Rotating wheels/tyres - do you or don't you? and why?

[sunrk]

Do you or don't you? If your 80 has the same wheel and tyre for all five wheels (including the spare) do you rotate the wheels through any specific pattern, or not bother?

There's evidence to support both the 'do' and 'dont' case.

The 'do' supporters say it's 'important' to even out tyre wear. The 'dont' supporters say it's a furphy intended to advantage tyre sellers who want you do buy new sets of tyres more often.

 

[BILT4ME]

I DO rotate every 8000 miles or less. If I don't, the tires cup real bad, start to howl, and steering gets weird. Also, the fronts tend to round on the outer corners. My truck is a DD and is on paved roads 99.5% of the time. It is more noticeable on paved roads than dirt or gravel roads.

If I do it properly, I get 25% more mileage out of my set of tires........because I'm working in one more tire......only 4 are on the ground at one time.

I go with the following:
Spare to RR
RR to LF
RF to LR
LR to Spare

I also rotate so the spare is always the same size as the rest of the tires to closely match diameter in the event of a flat since it is a 4x4.

 

[sunrk]

Did you leave out a step?

Spare to RR
RR to LF
LF to RF
RF to LR
LR to spare

Cooper's tyre rotation guide says

Spare to RR
RR to RF
RF to LR
LR to LF
LF to spare

not sure if either is better or worse, just slightly different, and good thing is it's possible to do it all with one jack moved four times.

 

[LS1FJ40]

I do five tire rotation. Seems to work well for me. I don't know how they are rotated because I buy my tires at Discunt Tire and they rotate them for free.

 

[Mrtwooooo]

I do a 5 tire rotations. I believe a tire can go back just from sitting under a vehicle. Its designed to be heat cycled and when its not it will go bad just sitting there. Now you've got a useless tire that you probably spent a good bit of money on. I find that doing a 5 tire rotation is easier than a 4 tire rotation. With 5 tires you're never having to have 2 tires off the truck at once. You only need one floor jack. Plus it gives you an excuse to check the pressure in the spare as well.

 

[Milkm4n]

 

[GW Nugget]

There are arguments on crossing the tires vs. just front to rear keeping same side. This is what my tire guy says... just front to rear, crossing or reverse rotating could cause seperation??? I don't have an opinion of either way yet. Tires should be able to go both ways, in less bias ply & even then don't agree.

 

[Milkm4n]

It's important to have all 4 tires the same height on a awd vehicle. You don't want 3 tires @ 15% and one spare at 100%, can't be good for the transfer case to have one tire rotating at a slightly different speed.

 

[93yotasr5]

I always rotate in my spare for the sake of saving tread life on the rest of my tires and not putting strain on the transfer case. In fact they are getting roasted tomorrow am at Americas tire..... For free!!!

 

[98 SNAKE EATER]

I always buy tires in sets of 5 and use the spare in the rotation using the diagram in the owners manual.

Every manufacturer has a specific rotation guide per their vehicle for a reason.

Only use what they recommend and not what a random universal poster at the tire shop suggests

Due to the road crown, our rigs tend to wear the left front tire slightly faster than the others, so upon the rotation interval, it gets tossed in the spare position to get a little rest

For the same reason, on the RHD rigs across the pond, their rotation diagram is the exact mirror opposite of what we have

I also have my own specific routine when it comes to brand new tires.....

The top layer of the tire always wears a little faster, so I do the first 5 rotation intervals every 1000 miles.

After that, I do the next 5 rotations every 3000 and after that, it gets done every 5000 miles for the rest of their lives (I know, OCD much?)

This pretty much lets each layer of tread wear evenly as possible for each of the 5 tires

I know it's hard to believe sumthin this simple what make a difference at all, but I did manage to get 120,000 miles out of my BFG KM Mud terrains and over 100k out of the replacement KM2 MT's

BFG MT KM2 vs KM treadwear?

Deja Vu with KM2's

Best of all, they still had enough tread for me to sell them on Craigslist for $100 bucks a pop

Currently running 35" D-Tracs with over 100k miles on them and they still look to be in great shape with plenty of tread

 

[Kernal]

I rotate rear straight ahead to front, fronts crossed back to rear (don't use the spare) every 5000-7000 miles, keeping the tire pressure close to max and check it often especially with changes in outside air temp. Gotten well over 100,000 miles out of every set of Michelins I've put on my FZJ80.

 

[BILT4ME]

Did you leave out a step?

Spare to RR
RR to LF
LF to RF
RF to LR
LR to spare

Cooper's tyre rotation guide says

Spare to RR
RR to RF
RF to LR
LR to LF
LF to spare

not sure if either is better or worse, just slightly different, and good thing is it's possible to do it all with one jack moved four times.

Yep! I missed one cause I was using my phone. I do like @98 SNAKE EATER does, without the 1000/3000/5000 part.

 

[93yotasr5]

Good thing I took mine in today. I had a busted valve on my spare. It was completely flat. gotta love Americas Tire Co's services that come with purchase.