Rotation Confession

[Phishin]

I don't rotate my tires. Ever. There, I said it.

I don't think I'm missing out on much.

My Accord has 66k miles on original rubber. They are beginning to get a bit noisy, but wear is pretty equal on all 4. I'm actually surprised at how much tread is left on them still!!

Tires on wife's Subie has 20k on them. No rotations. The ride is smooth as silk.

People LOVE rotating tires every oil change. To me, it seems like so much hassle (time spent in my driveway or waiting in a shop) 6-10 times per set of tires just to squeeze a little more life outta their rubber.

I'm cheap, but I don't get upset when I buy a new set of tires, and two of them have 2/32" more tread than the other two.

I got other fish to fry.

 

[Brybo86]

We know where you are going when you die...
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[mtndew_dad]

Some vehicle/tire combinations will cause the rear tires to cup real bad (sounds like a snow tire) and once it happens there is no cure. Plus, the last 2 sets of tires I bought, Cooper CS5 and GY Comfortred Touring, require rotation or it voids the mileage warranty. It's free from most tire dealers, they usually have free coffee and you get to read a 2 year old TIRE TREND magazine.

 

[philipp10]

I do mine maybe once in 25k miles. I don't see much difference in wear either. Of course, I don't change my ATF, brake fluid or coolant either....oh the horror

 

[Kuato]

"Noisy" has been helped by a tire rotation on many vehicles both owned by me and also by people I know...if you don't care, don't rotate on the Honda. But....

The Subaru will be more sensitive to diameter differences than the FWD Honda, and AWD repairs won't be fun - better safe than sorry there, IMO.

 

[Dyusik]

225-255 staggered with directional tires, I don't either. Really irritated because it's 1200+ dollar set.

 

[cashmoney]

I always buy our tires at Costco for the last 20 years. Have them rotated for free every 5k miles while wife and I have lunch and shop. Last set of Michelin MXVs have 55k miles on them and look like they will go another 5-10k. Smooth and quiet as silk.

 

[ragtoplvr]

If your tire dealer offers free balance and rotation then do it. If you have to pay, then you will never recover the cost of the rotation in increased tire life.

Rod

 

[Roob]

With what my summer and winter tires cost I want to get as much out of them as possible. They get rotated every oil change without fail. The rotation is free and only takes an extra ten minutes,,big deal...
Rotating tires helps to get the tires to wear equally and that promotes longevity, efficiency and safety.
Each to their own I guess...

 

[rationull]

I wish I could bring myself to not rotate my tires. I hate doing it. But I'm too afraid of uneven wear resulting in center differential problems on my Subaru as others have alluded to.

 

[gpguy]

I've always driven Fords and even if the alignment is "good" the fronts always seem to wear a bit on the edges. I don't put on many miles and usually rotate once a year in the spring. I also give the front end and brakes a once over at the same time.

 

[Rand]

With my current yearly mileage and the fact its a Subaru I do mine once a year.

I do about 9500-11000miles a year.

so that works out to 7000-8000 on the premiers and 2500-3500 on the blizzak ws-80's

I'm not OCD enough to split that and do every 3500-4000 miles.

They premiers will get rotated when they go back on @end of march.
The blizzak's are rotated when they get put on Late Fall.

 

[bbhero]

Me too in general. If I notice a bigger of a difference then I get it done. But it isn't very often at all. I got other fish to fry too. Freshwater bass, [censored], catfish

The one fish being censored rhymes with sappy. Eating size versions of this species are 3\4 of a pound to 2.5 pounds around here. Great eating panfish

Mmmmm fish fry

 

[ecotourist]

I rotate the tires on my Honda Accord whenever I do the seasonal change (summer vs winter tires). It does even out the wear and I'm convinced I get more distance out of them by doing it.

The recommendation for my BMW is to not rotate the tires. Theory is they take a set and like staying where they are.

 

[CT8]

I like to buy two tires at a time.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: ecotourist
I rotate the tires on my Honda Accord whenever I do the seasonal change (summer vs winter tires). It does even out the wear and I'm convinced I get more distance out of them by doing it.

The recommendation for my BMW is to not rotate the tires. Theory is they take a set and like staying where they are.



That's a BMW thing because they use very aggressive alignment settings.

no so much applicable for the chevy impala and other rolling family appliance type cars.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

RT43's on front get swapped out for winter tires. Rears stay put. Would have never done that unless reading posts like the OP started. I was always having tires rotated at place of purchase. Problem was, they rarely set tire pressure right. Sometimes when rebalancing tires had more vibration. I would re-torque them when they finished. One time they stripped out some lug nuts. They would try to up sell repairs. It may take an hour or two before they could get to it. Much less hassle just dealing with the tires myself.

 

[Nick1994]

I take the cars to Discount Tire for a rotation and balance. It's every 5k for the Beetle, since they tried to deny warranty once since it had missed a rotation.

 

[oilmutt]

Wife drives 05 Malibu less than 5k per year.Put on winter tires three years ago,still on car. Save me $150 per year in 2 seasonal change overs for a total $450 for the last three years.

 

[wirelessF]

I dunno how you can get all 4 tires to wear evenly. When my dad bought tires for this trucks he would always buy two for the worn out fronts since they wear out faster. Technically it's the rear getting the new tires and the rears moved to the front. Tires were BFG A/T KO and they would last almost 6 years as the outer edge becomes bald.
On my truck where it has 4 new tires I rotate every 5,000mi with the free tire services they have at costco so I'm trying to see if I can get 6+ years out of these tires.