wheel, brakes, suspension, etc, etc. this is about the only worthwhile reason in my opinion to rotate.
 
Yup but accidentally when switching from summer to winter and back. I just dig through for the best two and stick them up front.

I get 1/32 or 2/32 wear every six months so it's not like it's so far out I'm going to spin out.
 
Necessary? I suppose it depends on how you define it in terms of practical use. I do it for several reasons. The first is that I purchase all my tires at Discount Tire and they recommend it be done every 5-6k miles. It's also part of the DT tire installation package. So, doing it as recommended keeps my tire tread life warranty in force at DT. And that's come in handy when tires haven't gotten the warrantied tread life, I've gotten a nice DT adjustment towards a new set of tires.

So to keep the tire treadwear warranty in force at DT, rotations are necessary.

Also, it's said to help balance out any minor tread wear differences between front and rear tire wear. Since it's free anyway, certainly doesn't hurt ime.

One side benefit is, with each tire rotation and balance I get to inspect the brake pads for wear. It's a no lose 'for me'.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
CapriRacer says front tires typically wear at 2.5x the rate of rear tires.

Only with front wheel drive, or heavily forward-biased all wheel drive.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
CapriRacer says front tires typically wear at 2.5x the rate of rear tires.

Only with front wheel drive, or heavily forward-biased all wheel drive.
wink.gif



Agree, other than that it is an opportunity to get you car up on a hoist and sell you something.
 
The only 'way' I could imagine getting a real benefit is would be that the tire manufacturers intend the rubber to spend half its life spinning one way and the other half spinning the other, (CW and CCW).

Thinking about it, possibly the belts or sidewall, maybe even the tread could benefit. Longer treadlife, better roadgrip, quieter smoother ride, less chance of fatigue. Although I doubt it, because it doesn't seem to make sense that reversing a tire's directional would prove beneficial.

I think I started a thread about a year ago on this.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4197327/Rotating_for_tire_health#Post4197327
 
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
The only 'way' I could imagine getting a real benefit is would be that the tire manufacturers intend the rubber to spend half its life spinning one way and the other half spinning the other, (CW and CCW).

Thinking about it, possibly the belts or sidewall, maybe even the tread could benefit. Longer treadlife, better roadgrip, quieter smoother ride, less chance of fatigue. Although I doubt it, because it doesn't seem to make sense that reversing a tire's directional would prove beneficial.

I think I started a thread about a year ago on this.

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4197327/Rotating_for_tire_health#Post4197327


Some tire rotations are on the same side, just exchange front and rear, as is the case with directional tires...
 
Never seen a car that wears the tread 100% evenly across the tread, or favours one corner over another.

Rotation gets them all to the same place at the same time, and evidence is the life before you have to replace the set.

Nothing worse than getting rid of a spare ten years in with 300 miles on it.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Yup but accidentally when switching from summer to winter and back. I just dig through for the best two and stick them up front.

I get 1/32 or 2/32 wear every six months so it's not like it's so far out I'm going to spin out.



I thought the best treads are on the rear, at least with FWD. If you buy two new tires from Costco, they insist (or used to) that the new ones are on the rear.
 
My car is RWD and wears the rears first, though not by as much as my old M3 did...

I have winter and 3-season wheel sets, so I swap twice a year. The main thing for me is to make sure that the rear tires have equal tread depth (to save diff wear and prevent odd torque biasing effects). If I can do that while putting the more-worn tires on the front axle, that's what I do. Otherwise, I don't.

Yes, if you put your newer tires on the rear, the car's handling will be more stable. The flip side is that it might not brake as well in a straight line. As someone who has at least some ability to cope with oversteer, I call that a wash -- but I can understand why many people would prefer the more stable handling.
 
except that we are required to drive on one side of the road - and like a horse that's exercised in only one direction, there will be more wear and tear on one side than the other - and in fact, will actually wear muscles and eventually bone growth down accordingly if not alternated to a different direction regularly.

look at the roads once in a while - the shoulder side is much more prone to bumps, potholes, nails and other uneven surface material. tires on the outside will wear faster, suffer more abuse.

so just rotate your tires and be done with it - then look at them for specific wear, you could need an alignment too!
 
Originally Posted By: csandste
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Yup but accidentally when switching from summer to winter and back. I just dig through for the best two and stick them up front.

I get 1/32 or 2/32 wear every six months so it's not like it's so far out I'm going to spin out.



I thought the best treads are on the rear, at least with FWD. If you buy two new tires from Costco, they insist (or used to) that the new ones are on the rear.


From day two of ownership you wouldn't be allowed to rotate if you followed those rules.
 
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