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Tire rotation question...

4289 Views 20 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  stig1950
I am at the 5000 mile mark and was looking at the rotation schedule for the tires. The manual says to rotate the tires right rear to right front, right front to left rear, left rear to left front, left front to right rear. In the past, I have heard to never change the rotation direction of radial tires. ie right to left, left to right. Have the tire manufacturers changed the design of tires where it no longer matters?

Thanks.
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Marcus GT said:
I am at the 5000 mile mark and was looking at the rotation schedule for the tires. The manual says to rotate the tires right rear to right front, right front to left rear, left rear to left front, left front to right rear. In the past, I have heard to never change the rotation direction of radial tires. ie right to left, left to right. Have the tire manufacturers changed the design of tires where it no longer matters?

Thanks.
I think only if the the tires are directional tires. i.e., the tires on a vette. I follow the manual and no problems w/ my other cars. I haven't hit 4k yet and I got it March 18, 2004
Thanks Sonny. :wavey
maybe you schould pm stoenr, i have heard he is in the tire business.
all that rotation schedule does is to keep the front tires moving so that when you rotated them the 4th time they are back where they started so if one tire was wearing in a particular area youre just sharing the wear between the 4 tires. on my front wheel drive cars if the tires arent wearing bad i just go back to front 2 jacks on one side for a quick rotation. of course if you have wear problems they need addressed inthe old days i think they would go front to back then crisscross the rears to the front
hogpowr said:
maybe you schould pm stoenr, i have heard he is in the tire business.
Lol, thanks. It pretty much got answered already tho. But I'll add a little.

Easy way to remember rotation pattern is the non drive wheels get crossed as they go to the back/front.

Tires have been recommended to cross since radial tires. It was bias ply tires that you did'nt cross.

Directional wheels/tires and staggered tire sizes change all that tho.

The stock pirellis are not directional, but assymetrical. Which means the tire can only be mounted one way on the wheel, but rotated in any direction.
Thanks for the information. I really appreciate it. :worship
Whats this????????? We're suppose to rotate the tires? oh no....now i have something new to worry about. Will it ever end????????? :happyhapp
I thought that my tires rotated every time i moved it.....:happyhapp :happyhapp
bobrickert said:
I thought that my tires rotated every time i moved it.....:happyhapp :happyhapp
...and my back tires rotate way more than the fronts!! :laughlitt
005 GT said:
Whats this????????? We're suppose to rotate the tires? oh no....now i have something new to worry about. Will it ever end????????? :happyhapp
You have never heard of rotating tires? :shocked: That is in car care 101.
There are some tire places that will do it for free, Discount Tire is one.
Be careful of high flying humor, it will sail over some heads and bullseye others.:laughlitt
pcfrisch said:
You have never heard of rotating tires? :shocked: That is in car care 101.
There are some tire places that will do it for free, Discount Tire is one.
Watch out for the guy who jams the impact gun into wheel face while reaching to p/u the lug nuts strewn around. F- dopes did this to my BBS wheels and Trailblazer wheels, both times this happened at the respective dealer.
sonny1213 said:
Watch out for the guy who jams the impact gun into wheel face while reaching to p/u the lug nuts strewn around. F- dopes did this to my BBS wheels and Trailblazer wheels, both times this happened at the respective dealer.
At least he used the gun. 15 years ago I bought tires for my 66 MusGT coupe at PepBoys, don't ask me why $$, anyway on the drive home the car felt.....wobbly??? WTF dam bastards only finger tightened the lugs, most were 1/2 turn from coming off. Could have killed me. Wanted to piss in the guy’s coffee. Dam bastards!!! :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb: :sterb:
mach_73 said:
Be careful of high flying humor, it will sail over some heads and bullseye others.:laughlitt
You got that right mach_73. Silly me. :kooky:
Excuse the basic question here...but I have a basic mind. :happyhapp Anyway, I've always had tires rotated at a shop. Is that the smart thing to do so the tires can get balanced? Or can it be done at home and if you feel the tires unbalanced when driving, then take it in for balancing? Appreciate the info...
scramblr said:
Excuse the basic question here...but I have a basic mind. :happyhapp Anyway, I've always had tires rotated at a shop. Is that the smart thing to do so the tires can get balanced? Or can it be done at home and if you feel the tires unbalanced when driving, then take it in for balancing? Appreciate the info...
Once they are balanced, it should not matter which axle you move them to. You can do it yourself, but it would take awhile. Like I said before, some places will do it for little or no charge. But like the previous posts have said, you have to be carefull. I guess the best place would be the dealer, but they may charge$$.
I buy replacement tires from Discount Tires and they rotate them for free. The problem I have is that the closest one is 30 minutes away so they are kind of out of the way. Since Marcus is new, Discount wont rotate them for free. My dealer sent me a coupon for a tire rotation for $9.99 and they are 30 minutes away also. I figured I could do it in less time and hope that nothing get scratched or dented. Just part of my OCD. :laughlitt
Marcus GT said:
I buy replacement tires from Discount Tires and they rotate them for free. The problem I have is that the closest one is 30 minutes away so they are kind of out of the way. Since Marcus is new, Discount wont rotate them for free. My dealer sent me a coupon for a tire rotation for $9.99 and they are 30 minutes away also. I figured I could do it in less time and hope that nothing get scratched or dented. Just part of my OCD. :laughlitt
Once you do business with them, (disconunt tire) they will rotate tires and fix flats free, at least they have with me.
pcfrisch said:
Once they are balanced, it should not matter which axle you move them to. You can do it yourself, but it would take awhile. Like I said before, some places will do it for little or no charge. But like the previous posts have said, you have to be carefull. I guess the best place would be the dealer, but they may charge$$.
I'm in Germany...Nothing's free, they'd tax the air if they could. So since my tires are balanced from the factory then at 5K I should just be able to do it at home on my own. Cool, thanks for the input.:wavey
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