Re:tyre rotation conundrum

It was raining heavily and the television programming was awful - so I went outside and did the 6000 mile 5 tyre rotation procedure. Family are recommending me for psychiatric counselling on the basis of "How many Jimmy owners could be bothered doing that"? I did it regularly with the previous Jimmy and for me it will be interesting to note how the OEM Dunlops wear over the coming years. Do other forum members bother to do the 4 or 5 wheel rotation, as the dealers certainly don't include the option at service time? 

I do a 5 wheel rotation on all my vehicles every six months, the dealer will do if requested, of course for a fee, which I feel is ridiculous, since they need to remove the wheels to perform the brake pad/lining thickness measurements, all they're really doing is putting it back in a different spot,

No rotation for 80000km. All 4 tyres have worn evenly. The spare however is still "new", but the rubber has hardened with time. When it comes time to replace tyres, I'll replace all 5.

I also do the 6000 mile 5 tyre rotation. All tyres wearing pretty evenly. 

Interesting mix of approaches - from an almost religious attention to compliance to 80.000 km without bothering! Nobody reporting bad wear leading to other issues. Thanks guys and food for thought.

Never ever rotated any of my tyres on any vehicle I've owned in 45 years

wrote:

Interesting mix of approaches - from an almost religious attention to compliance to 80.000 km without bothering! Nobody reporting bad wear leading to other issues. Thanks guys and food for thought.

I didn't know you wanted a report on wear, but, I'm one of those who previously stated I rotate in a 5 tyre rotation every six months and the reason I do it is to even out the wear, experience has taught me that the tyres WILL wear unevenly if they are not rotated - on MOST vehicles the front tyres will wear faster than the rear, and if it's a front wheel drive vehicle, you're pretty much guaranteed, that the fronts will wear out long before the rear.

You don't HAVE to rotate, you can replace one pair of tyres and leave the other where they are, you can fit new tyres on the rear and transfer the part worn rears to the front, but, I like a matched set of tyres, so I rotate and replace as a set.

If you're going to run a 4WD, and use the 4WD, it's a good idea to rotate in a 5 tyre pattern so all 5 tires have the same approximate diameter and if you're driving AWD, say something like the Vitara LX, you'll find that there's a warning in the owner's manual about running different brands of tyres, which pretty much means you HAVE to rotate, and yes, the manual also recommens you rotate.

 

Long time quattro owner and former Audi engineer, I do rotate my tyres every 20k km (13 thousand miles?)