Tire rotation

chunderboy

chunderboy

New member
I am going to attempt my first oil change and tire rotation this weekend, so one quick question

When you rotate the tires, should i switch the front left, and right rear, and front right, and left rear? Or just switch front to back

Does it make a difference, and which one is the best method
 
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On second thought, maybe you should disregard the manual

I'd take the recommendations in the operator's manual with a grain of salt in this case. I rarely say that and I don't say it lightly here, but their recommendations in this area seem lame.

This has been discussed in other threads (see the maintenance forums, I think) but I'd suggest checking out the tire brochure/warranty that came with your vehicle, along with the tire mfr's web site. I found better info there.

FWIW, I ended up doing a 5 tire rotation and it works very well. Only one jack needed if you just put the spare on the RR, shift the RR to the RF, etc. This also gives you a chance to practice with the jack and find the right jacking points, etc.

BTW, my tire mfr's brochure suggests upping the pressure 10 PSI for extended high-speed driving. I think it was for speeds above 75 MPH but I'm not sure.
 
But since the tires have about 10k on would it be smart to swap in the spare

MICABLUE.

what tires do you have, and what p.s.i are you holding in them
 
If you are doing it yourself then rotate in the spare. If you are having the dealer do it then leave the spare out of the equation it will cost more then the price of the spare tire in additional rotation costs over the life of your set of tires. I did the front to rear rotation the first time and X'ed them the second time and then did the front to rear the third time. Figure I will X them the next time, based on the wear pattern. I think that is the key (wear pattern) you need to look at it and then determine if you need to X them. I did on the second rotation, now all tires are wearing even.
 
Rotating at 10k+

chunderboy, I think it would make sense to start rotating with the spare at 10k miles. My rough guess is that it makes sense to rotate so that every tire occupies every position at least once before they wear out. Ideally, then, you would start rotating before 10k miles, but I don't think it's a big deal.

I keep the tires at 36 PSI, which seems like a good combination for reasonable ride, good handling, and good wear. My tires are the Bridgestone Duelers that came stock.

I've made quite a few measurements of tread depth and the tires are wearing fairly evenly, both inside-to-center-to-outside of each tire and front vs. rear tires. Measuring new tread depth vs. depth after wear, and figuring I'll change them when the depth gets to 1/16" I expect I'll get 35-40 kmiles out of the set of 5. At that point I don't know if I'll just use the best tire as the spare and go to a 4 tire rotation or whether I'll buy 5 new. As I mentioned, it's nice to do the 5 tire rotation because it only takes 1 jack and you tend to pay a little more attention to the spare.
 
leave the spare out, it's a lease and being at 10k and having another 30k extending the tire life so that the 2nd set go on later and give the 2nd owner newer tires is pointless, put new tires on at 15k or 20k and then when the lease is over swap the stock tires back and sell the 2nd set depending on the wear.

The weight of the vehicle is pretty evenly balanced, from searching I found others with AWD and Traction control can extend the rotation cause the tires wear pretty even, I use to rotate every 2000 miles, that was probably due to crappy OEM tires plus the Nissans I owned ate through rubber like icecream on a hot day:)

Not to bash Nissan but brand new vehicles with perfect alignment that prematurely wore the tires out is BS.

My 4Runner I rotate, now at 5000-7000 miles and Im gonna go to 10-15k cause the tires don't really seem to wear;):

To rotate, cross the fronts to the rear and the rear go to the front ;):
 
I've got a 2005 4Runner Limited 4x2 and it came with a tire guarantee for road hazard + an extra warranty for 100,000 mile tire wear warranty if you rotate *from dealer only* every 5,000 miles and let them also balance *if* needed. I read it two or three times and have come to the conclusion it is just a dealer 'come on' and is not really gonna 'pan' out as stated. Dealer wants about $18 for a rotation (+ waiting no telling how long in waiting room), and who knows the "$" for a balance. You *have* to have the rotation every 5,000 miles or you lose the warranty.

Here's the part that gets me...when the tire or tires are down to 3/32nds you buy a new set from your dealer (only) first and pay full retail, and they, or you, ship the old tires off to this place and they are checked and then 'maybe' they send you money back (depends on if the tires were wearing even, etc,...hard as hell to figure out what they mean, and who pays for shipping, etc. but it doesn't sound like you would get much back for your old tires to me, and your supposed to get this 100,000 mile wear 'warranty'.??!

One *knows* that the tires (mine are Bridgestone 265/65/17's), are *not* going to last 100,000 miles rotation or not...so it must be the wording or something. I believe the road hazard warranty (which is a separate deal - same company) will pay, because I've used one of those before, but this thing? I think I'm going to pass on it, as I don't care to sit around waiting who knows how long for the tire rotation or balance and the rip off price for the labor. :p

Anyone else heard of this 'offer' or 'warranty' on their 2004 or 2005 4Runner??

Thanks,

Allen
 
Only reason I still rotate my own tires is cause most dealer or shops scratch the wheels.

I see so many nice/newer cars and the wheels are scratched:confused:
 
I purchased a lifetime rotation and balance from Discount Tire. I do a 5 tire roation and have them set the tires at 36 psi and the spare at 40. I check carefully that they set the spare at 40 and when I get home I recheck the pressure and set it to 36 and re-torque the lug nuts. They are always wrong on the pressure and at least several nuts need to be tightned.

I want the spare a little bit higher so there is a better chance that it will really have 36psi when I need it. It's easyer to let some are out than put it in when you're parked on the highway somewhere.

Be careful with the tire balancing on the 4Runner. The wheels are not lug-centirc, they are hub-centric and require a special adaptor for balancing.
 
can you buy this adapter? Or can we only get them balanced at Dealerships? I had mine balanced at a local place and now I have a vibration at hwy speed. Can anyone post a picture of what this hub centric adapter looks like? Thank you

Jake
 
Most, if not all, wheel balancers are hub-centric so the adapter isn't something special. There's different size cones that fit in the center of the wheel when you take the center cap off.

I installed all 5 new Revos at my bro-in-law's shop and they all balanced fine. I haven't had any vibration issues.

Boaz - vibration at ~65mph is a balance issue. Lower or higher speeds is usually caused by something else. Any tire shop and most repair shops should be able to balance the front tires for you. Sometimes this happens when you throw a wheel weight.
 
I guess I will have toyota try to balance them.

I did ask them to put the weights on the inside only, would that effect anything?
 
Truck wheels are kinda tough to balance to begin with and you're better off with the rim edge weights even though you have alloy wheels. I think this is also the reason why Toyota used weights on the edge and not the stick on types.

Balancing a wheel usually requires weights on both sides of the wheel. I only had one wheel that didn't need weights on both sides and I think that was just luck.

Let them balance the wheels with the weights they need to use. It'll save you a lot of headaches later.
 
If you are doing it yourself then rotate in the spare. If you are having the dealer do it then leave the spare out of the equation it will cost more then the price of the spare tire in additional rotation costs over the life of your set of tires. I did the front to rear rotation the first time and X'ed them the second time and then did the front to rear the third time. Figure I will X them the next time, based on the wear pattern. I think that is the key (wear pattern) you need to look at it and then determine if you need to X them. I did on the second rotation, now all tires are wearing even.
Click to expand...




i agree with Pitbull and do the same.
a 3 ton jack and two stands done in 25 minutes in the garage:
:iagree:
 
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