Originally Posted By: Johnny248
They are correct in what they are telling you to an extent. The tires with the better tread are supposed to be installed on the rear of the vehcile. If the tread wear is more than a certain amount between the front and the rear, they are not supposed to be rotated. Rotating the tires at the correct intervals makes this problem a non-problem. This why it is important to rotate your tires as they are schedule to keep tire wear even. It is a industry standard which more and more shops are starting to follow. The TIA as well as the tire manufacturers stand behind the safety reasoning. That all being said, if the owner maintains their vehicle as they are supposed to, you prolong tire life, help control even tire wear, and maintain the manufactures tire warranties. If you don't maintain regular rotation history, the tire manufacturer will not honor any mileage warranties.
So, you have the option of either rotating them yourself, or find another shop that will do it for you. In the future, maintain your tires by rotating them regularly and they will treat you better over the life of the tires, and avoid situations like the van just encountered.
^^This^^
The tolerance is 2/32" (1.6 mm). The front tires are allowed to have up to 2/32" more tread than the rears, which gives plenty of time to get the rotations done on time.
The OP's brother has neglected his tire maintenance, and now he wants to have it done but it is too late and will cause a potential safety issue. Most vehicles have multiple drivers, and not all of the drivers will have adequate experience driving in inclement weather conditions.
If it were my van I wouldn't want to lend it to a family member or friend and have them wrap it around a telephone pole because I was too lazy to get the rotations done on time and then threw a fit coercing some poor impact gofer to do the rotation anyway even though it was dangerous to do so.
In the end it boils down to money, as some posters have implied. A tire vendor would need to sell around 50,000 tires to make up for one measly $1,000,000 negligence settlement. No thanks, the customer can pound sand if they won't listen to reason.