4X4 owners - tire rotation...

[REPeeler]

When I bought my truck I went to Discount tire and spent $25 for each tire and got lifetime road hazard, rotate and balance. And it has already paid for itself. At 5k I had an outsite dual pick up a large piece of metal that 1st went through the tread surface then out the sidewall!. Replaced free! They also rotate and balance as often as I want. The way they recommend rotating a dually: Ist rotation both right rear to the front and the front to the right rear. Then next rotation both left rear to the front and the front to the left rear. He said this is the best way to keep the tread height the same on the dual rear wheels.

 

[Deezal Man]

My two cents.

Per the manual: BMW does NOT recommend tire rotation. On my M3 this isn't possible because the rear rims are wider than the fronts and all four are directional tread... So I couldn't if I wanted too.



That said, my BMW mechanic (something like 35 years of working on BMWs) once told me that BMW's off-line comments regarding rotation goes something like this. "Tire rotation is a procedure used to offset the effects a poorly designed automobile has on tires". . Considering how the tires wear on my M3. . Must be some truth to that statement because all four wear out consistantly and at the same time. The rears are worn a little harder, but both fronts and rears require new tread at the same time.



In any case... Lotta old timers talk about the curse of switching direction on a radial tire. Conversation with numerous tire reps indicate that this is an "OLD" issue which used to plague radials. Appearantly this has been resolved and is no longer an issue. Guess this could be argued to death. . but I will say this. I rotate front/rear and side to side. . as is recommended in the owners manual of the vehicle in question and I have never had an issue in doing so. Granted, I probably only have about 500K miles on tires rotated in this manner. . but I'd like to believe I would have seem a problem in that time if it was an issue. Hey listen. . if I knew all the answers. . I'd be rich enough to have someone drive me around in one of my many trucks. :-laf

 

[keimmmo]

Yes, and it is faster and easier for them. However, I don't see a problem with their logic. As the old saying goes, "There is more than one way to skin a cat!" It doesn't matter if you follow what the owner's manual says as long as you are keeping the wear even. Dualies do present a whole set of problems that are not a concern with a single rear wheel!



Steve