1engineer
Moderator
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.
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.
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