I received a PM from a member recently asking about tire rotations and advantages of a 5 tire vs 4 tire rotation. I know there were a few threads on this in 2010-2011 but I will update this for some of the new members. I will also use round numbers to make the math easy to follow:

Basic assumptions:
1. You rotate tires every 10K miles to maximize life
2. Each tire costs $200.00 (just a number and could be + or -)
3. Cross rotate and work in spare for both directions ( I know Toyota says front to back but the math works out the same so either way is fine)
4. Tires are not uni-directional
5. You have a vehicle with a matching spare tire and rim with a TPMS.
6. Each tire has a max 50K tread life
7. You like the brand and type of tire you have and will stick with it.
8. You drive 20K miles (or more) a year.

Okay. So you have a brand new vehicle with good 50K tires, unlike the stock tires we all have (had) to begin with.

In a 4 tire rotation, you will rotate the tires 4 times and buy a new set at 50K for $800.00. You will have 4 worn out tires. Your spare will still be new and you could replace your spare with a new one and use the spare in with the new set to keep shelf life on spare optimal.

In a 5 tire rotation you will rotate tires 5 times and at 60K you will have 4 worn out tires and your original spare will have 10K miles left. Following the rules above you buy 5 new tires for a cost of $1000.00

So, if you are a 5 tire rotator (lol) you got 10K extra miles out of the set but at a cost of $200.00. You COULD keep the 10K tire for a spare and go to a future 4 tire rotation and save $200.00 but you now have an almost worn out spare that is showing some age. If you buy 5 tires and go back through the process you save no money.

The conclusion to all this is simple: Both ways are fine to use but there is no savings doing it either way. Also notice I put a spare with the same rim and TPMS under the back to make it apples to apples. If you have to either have a shop dismount and remount a tire every rotation or you purchase an additional rim with TPMS up front you are losing money. FWIW I do a 4 tire rotation. If you trade the vehicle sometime, or go to a different type or size of tire, or have to replace one due to damage then this negates any savings as well. So, the 5 tire change is no more economical as a 4 tire rotation in the long run. Sure you go 20% longer maybe but you spend 20% more. It's up to you.

One more thing: If you cross rotate and use your spare good luck keeping up with the correct rotation position. I diagrammed it for the PM and it gets complicated fast on what position each tire needs to be for rotation. I used the letters "A" through "E" as markers. Again, good luck.

I always do the 5 tire rotation on my 4th gen. It came with 5 matching wheels. I use this pattern from Tire Rack.

Five (5) Tire Rotation

While many vehicles are equipped with temporary spares that cannot be included in a tire rotation program, if the vehicle’s four wheels and tires on the ground match the spare wheel and tire (if non-directional and not branded "for temporary use"), they should be included in the tire rotation pattern. Follow the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended tire rotation procedures, or if not available, insert the spare in the right rear position at every rotation. Place the tire that would have gone to the right rear in the trunk as the spare until the next tire rotation.
•On front-wheel drive cars with full-size matching spare, rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (Figure F)
•On rear-wheel or four-wheel drive cars with full-size matching spare, rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (Figure G)



Five tire rotation results in equally distributed use that will help maintain equivalent tread depths on all five tires throughout their life. When applied to many four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles, this is required to prevent driveline damage if a flat tire forces a new spare to be put into service with partially worn tires on the other three wheel positions.


More Tire Tech Information

Related Links:
Breaking In Your Tires
Checking Tire Inflation Pressure
Storing Tires


If you never use the spare the tire will dry rott over the years and be worthless anyway. When I switched to all terrain tires I did not want a stock tire for a spare.

It looks like the ries rack diagram did not copy over correctly. Go to the Tire Rack site to get the diagram.

Here you go....

Thanks for getting the post to work Pobando.

Why on earth would ANYONE on this forum be a T5R?

We should all be on the T4R plan, lol.

Nice explanation Greg, once again you explained something that I have just taken for granted for 20 odd years! I would have lost this bet too...

My head hurts.

Have been wondering why Toyota recommends a same side tire rotation on the 4R. Not one of the cross rotations. The factory tires aren't unidirectional. And then I find this thread.

So I'll ask: WHY? Please Proceed Sirs...

My take is that it's simply Toyota conservatism.

At one time, radials were not supposed to be run in opposite directions. Tires improved and sentiment eventually changed but it probably wasn't the equivalent of a flipped switch. During the evolution there were no doubt entities on both sides of the fence. Since the same side rotation method works just fine, Toyota apparently sees no reason to cross the fence (or the tires).

I know you already said so, but I want to point out that this assumes that you're a steady, boring, pipe-smoking engineer sort of fellow who reads the instructions when he puts together his kids toys and check the batteries in the emergency flashlight every six months to the day and doesn't intend to change tire type or brand ever (*cough1engineercough*).

If you're the sort of freewheeling fellow that thinks directions are just another mans opinion and couldn't find the emergency flashlight even if he had one and changes tire size and type every time his tires wear out and sometimes even before then, a five tire rotation is a big benefit. Assuming you rotate your tires at all. Which you probably don't (*coughmecough*).

...You would be startled to know what goes through my mind as I start a big fast downhill section on my mountain bike...

This sounds like a fun game, can I guess?

"Oh bother, there's a fleck of mud on my downtube. I'd better recalculate my drag co-efficient."

"Did the sun just go behind the clouds? Let's see, the trailhead was 300 meters above sea level, ambient temp 24.5, 2.3 bar in my tires at the top but now I'm lower and it's cooler so I should OH SHIT OH F*CK THATS A TREE"

"Do these shorts make my butt look fat?"

Not quite. Here, I'll put my thoughts in parenthesis: ( wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee )

Probably more like the shear strength of the little bolts securing the front brake disc and caliper and the load he will impose on them...

Hahaha.

Judging by his chicken legs, I'm guessing he has no arse.