Tire Rotation Interval Recommendation

[barlowc]

Since new, I've had the tires on our VUE rotated every 6,000 miles. At 36,500 I had a new set of Michelin MXV4s put on. We have a 1,500 mile road trip coming up in two weeks and will have 5,000 miles on the tires at that point. Would you rotate them a bit early and do it before the road trip?

In case driving conditions influence your recommendation, the vehicle is our "grocery getter". My wife puts a lot of city miles on it taking the kids to school, running errands, etc.

In the past the 6,000 mile rotations have been in synch with 6,000 miles OCIs. After seeing the UOA from the last fill I'm going to increase the OCI length to 7,500 miles. So I'm leaning towards keeping the two in synch and rotating the tires after 7,500 which will be after the trip.

Thoughts? Other than that I'm a little OCD about it all.

 

[Astro14]

You're among the half of the population that actually rotates their tires...I wouldn't worry about it, as long as you're consistent. If they're running smooth, no signs of feathering or abnormal wear, then do the road trip and rotate on return.

Keep the OCI and rotation in synch. A consistent interval is more important than the precise interval length. You want each tire in each location the same amount of time for the most even wear.

 

[Turk]

That's really excessive tire rotation. It's good to rotate, but not that much.....

I do 12k - 16k rotations and get 80-90k miles from my tires with no odd wear pattern whatsoever.

 

[eljefino]

Don't!

I like to give any repairs or maintenance a little time to "settle in" before road trips. What if a lug gets overtightened warping your brakes? Or heaven forbid they forget to torque them?

As fun as it is to hit a garage for a feel-good look over and oil change before a road trip, one should commute back and forth to work a couple days before the journey IMO.

 

[Sayjac]

I like ~6k, and trust Discount Tire to do them, and do them right(torque wrench). But imo, 7500 would work just fine.

Fwiw, my daughter's 01 Civic just got rotated after ~8k, and they look fine at 46k on Altimax HP's. She's gone as far as 10k on them, mostly because she would never do it, so I have it done when I see the car for maintenance.

 

[daman]

Tire rotation is key to wear longevity,do it on a regular bases and tires will last many years,4x4 applications are critical for tire rotation.

 

[kr_bitog]

6k miles is good interval for high performance radial due to some are supposed only last 20-30k miles. but if you can't do it exactly on time, I would never worry especially if the thicker thread are on the drive axle.

 

[sicko]

What does your owner's manual recommend? Mine says 7.5k, does yours say 6k? Personally, I'd sync it up with your OCI of 7.5k miles, unless you have any reason to believe that's too long for your tires

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: daman
Tire rotation is key to wear longevity,do it on a regular bases and tires will last many years,4x4 applications are critical for tire rotation.


Agree 100%. That and keeping the proper PSI in them. I rotate mine every OC which is 5K. Rotation pattern also is key. Many rotate but they do not rotate properly.

The tires need to hit every point of the vehicle not just rotate on the same side( i.e. side to side on front or back or same side front to back only ). I rotate back to same side front and front to opposite side rear. This ensures that every 4 rotations each tire has been on each of the 4 spots one time.

 

[daman]

Right on..

 

[subiedriver]

I like to rotate every 6000 miles, but I let my last rotation lapse to 7K , which isn't a big deal. From now on, its gonna be every 6K.

 

[123Saab]

Originally Posted By: daman
Tire rotation is key to wear longevity,do it on a regular bases and tires will last many years,4x4 applications are critical for tire rotation.


I agree, My 4x4's get their tires rotated with every oil change.

Old habit, Has mostly served me well on such Tire chewers as my 2000 Cherokee.......

 

[tommygunn]

6k seems to be the consensus....and that's what I too go by.

Since I've always had FWD vehicles, I've been told to watch the tread depth of the tires. On a front wheel drive vehicle, the rear tires are basically "dragging" along. So the rear wear quicker than the front tires.

I've always been told to keep the good tread on the rear, since the front tires have the whole engine/tranny weighing it down for traction, but the rear doesn't have anything but the "junk in the trunk" per se. lol.


It's these tire shops and Walmarts selling these "Lifetime Rotation and Balance" contracts, that has people over-rotating their tires....when they really don't need them rotated.

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: daman
Tire rotation is key to wear longevity,do it on a regular bases and tires will last many years,4x4 applications are critical for tire rotation.


Sure it can help some, but how can I get 80-90k out of tires on my Sierra 4x4 and only rotate them about 4 times...?

It's good, but over-rated.

 

[Kestas]

How do you know they'll last 80-90K? What if they wear out sooner?

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
Originally Posted By: daman
Tire rotation is key to wear longevity,do it on a regular bases and tires will last many years,4x4 applications are critical for tire rotation.


Sure it can help some, but how can I get 80-90k out of tires on my Sierra 4x4 and only rotate them about 4 times...?

It's good, but over-rated.

rotate more often!

 

[Ken2]

The purpose of tire rotation is to equalize uneven wear. If the tire wear is equal on all tires, there is no need to rotate them. If the wear is unequal, see if there is a way to prevent the unequal wear. Alignment, replacement of worn parts, aftermarket adjusters for alignment settings that the factory cheaped-out on and didn't install, etc. And, some vehicles just wear the fronts faster than the rears or vice versa.

6000...7500...it won't make any difference in the long run.

For the family fleet, when I switch between summer tires and snows, I put the ones with the more rounded shoulder in the rear, and these are also the ones with 1/32" or so less tread depth. Fronts usually wear more from carrying more weight, doing more of the braking work, and turning, plus the work of pulling the car if FWD.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Ken, that's one gem.

Tire rotation is simply not needed on some vehicles. And those that are wearing out tires unevenly need to first make sure they are not in need of repairs.

But you should be very careful about the selection of rear tires for fwd vehicles. Very careful.

 

[kkreit01]

It depends on how well I like the tires.

If they are lousy OEM tires, I rotate less often. Then, I can go to the wifey and say, "See -- I really need new tires before winter comes".

Typically, I rotate every 7-11k, or whenever the front or backs are slightly more then 1/32nds of each other.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Ken2
For the family fleet, when I switch between summer tires and snows, I put the ones with the more rounded shoulder in the rear, and these are also the ones with 1/32" or so less tread depth. Fronts usually wear more from carrying more weight, doing more of the braking work, and turning, plus the work of pulling the car if FWD.


You don't really drive on tires that are down to 1/32" do you?!?

You need 6/32 for decent snow performance, 4/32 for decent rain performance and 2/32 is minimum legal depth. More details at http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=157&

Here is the testing that proves the guidelines for rain: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=85

Further, tires with the best tread should be mounted on the REAR of the car, not the front.

This prevents an oversteer loss of control...instead the car will understeer when it begins to lose grip. Ref: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=52