lowelcam

I just paid $30 for a tire rotation and $11 for oil filter. (The delaler included resetting the pressure sensors for free.)

Why do we rotate tires? Is it for even wear on all tires? I honestly do not want my tires "evenly worn" because I'll end up buying four 17" tires instead of two worn ones.

Please don't flame me, educate me.

FromThisSoil

First of all, yea, $30 for a tire rotation is a rip off.

You can do it yourself if you have a half hour and places like Mavis Discount Tire will do it for $11.99.

We rotate our tires so they wear evenly and that extends the overall life of the tire.

$11 for an oil filter is insane. You can order 10 of them from TRD Spark for $34 I think it is.

Also, a monkey can reset the tire pressure monitoring system, they didn't do you a favor. Check out your manual and you can do it for yourself.

kdog_1981

Tire rotation is an important maintenance duty that extends the life of your tires and ensures safe driving. We'll take a look at this simple but effective procedure.

Whether you plan on doing the job yourself or having it performed by a certified mechanic, it's important to know why we rotate our tires. So why do it in the first place? Simple. The front and rear tires wear at different rates.

Think about it. All that parallel parking. All those three-point turns. With each turn of the steering wheel, pressure is bought to bear on the front tires. (This is even more accentuated in front-wheel-drive cars, where the front wheels also supply the main motive power for the vehicle.) Resistance causes friction, which in turn produces heat. The result? The front tires wear quicker than the rears.

Because of this, it's necessary to rotate the tires front-to-rear several times during their life cycle to 1) equalize tread wear and 2) maximize the life of the tires. This is what we refer to when we say "rotate the tires."

Rotating generally does not refer to either of the following actions:


Exchanging tires on the same axle -- for example, swapping the rear tires left to right
Criss-crossing tires -- moving a tire from the passenger's side rear to the driver's side front
There's a good reason for this. Tires develop wear patterns as they age. Some of these patterns are tied to the suspension system and the alignment. That's why we keep the tires on the same side of the car.


The financial benefit of rotating tires is that you'll increase the useful life of the tire. But if you pay more than about $20, you'll probably wipe out any savings you might have gained.

Instead, ask your mechanic to rotate your tires when they're already off your car for another service, such as a brake repair. That way, you won't have to pay extra — unless your mechanic is a jerk.

lowelcam

Thanks guys for your response, but how will my rear tires increase their usefullnes if they are rotated to the front and subjected to all those conditions?

This is what I've been thinking;
1. If I keep the rear tires at the rear, it should last longer.
2. If I do not rotate the tires, only the front tires will wear first, thus buying only two new tires, instead of 4 evenly worn ones.
3. If the front tires wear out @ 40K miles, and I didn't rotate, I'd save $240. That's enough to buy 2 new 17" tires.
4. If I don't rotate my tires, and there are uneven wear. It would be a good indication of suspensions,steering or balance problems covered under warranty.
5. I'm pretty sure my dealer doesn't cover tires as a warranty, they always refer you to the manufacturer.(<-I know this for sure.)
6. If I rotate, The threads and lug nuts will wear out too.

I'm not being cheap or anything, but there must be a reason for tire rotation other than "even wear."

Max

If you are worried about wear on your lugs, you are way too paranoid.

You bring up some good points, and I do not have the answers to all of them.

I want my tires to wear evenly as I want to replace them all with something better, and there is no way I will roll with two different types of tires on my car.

ravidavi

Woah man ... $30 for a tire rotation?! That's highway robbery! Heck I think that even $20 is too much. I'd say do it yourself since a tire rotation is easier than an oil change (imo). However, I understand that some people just aren't mechanically inclined, so you can still take it to ANYONE BUT THE DEALER and have it done for like $10 or so. Under that price, it obviously is worth it to get the tires rotated since $80 will not buy you 2 new 17" tires.

Ravi

SquallLHeart

^^ x2... besides... i'd think it'd be safer for even wear on all 4 tires.

BLAKOUT

Learn to do it yourself and you can keep the $ I wish states would require people to demonstrate that they can properly maintain their cars before they are allowed to get a license. It is scary to see how many people can't change a tire.

Driving on mismatched tires is never a good idea. I prefer to keep mine roatated and wearing evenly. That way I can get the most life out of all 4 and replace them with a matched set.

I didn't even wait for my stock tires to wear out before upgrading. My first stop after picking up my xB was Goodyear to have a set of Assurance triple treads put on. The stock tires are fine for dry roads, but I wouldn't want them in heavy rain or on snow and ice.

ElChupacabra

Rotating your tires is better than not doing it. Thats the bottom line and there is enough evidence here to back that up already...

Nick06tC

Ok this will end up to be a long post i think but look at it this way. (all numbers are hypothetical)

If you have 20,000 mile tires on the car, and you never rotate the tires. The rears will last say 25,000miles because they arent used for accelerating the car or steering. Ok now the fronts may last only 15,000 miles because they have been exposed to all the elements for the time of use.
Now at 15,000 miles you replace the front tires. You get 15,000 more miles out of them and replace them again. In this time you have replaced the front tires twice and the back tires once. and are sitting at 30,000 miles on the car. and 6 tires bought.

If you had of rotated the tires the fronts would have lasted 20,000 miles and the backs would have lasted 20,000 miles. So at your 30,000 mile mark you will only have bought 4 tires. The tires will have the same amount of wear all around and not be mismatched. You wont have to pay to have them mounted as often and the tires over all will last longer. Ever notice a tire RARELY wears evenly. rotate them front to back and they should wear more even and possibly last longer than that 20,000 mile mark.


I hope that makes SOME sense. But look at it this way. If it really wasnt good to rotate tires, dont you think someone in the last 60 years would have made a HUGE issue ot of it?

zberch

Tire Rotation is free at most all tire shops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ravidavi

Hey nick,

Your reasoning is slightly flawed, and here's why. Suppose you're at 40k miles. If you hadn't rotated your tires, you would have changed the front ones twice and the rear ones once ... a total of 6 tires. Whereas if you had rotated, you would've changed all tires twice ... a total of 8 tires ... so at this instant rotating is worse than not rotating. In fact, you can always find some mileage at which it would've been better to rotate or not rotate, because in both cases the average tire life is the same.

In reality, tire life doesn't just "average out" due to rotation. By this I mean, if your tires are rated for 20k miles, then by not rotating the fronts might get 14k and the rears 24k ... the average of which is *less* than 20k. By rotating, however, each tire will last for 20k. This is why we say rotating tires extends their life.

Ravi

Nick06tC

Yes you will have those instances where one outweighs tthe other as far as milage, but you also have to look at what type of tread is remaing and how soon the next one comes up for the change. The numbers were hypothetical and to try and show that while the rears might last a long time, you will be replacing the fronts more often than needed. And you will be hurting safety and reliability because you will have more miles driven at a low tread depth. the more you replace tires, the more miles you spend driving with a tire that is close to being needed replaced.
Meaning at 30,000 miles you will have had two instances at which your front tires were unfit for driving and needing replaced.

Nick06tC

exactly, and its ALWAYS free in your driveway!

lowelcam

Actually, by saying rotating tires extends their life is misleading. Rotating tires promotes even wear on all four/five tires...but I'm sure the auto industry makes us believe that it extends their life.

Thanks, everyone for your effort and thought.
I've done a little research on my tC last night about our tires and tire rotation.
1. My Yokohama tires recommend tire rotation every 7,500 miles under normal cond.
Pamphlet was included in the car. (As oppose to Scion 5k rotation)
2. Yokohama tires have a warranty period of 4 years, pro rated.


But Once again, I'm knitpicking on this subject. I will change my rotation interval to 7,500 miles (for safety sake.)

And NO, in Los Angeles, CA, I can't take my new 2007 to a tire shop and expect a free tire rotation.

surfcity40

imo, we rotate tires for safety purposes. tires have a life expectancy on their "wear" based upon being the drive wheel or not being the drive wheel. leave your tires off the drive and they'll last longer. leave them on and they'll wear quicker.

you'll get the mileage "as a set of tires" regardless of where they are mounted. it works itself out. leave a pair in front and they'll wear twice as quickly. leave them on the rear and they'll last through a front replacement (but not until the next front replacement, imo).

the issue is tread wear as it relates to safety. you rotate so that you keep the safest tread in the front. you don't burn your front tires down to being unsafe then replace them to save money on buying four tires.

this ain't rocket science. i could wear my front tires down to slicks and have two great rear tires.....and that saves me money? I do it this way...(and don't recommend anyone else do this btw)I left the yokos in the front for 15k and the tread was still reasonable. rotated and now I'm at 30k and there is really no more wear on the rears and the fronts still have about 10 to 15k on them.

Bsmntcuts

Rotating tires at the "recommended" 5000 miles is a scam. But u should rotate them eventually.

bB2NER

Rotating your tires on a regular basis extends the life because as tires wear they tend to wear faster if left alone. The fronts wear more quickly because they carry a heavier load, steer the car and transmit the power to the ground. That's an awful lot to expect of tires for the whole life of the tire. If you keep them inflated properly, rebalanced and rotated you will see longer life from the whole set. It just makes good financial sense to keep up the maintenance on them. For your safety and those that share the road with you. Also with better fuel mileage and performance from those tires. You can't force people to do the right things for their cars. You can only give them the facts and let them make an educated decision.

OldYeller

It is usually free when you have purchased the tires there. The other thing that must be considered is that tire designs can become discontinued and then you would be forced to have a mismatched set.

Tomas

How your vehicle handles (and how safe it is for others) very much depends on tire traction. Equal traction on all tires is what your vehicle's chassis is designed for.

READ THIS

Thank you.

Tomas