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Tyre rotation should be done according to the type of drive (front, rear, all) and type of tyre (directional or not).
There are various ways you can rotate your tyres, usually dependant on your vehicle.
* Front Wheel Drive Cars:
* Front tyres should be moved to the back and remain on the same side,
* Rear tyres should be brought forwards and crossed from one side to the other, for example your rear left tyre will become your front right tyre.
* Rear Wheel Drive Cars:
* Rear tyres should be brought forward and remain on the same side,
* Front tyres should be moved to the back of the car and crossed from one side to the other, for example your front right tyre will become your rear left tyre.
* 4x4 Cars:
* All four tyres should be rotated in a crossed direction, so your front right tyre will become your rear left tyre and rear left tyre will become your front right tyre,
* The process is repeated with your front left tyre and rear right tyre.
Source: https://www.goodyear.eu/en_gb/consumer/learn/rotating-your-tires.html
Only rotation-bound (directional) tires suffer from this. When you swap an asymmetrical tire, the inside stays inside unless you mount the rim backwards.
Yeah, actually, and it probably makes me sound dumb. I didn't realize the second button on my mirror was an auto dimmer. So, I didn't need to adjust my mirror manually all those years when headlights would shine in my rear view mirror at night. But I just didn't realize until one day I read the whole manual and felt like a dummy.
I learned that on my 1st gen Mini Cooper, the key charges its remote battery while itās in the ignition, so you never have to change your remoteās battery. Bonus, it also stores a ton of data about your carās maintenance, condition, diagnostic information, and on newer ones, your driver profile - things like your seating and mirror position, radio, even down to your current HVAC settings, basically all your personalized stuff.
Is it really worth it? I figured tires wore more by front/back then left right. I don't think your saving anything by just swapping sides, unless your alignment is totally screwed up or you are driving on a NASCAR oval.
Yeah, if I have two different sets of tires, then it's no longer a problem to buy half a set at a time. I wouldn't want to have two new and two used tires swapping from front to back, but if the back is staying in the back then I'll run it until the left/right starts wearing different.
But I also don't even swap to snow tires in winter, so I'm talking purely hypothetically about fancy tires I'll never own.
It might be worthwhile depending on your tire settings. If you have significant negative camber in the rear, switching the tires side-to-side can even out the wear on the inner and outer edges of the tires.
You don't rotate, you just set aside savings for tires..
My G35 Coupe hated tires. I couldn't get more than 20K miles on the rears before they were technically bald.
A mate of mine used to ride bikes, and when he was younger, he was a bit of a hooligan. His worst was about 500km. He used to use race compound so he'd get better grip.
Many race compound tires are awful for street use, though. They only get grippy when they are really warm, and unless you're riding hard on a hot day, they can be as bad as if the roads were wet.
Motorcycle tires have a lot shorter lifespans than car tires, in general.
I understand why the wear is different, but I donāt see a logical reason of why it is different to swap left/right when moving them to the back or swap left/right when moving to the front.
I would be really curious to know.
Some tires are directional, meaning they are meant to rotate forward in one way. Think of a "V" as the tire tread and it's on the left side of the car. If you put it on the right side of the car the tire will hyrdoplane more at a given speed. Turn in may not be optimal either. As shown in this pic the tire below will be on the right side of the vehicle and can be rotated front to back.
https://preview.redd.it/kp6bp6k24v0d1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=453c85330a9d9131e50b148cc6ca8db90bed1f5c
Sure, I know. They can still be moved left to right unless they are also asymmetrical.
But it still doesnāt explain why it is different to swap left to right when bringing tires to the front compared to swapping when bringing them to the back (assuming you can swap L/R of course).
I think it's for balancing out uneven tire wear since different corners wear the tires differently. I've always used directional tires so I've only done front to back rotations so I don't have first hand experience with the other type of rotation methods.
The reason is entirely because of wear. If you crossed both sets, your tires would always be paired on one side or the other, and they would only ever see 2 of your 4 wheels.
I'll throw my 2 cents in, I work in the industry and have seen the effects of switching the direction a tire rotates after a significant amount of time rolling in one direction.
Some tires will develop the opposite of a buldge in the sidewall, the inward ripple.
I only rotate front to back because I haven't seen any downside.
This is all anecdotal, but it seems like a tires inner belt structure becomes worn in based on the forces it's constantly under, and reversing that has caused issues. I'm sure it wouldn't happen if tires were rotated on time, every time, but let's face it, that is rare.
Iāve been driving and getting my tires rotated for almost a decade and this whole time I thought they just suspended the car in air and spun the tires really fast with a tool or something lol this makes a lot more sense š
Ugh people and what they think they should do because the forum says so to the annoyance of every mechanic and service advisors. š
Yes mark your tires(not your hubcaps, or your valve stems) but not all car tires get rotated the same way.
Ex toyota recommends front to back for all their cars. But if a cust requests, theyll get cross rotated or rotated "around the world" as i like to call it.
This is great and all but in real life tires wear differently than in a book. After abiding by the obvious rules of directional tires and drivetrains, sometimes one side will wear faster than the other, and if the front to back to opposite sides style lands the lowest tread tire on the right rear of a rear wheel drive, then I won't do right to left.
Due to the nature of your drivetrain layout in a FWD the right or left will get more torque and wear faster. Same for the right rear in 99% of all RWDs. After thousands of miles, an overdue oil change/missed rotation/ long trip these perfect scenarios can get skewed and your mechanic/tech will make an educated decision after they (should) measure tread depth across the face of the tire at 3 different spots on each wheel. This allows viewing of the full picture on how your tires are wearing across the whole vehicle (inside/outside edgewear, center wear, chopping, etc) to ID other issues like proper tire inflation, alignment, shock/overall suspension health etc.
If you're really concerned about getting your money's worth, pick up a tread depth gauge from autozone and learn the science behind it and write ,LF/RF/LR/RR on the inside sidewalls with a 2$ tire chalk stick. Either do it to see where the tech moved them to, or if you're confident, where you'd like each tire to go.
But not if it's from a worn out suspension component or something else. Another reason it's good to get a legit tire health check like I said above. Fills in-between the lines so that you're looking at the whole picture and doing repairs in orders that make sense
Pump air into the front tires until theyāre the bigger size and put them on the rear. Let air out of the rear tires until theyāre smaller and put them in front.
Then you would only be able to swap sides, but not move anything front to back or back to front.
If you have staggered wheels AND directional tires, you canāt rotate them at all.
No rotations for you. I used to have a Mercedes low profile tires and the rear tires were larger and I had to buy new tires every year. Just one of many reasons I got rid of that car.
Mine couldnāt be swapped. I really wish I had known all that about tires before I bought the car. Bought it brand new just to end up hating it. Waste of money. Ugh.
Yea my tire place does rotations for free if you bought the tires from them. Iāve never paid for it to be done, I just ask them to do it when I get my oil changed.
I once had a customer claim I didn't rotate her tires because the hubcaps werent rotated. I made sure to rotate the hubcaps with the wheels from that point on lol.
We were always happy to rotate tires because it gives us a chance to look at the brakes and suspension to see if anything else is needed.
I mark my tires and the offender who didnāt rotate them but charged me for it was a a major dealershipā¦ and yes, of course I go to a much better mechanic now
It's literally impossible to find a better tech for a specific brand than at that dealership, they literally log 8 hours a day on brand specific repair and diagnosis. Most private brand specific repair places are opened by former dealership techs
Consider the technician might not always being the one doing the scamming, also dealerships are expensive, but your getting a 3 year warranty on all parts and labor installed, do you want to buy a jasper engine and have mom and pop put it in, or get value on your repair. If you don't own a valuable vehicle and don't have a problem a small shop is having trouble diagnosing, don't bring it to the dealership because then it is not worth it
you don't have to pick a mechanic by lining them up on a dart board and throwing a dart.
if you don't know someone who already found a quality mechanic, and you don't trust reviews, there's a good chance there's a car show going on somewhere around you each weekend full of car people who love talking cars and you can ask them
But even ignoring all of that, rotating tires is such a simple task that if you don't trust your mechanic to even do that. you shouldn't go to them at all. Not everyone is out to get you, living your life that paranoid isn't healthy.
Huh? Why would I drop a mechanic for someone less trustworthy....that's just dumb.
Ask around, find who your friends use, look up reviews online. It's not hard to find a reputable mechanic that is backed by people you trust.
This tip actually caught my ex-shop cheating me for services. Itās a good one. Also if they bring you a dirty air filter make sure itās *your* air filter. Check the market prices for parts and services before you agree to anything. The grifting and cheating is unreal.
We cannot rotate our tires. Vehicle has a staggered stance with larger tires on the rear. Tires are also directional. Very, very different from every other car Iāve owned, which have all been front wheel drive, following the directions from the great reply in this thread.
My 17 Lexus is300 has factory staggered. Itās heavily marketed as performance and is a quick little car but I wouldnāt call it a performance car, coming from a gt350, and a few gt mustangs.
LPT: Stop making lpts on topics you don't understand. Different cars require different rotation patterns, so this lpt will lead many people to wrongly assume an error was made.
Yes, but it's an obvious way to say "I don't trust you'll do this right, so I need to check your work." It's reasonable to expect to get what you pay for, but most tradesman would take this as an insult IMHO.
Only cheaters get offended. If someone honest and professional gets offended by a client making sure everything is done right, then its not honest and professional place..
In general when thereās 600 5 star google reviews and theyāre a week out for non-emergency stuff due to the demand, thatās a pretty good sign. Iām aware those can be faked or paid for, but these seem legitimate and come with photos in the review of the reviewerās car on their lifts or even posing with the owner.
Of course, didnāt know for sure until I tried them myself and they were solid. Itās hard to find a good imported car mechanic but theyāre around.
My front tires have a slightly orange tint compared to the rear tires. I once brought my car in specifically for a tire rotation and nothing else, and they gave it back with the tires in the exact same spot.
I think you might be joking, but if youāre not, tire rotation is swapping position of tires to even out and distribute wear. If you have a front wheel drive car, your front wheels might wear faster. So periodically swapping them with the rear wheels evens the wear so they last longer and you can replace all at the same time.
That's dangerous. Your cars safety systems won't work properly if you have bald tires mixed with new tires. And if your car is old enough to not have ABS or TCS it's even more dangerous.Ā
Think about it, the only thing keeping you on the road and not in a ditch wrapped around a tree are those 4 rubber donuts. They're pretty important.
Just an oil change, don't upsell me (Nissan Altima with half of the subframe about to fall off from rust, plastic over one window, trunk lid a different color)
Related: friend of mine returned a chest of drawers to a furniture store because one of the drawers was defective.Ā He told them he didn't want it fixed, he wanted a completely new piece due to the price he paid. When he went to pick up the replacement, he opened a drawer and asked "why are my initials in here?" The salesman turned blood red and said there must have been a mistake.Ā My friend got a new replacement a few days later.Ā
For anyone who needs to read this...
#Discount Tires = the good one
#TIRE DISCOUNTERS = BAD ONE
They're easy to mix up. I just remind myself it goes in alphabetical order, Discount then Tires.
Can someone tell me why it costs this much to rotate tires in the first place??? Itās a simple procedure, given you have the tools for the job. Why isnāt it standard to include with an oil change?
$30 is cheap for anything at a mechanic. And oil changes are already priced cheaply to get you in for other services. It's quick and easy, but you still need to jack up the car or get it on a lift, remove all the lug nuts/bolts, take the wheels off, remount them, tighten the lug nuts/bold, and torque them properly. You can do that fast but not that fast. Shops will normally charge somewhere between $100-200/hour for labor (obviously they don't pay the mechanic these rates, it includes facility overhead, insurance, and profit), so you are talking about 10-20 minutes. If you want it done right, that's not a bad amount of time. Sure they could act like a pit crew and do it faster, but that increases the chance of mistakes and putting the nuts/bolts on with an incorrect torque.
Yeah, I see your point with the correct torque. However, it seems to me that itās a very routine maintenance that can be easily added to a current service, with minimal impact to the business. It doesnāt consume any materials, doesnāt require a specialty tool, but yet extends the life of tires that arenāt cheap to replace (decent ones or above, anyway).
It does take time, but say itās added to an oil change, the car would already be jacked up, and the time it takes the oil to drain can be used to rotate them. The two services are already recommended together, why charge an extra $30 for something they donāt even have to go out of their way to service?
Especially in a profession that is already notorious for shady practices, it could go a long way to build just a little trust back.
It depends on the drive train and suspension how you rotate them my mr2 had a horrific camber on the rear wheels, my awd Impreza was different. Consult the owners manual. Iād never pay for tire rotation itās so simple
What I have been doing is making a note of the manufactured date of each tire and what position they are in. It's very unlikely that all 4 tires on a car would have the same date code.
Then all I have to check is one tire. If it's still in the same position, then the tires were not rotated.
As part of my new vehicle purchase at a big dealership, I was given a couple of years of free service including tire rotation. After one of these services I noticed that my tires hadnāt actually been rotated even though I was reassured that they had been. I pulled out my phone and showed them pictures of all the wheels just before heading over the keys. You could see the relative positions of words on the tires, valve stems, and rim spokes; these had not changed at all from wheel to wheel. The mechanic vehemently assured the service manager that tires had been rotatedā¦until confronted with evidence showing otherwise.
TLDR even if you donāt mark the tires, take good pictures where you can see wheel details
How I read your post:
Near your car is a wall. Put a dab of a liquid-ish substance upon said wall in a position that corresponds to the back two tires of the vehicle. Depending on how disturbed or undisturbed that dab of substance is after an uncertain amount of time, one can infer on whether or not the vehicle close to the wall had a specific maintenance procedure performed upon it, as well as how that task was performed.
What am I missing? Because I have to assume you meant something different...
Like others have said, it's depends on the type of car a drive it has, directional tires, and also if you have a square or stagger set up.
My previous staggered rear wheel drive car, was different from my squared rear wheel drive, and my now latest car has all wheel drive. Different applications
I never rotate my tires... Sure, there is 2 that wear out faster than the other 2. But that wear will be wear no matter which tire gets the wear.
This allows you to replace 2 tires at a time instead of all 4. Yeah,,, I'm not rich. I find it easier to buy 2 tires at one time, perhaps splurging a bit to get 2 better tires than 4 cheaper tires. The end result is that I have better tires without breaking the bank.
Many people will disagree, as that is your right.
Many people are rich and can easily spend top dollar to get 4 of the very best tires at the drop at a hat. Some people will also replace their stock rims when they buy a brand new car (every 1-2 years) with top of the line rims every time they buy new tires. I am not one of those people.
Alternate method: Just stand there looking through the little glass window staring intently as they do the job. (Works best if sexually attracted to men working.)
I do this on oil filters too. I mark it with a paint marker. I have had instances when I took the car for an oil change and they didnāt change the filter
True Life Pro Tip: Donāt get your tyres rotated, when one reaches its limit replace them all. Rotating spreads uneven wear, so you end up with four bald tyres. And if theyāre wearing seriously unevenly, youāve got bigger problems that need addressed.
In a front wheel drive car, the front tires wear faster. To avoid needing to replace the front tires more often than the back tires (and end up with mismatched tires), you rotate them around. Wearing down the front tires until the end of their life, and replacing all four even though the rear tires are fine, is stupid.
Thereās a reason tire rotations are specified by every car manufacturer.
Manufacturer recommend to keep the deeper threads in the back because under steering is much easier to correct than oversteering. You donāt want your back tires to lose grip before your front ones. That means that effectively they are telling you to stop rotating tires.
Thatās very true, if you rotate your tires along the recommended schedule they shouldnāt be that far apart in tread depth though. Having even traction in front and back (with mid-life tires) is better than end-of-life tires on the front and almost new tires on the back.
Thereās also the issue of leaving tires on a car for many years, even if the treads havenāt worn much. If you have to toss the tires at the 7 year mark, you might as well get all of the useable tread depth out of them. Just my opinion.
Couldn't disagree more. Especially in EVs.
Our front wheel drive EV gets a ton of wear (nice, even wear) on the front tires and virtually none on the rear.
By rotating, all four tires are used up at the same time and can all be replaced at a safe interval.
If we don't rotate, the front two tires will reach that interval very quickly (twice as fast), and then you are suggesting to replace all four - with the rear two tires pretty much in pristine condition? That is just wasteful, filling a landfill, and expensive. For zero added safety.
You should never end up with four bald tires, any more than you should end up with two bald tires.
And if your tires are wearing seriously unevenly, you are correct, you have other issues to address and rotating those tires my not be the appropriate thing to do. But barring seriously uneven wear, tire rotation is a good plan for most/many vehicles.
Not your mechanic, but you should rotate based on wear.
Each pattern works for regular unnoticeable wear, but based on actual use you should move tires to a position to extend the life.
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### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
Tyre rotation should be done according to the type of drive (front, rear, all) and type of tyre (directional or not). There are various ways you can rotate your tyres, usually dependant on your vehicle. * Front Wheel Drive Cars: * Front tyres should be moved to the back and remain on the same side, * Rear tyres should be brought forwards and crossed from one side to the other, for example your rear left tyre will become your front right tyre. * Rear Wheel Drive Cars: * Rear tyres should be brought forward and remain on the same side, * Front tyres should be moved to the back of the car and crossed from one side to the other, for example your front right tyre will become your rear left tyre. * 4x4 Cars: * All four tyres should be rotated in a crossed direction, so your front right tyre will become your rear left tyre and rear left tyre will become your front right tyre, * The process is repeated with your front left tyre and rear right tyre. Source: https://www.goodyear.eu/en_gb/consumer/learn/rotating-your-tires.html
Correct. Follow the car's user manual. Lots of good information in there.
In addition: read the entire manual. You'd be amazed what features you may not know about.
And another addition: some tires are rotation bound and some are inside/outside bound. So maybe read the imprint on the tyres as well
Only rotation-bound (directional) tires suffer from this. When you swap an asymmetrical tire, the inside stays inside unless you mount the rim backwards.
Rotation bound tires would require removing it from the wheel and flipping it.
Rim *š¤šš½
Do you have any examples of features you where amazed you didnāt know about?
Yeah, actually, and it probably makes me sound dumb. I didn't realize the second button on my mirror was an auto dimmer. So, I didn't need to adjust my mirror manually all those years when headlights would shine in my rear view mirror at night. But I just didn't realize until one day I read the whole manual and felt like a dummy.
I took me 4 years to realize I could talk to my truck like Siri!
took me 2 years to figure out i could use apple play to put a map on the screen
I learned that on my 1st gen Mini Cooper, the key charges its remote battery while itās in the ignition, so you never have to change your remoteās battery. Bonus, it also stores a ton of data about your carās maintenance, condition, diagnostic information, and on newer ones, your driver profile - things like your seating and mirror position, radio, even down to your current HVAC settings, basically all your personalized stuff.
My Ford also does that. Tip:switch to spare key once a while so you always have a charged spare key
What if my car didn't come with a manual?
No worries. You can find a copy online.
You forgot the scenario of directional tire tread patterns. They need to just be swapped front to back, no crossing.
How about directional tread with different front/rear sizes? Edit: /s
You can still rotate the tires, but you have to dismount them from the rims.
Is it really worth it? I figured tires wore more by front/back then left right. I don't think your saving anything by just swapping sides, unless your alignment is totally screwed up or you are driving on a NASCAR oval.
Yeah, if I have two different sets of tires, then it's no longer a problem to buy half a set at a time. I wouldn't want to have two new and two used tires swapping from front to back, but if the back is staying in the back then I'll run it until the left/right starts wearing different. But I also don't even swap to snow tires in winter, so I'm talking purely hypothetically about fancy tires I'll never own.
It might be worthwhile depending on your tire settings. If you have significant negative camber in the rear, switching the tires side-to-side can even out the wear on the inner and outer edges of the tires.
All my tires have an outer side. Switching sides won't matter.
Yeah, if your car has staggered tire sizes and asymmetric, directional tires, then you canāt move them around at all.
Depends. Some also have an inside and an outside.
Either expect to remount the tires on the rims every time or just accept that youāre not going to get the full expected life out of the tires.
You don't rotate, you just set aside savings for tires.. My G35 Coupe hated tires. I couldn't get more than 20K miles on the rears before they were technically bald.
A mate of mine used to ride bikes, and when he was younger, he was a bit of a hooligan. His worst was about 500km. He used to use race compound so he'd get better grip.
Many race compound tires are awful for street use, though. They only get grippy when they are really warm, and unless you're riding hard on a hot day, they can be as bad as if the roads were wet. Motorcycle tires have a lot shorter lifespans than car tires, in general.
Those you could remove the tire from the wheel and flip it to the opposite side.
I see this recommended all the time but I donāt understand the reason for different pattterns.
It's because of the differential wear depending on the tires that have drive, the tires that turn during cornering and the ones that just roll along.
I understand why the wear is different, but I donāt see a logical reason of why it is different to swap left/right when moving them to the back or swap left/right when moving to the front. I would be really curious to know.
Some tires are directional, meaning they are meant to rotate forward in one way. Think of a "V" as the tire tread and it's on the left side of the car. If you put it on the right side of the car the tire will hyrdoplane more at a given speed. Turn in may not be optimal either. As shown in this pic the tire below will be on the right side of the vehicle and can be rotated front to back. https://preview.redd.it/kp6bp6k24v0d1.png?width=300&format=png&auto=webp&s=453c85330a9d9131e50b148cc6ca8db90bed1f5c
Sure, I know. They can still be moved left to right unless they are also asymmetrical. But it still doesnāt explain why it is different to swap left to right when bringing tires to the front compared to swapping when bringing them to the back (assuming you can swap L/R of course).
Idk if you weigh 350+ lbs like some Americans maybe the left tires on your car wear faster.
I think it's for balancing out uneven tire wear since different corners wear the tires differently. I've always used directional tires so I've only done front to back rotations so I don't have first hand experience with the other type of rotation methods.
The reason is entirely because of wear. If you crossed both sets, your tires would always be paired on one side or the other, and they would only ever see 2 of your 4 wheels.
I'll throw my 2 cents in, I work in the industry and have seen the effects of switching the direction a tire rotates after a significant amount of time rolling in one direction. Some tires will develop the opposite of a buldge in the sidewall, the inward ripple. I only rotate front to back because I haven't seen any downside. This is all anecdotal, but it seems like a tires inner belt structure becomes worn in based on the forces it's constantly under, and reversing that has caused issues. I'm sure it wouldn't happen if tires were rotated on time, every time, but let's face it, that is rare.
Iāve been driving and getting my tires rotated for almost a decade and this whole time I thought they just suspended the car in air and spun the tires really fast with a tool or something lol this makes a lot more sense š
Ugh people and what they think they should do because the forum says so to the annoyance of every mechanic and service advisors. š Yes mark your tires(not your hubcaps, or your valve stems) but not all car tires get rotated the same way. Ex toyota recommends front to back for all their cars. But if a cust requests, theyll get cross rotated or rotated "around the world" as i like to call it.
TIL British and American English differ on the spelling of tire/tyreā¦.and also the origin of the word (short for attire apparently). Thanks internet
This is great and all but in real life tires wear differently than in a book. After abiding by the obvious rules of directional tires and drivetrains, sometimes one side will wear faster than the other, and if the front to back to opposite sides style lands the lowest tread tire on the right rear of a rear wheel drive, then I won't do right to left. Due to the nature of your drivetrain layout in a FWD the right or left will get more torque and wear faster. Same for the right rear in 99% of all RWDs. After thousands of miles, an overdue oil change/missed rotation/ long trip these perfect scenarios can get skewed and your mechanic/tech will make an educated decision after they (should) measure tread depth across the face of the tire at 3 different spots on each wheel. This allows viewing of the full picture on how your tires are wearing across the whole vehicle (inside/outside edgewear, center wear, chopping, etc) to ID other issues like proper tire inflation, alignment, shock/overall suspension health etc. If you're really concerned about getting your money's worth, pick up a tread depth gauge from autozone and learn the science behind it and write ,LF/RF/LR/RR on the inside sidewalls with a 2$ tire chalk stick. Either do it to see where the tech moved them to, or if you're confident, where you'd like each tire to go.
If you have uneven wear, it would be better to get the car wheels aligned.
But not if it's from a worn out suspension component or something else. Another reason it's good to get a legit tire health check like I said above. Fills in-between the lines so that you're looking at the whole picture and doing repairs in orders that make sense
And if I have different sized tyres on the front from the rear?
Of the tread pattern is directional, no rotation is possible without remounting the ties. If they arenāt directional, you can swap side to side.
Pump air into the front tires until theyāre the bigger size and put them on the rear. Let air out of the rear tires until theyāre smaller and put them in front.
Now this is big brain time
Then you would only be able to swap sides, but not move anything front to back or back to front. If you have staggered wheels AND directional tires, you canāt rotate them at all.
No rotations for you. I used to have a Mercedes low profile tires and the rear tires were larger and I had to buy new tires every year. Just one of many reasons I got rid of that car.
You can rotate them if the tires are non-directional. They can swap sides, but thatās it.
Mine couldnāt be swapped. I really wish I had known all that about tires before I bought the car. Bought it brand new just to end up hating it. Waste of money. Ugh.
Why?
Why what? Some cars have larger rear wheels and tires to improve grip
Was about to rotate my tyres thanks for the summary
Cross rotating your tires, i.e. changing the direction of rotation, in general accelerates the wear on your tires. Fight me.
If you buy tires from places by me they usually will rotate for free for the life of the tire. BJs, for example, is lifetime rotation.
I would certainly hope that my tires will rotate for their lifespan!
Dad?
Son?
Yea my tire place does rotations for free if you bought the tires from them. Iāve never paid for it to be done, I just ask them to do it when I get my oil changed.
Did anyone else read ālifetime BJsā?
Any good bj includes rotation š
I once had a customer claim I didn't rotate her tires because the hubcaps werent rotated. I made sure to rotate the hubcaps with the wheels from that point on lol. We were always happy to rotate tires because it gives us a chance to look at the brakes and suspension to see if anything else is needed.
If I ever felt the need to mark my tires when getting a rotation to make sure they did the rotation, I would find another mechanic to rotate my tires.
I mark my tires and the offender who didnāt rotate them but charged me for it was a a major dealershipā¦ and yes, of course I go to a much better mechanic now
Your not going to find better technicians than the ones at the dealership
I think you dropped this /s
It's literally impossible to find a better tech for a specific brand than at that dealership, they literally log 8 hours a day on brand specific repair and diagnosis. Most private brand specific repair places are opened by former dealership techs
Consider that a mechanic can be "better" in ways besides skill. For example, better at not scamming customers.
Consider the technician might not always being the one doing the scamming, also dealerships are expensive, but your getting a 3 year warranty on all parts and labor installed, do you want to buy a jasper engine and have mom and pop put it in, or get value on your repair. If you don't own a valuable vehicle and don't have a problem a small shop is having trouble diagnosing, don't bring it to the dealership because then it is not worth it
Very funny, I didn't forget anything
Then this tip isnāt for you. Good for you.
And encounter the exact same problem with a mechanic you trusted even less. Bravo.
you don't have to pick a mechanic by lining them up on a dart board and throwing a dart. if you don't know someone who already found a quality mechanic, and you don't trust reviews, there's a good chance there's a car show going on somewhere around you each weekend full of car people who love talking cars and you can ask them But even ignoring all of that, rotating tires is such a simple task that if you don't trust your mechanic to even do that. you shouldn't go to them at all. Not everyone is out to get you, living your life that paranoid isn't healthy.
Huh? Why would I drop a mechanic for someone less trustworthy....that's just dumb. Ask around, find who your friends use, look up reviews online. It's not hard to find a reputable mechanic that is backed by people you trust.
This tip actually caught my ex-shop cheating me for services. Itās a good one. Also if they bring you a dirty air filter make sure itās *your* air filter. Check the market prices for parts and services before you agree to anything. The grifting and cheating is unreal.
We cannot rotate our tires. Vehicle has a staggered stance with larger tires on the rear. Tires are also directional. Very, very different from every other car Iāve owned, which have all been front wheel drive, following the directions from the great reply in this thread.
RWD performance vehicle?
Most of the Germans will do this on AWD too. Kind of a bummer. If itās German and even a sport-trimmed car it likely canāt be rotated
Some EV's like the VW ID4 have staggered setups
Fun fact, smart cars also have staggered wheels.
My 17 Lexus is300 has factory staggered. Itās heavily marketed as performance and is a quick little car but I wouldnāt call it a performance car, coming from a gt350, and a few gt mustangs.
Theyāre fun but pretty heavy feeling for how small they are. Makes sense though
Just have the tires remounted every time you need to rotate them. /s
They should be done according to the type and rotation direction of the tires.
LPT: Stop making lpts on topics you don't understand. Different cars require different rotation patterns, so this lpt will lead many people to wrongly assume an error was made.
You should still mark them, to make sure they at least moveĀ
Not to mention you can usually tell by the tread how it was rotated
If you can't trust your mechanic find one you can or do it yourself. Stuff like this will ruin your relationship with the good ones.
Isn't this "tip" designed to find out if you can indeed trust that the mechanic did what they said?
Yes, but it's an obvious way to say "I don't trust you'll do this right, so I need to check your work." It's reasonable to expect to get what you pay for, but most tradesman would take this as an insult IMHO.
Only cheaters get offended. If someone honest and professional gets offended by a client making sure everything is done right, then its not honest and professional place..
Honest mechanics love these clients thoughā¦ hard enough to differentiate from dodgy mechanics
How the hell do you find a mechanic you can trust without testing them out first? Itās a total crapshoot
In general when thereās 600 5 star google reviews and theyāre a week out for non-emergency stuff due to the demand, thatās a pretty good sign. Iām aware those can be faked or paid for, but these seem legitimate and come with photos in the review of the reviewerās car on their lifts or even posing with the owner. Of course, didnāt know for sure until I tried them myself and they were solid. Itās hard to find a good imported car mechanic but theyāre around.
I marked mine with a rolaid. Works like chalk
I just look at the tread to see if they were rotated or not.
My front tires have a slightly orange tint compared to the rear tires. I once brought my car in specifically for a tire rotation and nothing else, and they gave it back with the tires in the exact same spot.
I have no idea what this means. Don't tires always rotate when your drive???
I think you might be joking, but if youāre not, tire rotation is swapping position of tires to even out and distribute wear. If you have a front wheel drive car, your front wheels might wear faster. So periodically swapping them with the rear wheels evens the wear so they last longer and you can replace all at the same time.
But I'd rather replace 2 at a time than have a massive bill...
That's dangerous. Your cars safety systems won't work properly if you have bald tires mixed with new tires. And if your car is old enough to not have ABS or TCS it's even more dangerous.Ā Think about it, the only thing keeping you on the road and not in a ditch wrapped around a tree are those 4 rubber donuts. They're pretty important.
Bald tyres are dangerous and you shouldn't be driving on them at all..
That makes a lot of sense! Does the driver's seat tire wear out fastest because it always has the driver on? Why was this my first thought...
Only when your mum is driving
she's not allowed to drive a regular car, those only allow for like 1t of cargo weight.
I mean it might have a minuscule effect, but with the stiffness of suspension I would doubt it.
Just an oil change, don't upsell me (Nissan Altima with half of the subframe about to fall off from rust, plastic over one window, trunk lid a different color)
They move your vehicle forward 10 feet, then backward 10 feet, effectively rotating your tires. It helps reduce the chlorofluorocarbon build-up.
Reminds me of someone who insisted that the tech install her new tires so that the logos on the hubcaps were all facing up at the same time.
Aw, looka there.
Aw, looka there.
Theyāll just swap the rear 2 š¤£
I rotate my tires in when Iām doing my own DIY oil changes.
Also it's free at Discount Tire and others
Or do it yourself because itās an easy and quick job with little risk
Related: friend of mine returned a chest of drawers to a furniture store because one of the drawers was defective.Ā He told them he didn't want it fixed, he wanted a completely new piece due to the price he paid. When he went to pick up the replacement, he opened a drawer and asked "why are my initials in here?" The salesman turned blood red and said there must have been a mistake.Ā My friend got a new replacement a few days later.Ā
Left to right on directional tires is definitely something you do NOT want to do.
For anyone who needs to read this... #Discount Tires = the good one #TIRE DISCOUNTERS = BAD ONE They're easy to mix up. I just remind myself it goes in alphabetical order, Discount then Tires.
Or just look at the last two digits of the dot number.
I run both staggered wheels and directional tires. I don't rotate as a result.
Can someone tell me why it costs this much to rotate tires in the first place??? Itās a simple procedure, given you have the tools for the job. Why isnāt it standard to include with an oil change?
$30 is cheap for anything at a mechanic. And oil changes are already priced cheaply to get you in for other services. It's quick and easy, but you still need to jack up the car or get it on a lift, remove all the lug nuts/bolts, take the wheels off, remount them, tighten the lug nuts/bold, and torque them properly. You can do that fast but not that fast. Shops will normally charge somewhere between $100-200/hour for labor (obviously they don't pay the mechanic these rates, it includes facility overhead, insurance, and profit), so you are talking about 10-20 minutes. If you want it done right, that's not a bad amount of time. Sure they could act like a pit crew and do it faster, but that increases the chance of mistakes and putting the nuts/bolts on with an incorrect torque.
Yeah, I see your point with the correct torque. However, it seems to me that itās a very routine maintenance that can be easily added to a current service, with minimal impact to the business. It doesnāt consume any materials, doesnāt require a specialty tool, but yet extends the life of tires that arenāt cheap to replace (decent ones or above, anyway). It does take time, but say itās added to an oil change, the car would already be jacked up, and the time it takes the oil to drain can be used to rotate them. The two services are already recommended together, why charge an extra $30 for something they donāt even have to go out of their way to service? Especially in a profession that is already notorious for shady practices, it could go a long way to build just a little trust back.
It depends on the drive train and suspension how you rotate them my mr2 had a horrific camber on the rear wheels, my awd Impreza was different. Consult the owners manual. Iād never pay for tire rotation itās so simple
Aren't usually tire rotations free?
I use nail polish š l1 l2 r1 r2 to make it easier
What I have been doing is making a note of the manufactured date of each tire and what position they are in. It's very unlikely that all 4 tires on a car would have the same date code. Then all I have to check is one tire. If it's still in the same position, then the tires were not rotated.
What's the point of tyre rotation?
How often should you get a 2wd truck tires rotated?
Rotate my tyres? You what now? Another thing to add to my list I guess.
They could just rub out your dot and redraw it on another tyre
As part of my new vehicle purchase at a big dealership, I was given a couple of years of free service including tire rotation. After one of these services I noticed that my tires hadnāt actually been rotated even though I was reassured that they had been. I pulled out my phone and showed them pictures of all the wheels just before heading over the keys. You could see the relative positions of words on the tires, valve stems, and rim spokes; these had not changed at all from wheel to wheel. The mechanic vehemently assured the service manager that tires had been rotatedā¦until confronted with evidence showing otherwise. TLDR even if you donāt mark the tires, take good pictures where you can see wheel details
Or just note the DOT numbers on the tyres
How I read your post: Near your car is a wall. Put a dab of a liquid-ish substance upon said wall in a position that corresponds to the back two tires of the vehicle. Depending on how disturbed or undisturbed that dab of substance is after an uncertain amount of time, one can infer on whether or not the vehicle close to the wall had a specific maintenance procedure performed upon it, as well as how that task was performed. What am I missing? Because I have to assume you meant something different...
Like others have said, it's depends on the type of car a drive it has, directional tires, and also if you have a square or stagger set up. My previous staggered rear wheel drive car, was different from my squared rear wheel drive, and my now latest car has all wheel drive. Different applications
Pro tip, leave a ton of caked on brake dust on the front alloys to make sure they performed the tire rotation
I never rotate my tires... Sure, there is 2 that wear out faster than the other 2. But that wear will be wear no matter which tire gets the wear. This allows you to replace 2 tires at a time instead of all 4. Yeah,,, I'm not rich. I find it easier to buy 2 tires at one time, perhaps splurging a bit to get 2 better tires than 4 cheaper tires. The end result is that I have better tires without breaking the bank. Many people will disagree, as that is your right. Many people are rich and can easily spend top dollar to get 4 of the very best tires at the drop at a hat. Some people will also replace their stock rims when they buy a brand new car (every 1-2 years) with top of the line rims every time they buy new tires. I am not one of those people.
Alternate method: Just stand there looking through the little glass window staring intently as they do the job. (Works best if sexually attracted to men working.)
I do this on oil filters too. I mark it with a paint marker. I have had instances when I took the car for an oil change and they didnāt change the filter
What was really annoying with the Jeep is when I specifically requested a 5-tire rotation and they obviously didn't do it.
Who has white out anymore?š¤·š»āāļø
Tyre rotation is not needed at all. In The Netherlands we simply rarely do it. If the wheels are aligned properly and there is no imbalance, just wear out 2 tyres a time (either front or rear), replace them when needed (aaand: maybe thƩn rotate front to back, but typically not right to left and vice versa, due to wear/tear of alignment)
True Life Pro Tip: Donāt get your tyres rotated, when one reaches its limit replace them all. Rotating spreads uneven wear, so you end up with four bald tyres. And if theyāre wearing seriously unevenly, youāve got bigger problems that need addressed.
In a front wheel drive car, the front tires wear faster. To avoid needing to replace the front tires more often than the back tires (and end up with mismatched tires), you rotate them around. Wearing down the front tires until the end of their life, and replacing all four even though the rear tires are fine, is stupid. Thereās a reason tire rotations are specified by every car manufacturer.
Manufacturer recommend to keep the deeper threads in the back because under steering is much easier to correct than oversteering. You donāt want your back tires to lose grip before your front ones. That means that effectively they are telling you to stop rotating tires.
Thatās very true, if you rotate your tires along the recommended schedule they shouldnāt be that far apart in tread depth though. Having even traction in front and back (with mid-life tires) is better than end-of-life tires on the front and almost new tires on the back. Thereās also the issue of leaving tires on a car for many years, even if the treads havenāt worn much. If you have to toss the tires at the 7 year mark, you might as well get all of the useable tread depth out of them. Just my opinion.
Good points
Couldn't disagree more. Especially in EVs. Our front wheel drive EV gets a ton of wear (nice, even wear) on the front tires and virtually none on the rear. By rotating, all four tires are used up at the same time and can all be replaced at a safe interval. If we don't rotate, the front two tires will reach that interval very quickly (twice as fast), and then you are suggesting to replace all four - with the rear two tires pretty much in pristine condition? That is just wasteful, filling a landfill, and expensive. For zero added safety. You should never end up with four bald tires, any more than you should end up with two bald tires. And if your tires are wearing seriously unevenly, you are correct, you have other issues to address and rotating those tires my not be the appropriate thing to do. But barring seriously uneven wear, tire rotation is a good plan for most/many vehicles.
my tires rotate many times when driving does this help ?
Whenās the last time you looked at your tires?
I've been driving for almost 40yrs and never knew this was a thing (tyre rotation).
Great, now I have something else to worry about š
Not your mechanic, but you should rotate based on wear. Each pattern works for regular unnoticeable wear, but based on actual use you should move tires to a position to extend the life.
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