I have about 7K miles on my 2010 Fit now,and they are mostly highway miles. The oil life monitor is at 50%, so I have a way to go before it will tell me to go in for service. I'm wondering if and when I should rotate my tires.

 

I don't know that there's any science about whether rotating tires once during their life, or three times, or five times... is any different (someone please feel free to correct me).

That said, as nice as it is to have them all wear out the same time (one time to buy tires, can get the same tires on all four wheels, and sometimes there are rebates when you buy four at once) if it costs money to rotate them, that has to be taken into consideration too.

Do they show much wear? If not, I don't see a major rush to rotate them (but I'm sure someone will disagree with me...).

 

If it's any help every time I've purchased tires they told me to rotate every 8k miles for maximum tread life. I don't know the science, but I guess it helps.

 

i rotate my tire every oil change so i could get the mileage out of the tire

 

I would rotate every oil change.

 

The more often you rotate, the closer the wear is for all the wheels. But, as already mentioned... it costs to rotate them.

Costs $$$ if you pay someone to do it.
Costs hh:mm:ss (time) if you do it yourself.

I personally think you should do it at least once or twice/three times a year. Summer driving wears down tires differently than winter driving... and even then, if you include the effects of front vs rear wear... you'll want to do it about 3 times per year.

The people mentioning doing it every oil change... well, I say it's a good idea... so long as your oil changes are often enough. The problem with these comments is the simple fact, not everyone does their oil changes at similar time intervals. Some do it every 3k miles. Some every month or every 3 months. Some do it once a year.

On the 21st of June, I would've had my Fit for 1 year. At the moment, my MM is showing 15%... which would make it my THIRD oil change. I had my Dunlops rotated on my first oil change (at a dealership). Was going to do it on my own after the second oil change (at the dealership), but I blew a tire and got a new set of wheels and tires (bit of a story there). When I received the locks for the wheels a week later, I rotated the new tires (barely a month after getting them). Of course, I plan on rotating them again when I do my oil change (not at dealer).

 

Every 5-10k miles.

Rotate Your Tires — Edmunds.com



I get my tires rotated and air checked at Discount Tire for free. It's right across the street from my job.

 

For many years I checked my air pressure, rotated the tires, had front end alignments done on a regular basis. Far too regular and far too expensive. Plus every time a car is on a lift the mechanics are looking for a part to replace. I swear at Firestone one time the mechanic sliced the CV boot on my Caddy. There was no grease on the outside of the boot!

So here I am trying to do a cost benefit analysis. The air pressure MUST be checked on a regular basis. That should be free for most people.

Tire rotation, what will it cost? Do I want to do it myself? Will the highly trained tech at the local place screw up my lug's? Is he in a stupor and not get the tires in the right place or not torque the lugs right?

If you are not able to watch your car worked on, place an unnoticeable mark on your tires and check if the end up in the right place. Ask if they use a torque wrench to tighten the lug's. If they do not go elsewhere.

What does a set of tires cost? Tires seem to start weather checking here in FL in three years. So need to be replaced anyway.

I guess rotating the tires once a year, might be a good idea. Should I take it somewhere or DIY?

I've rambled here a bit and should add 1 thing. Years ago I spent far too much money and time on my car. One thing I did was use a tire dressing. Made those tires look better than show room new. Did you know that petroleum distillate based dressing's will destroy your tires! Don't take my word for it. Do a web search, some dressing are good for your tires and some will destroy them!

Would you like fries with that tire rotation Sir/Mam? JIm 0311

JIm 0311

 

If you're going to do your oil changes based on the oil life monitor/maintenance minder, why not base your tire rotations on the monitor as well? I think a different code comes up for a tire rotation.....if a "1" symbol comes up on the maintenance minder at the same time it reminds you to change your oil {"A" or "B" symbol} then its time for a rotation......not sure how good the system is in determining when to rotate however.....

 

I think the manual recommends rotating every 10K miles. I think it is fine to do the tire rotation with the oil change, as long as the tread difference between front and rear isn't much, and you're not having any tire issues.

 

I was thinking about the maintenance minder and tire rotation,but how in the world do those things go together? I know that tire rotation seems to have made a difference in wear with my wife's CRV (lasting longer),but can't see bringing my car in just for a rotation. Will not be bringing it in for any maintenance before the indicator says to. I can't see trying to be that proactive with oil changes at 5 or even 3K miles. Appreciate all the replies. I may go for a rotation at 10K,if nothing else brings me in for service.

 

I rotate my tires when the snows go on/come off. I do about 15K per year and about 1/3 - 1/4 of that is on the Snows so when it's time to take the snows off, the wheels get rotated. (I mark where they were when they are removed to make it easy to reinstall rotated.

~SB

 

Ok- to dispel one myth that was mentioned above- if you are rotating based upon visible wear, you're already WAY too late. At that point, the tires have worn at different rates, and will continue to do so.
As for how often, it's like changing oil- more often is generally better, but there's a "too often." I rotate every 2,500 miles on my vehicles, as I do it myself. It's pretty darn easy on the Honda (24" tires vs. the 35's on my Wrangler make it feel oh-so-nice ), and I check the pressure at the same time.
A cordless, 19.2V impact gun (Craftsman- a 2' pry bar would do, but why work harder? ), a cheapie Autozone torque wrench (80 ft.-lbs. for the lugs), and a 19mm impact socket, plus two small jacks are all I use. Throw in an el-cheapo checkout line pressure gauge, and a $50 generic 12V air compressor, and I'm set to adjust tire pressure. A 4-tire rotation and checking the pressures (always check the spare!) takes a maximum of 45 minutes from opening the garage door to closing it back up again, and I work slowly, and methodically.

If you're in a position where you truly can't (not just won't due to laziness) rotate your own, every 5,000 miles is fine. Beyond that I wouldn't recommend, unless it's all easy-peasy, straight-line highway miles, and certainly no more than 6K at that. I do mine often because I drive the piss out of the Honda, and because it doesn't cost me one red cent to do it, save maybe electricity for recharging the 19.2V battery pack Without a full-size spare, I want to maximize my tire life, and rotating more frequently just may. I tend to get very long life out of my tires considering the abuse I throw at them, and I know my anal-compulsive behavior in terms of maintenance helps Mark W.

 

My thinking is- if you have to pay for tire rotation then 1 or maybe 3 total rotations over the life of the tires might be enough.

There's so much conflicting info- some people say don't switch sides, others say that right and left wear differently (left is faster due to more right turns and right turns being tighter than left turns) so yes, switch sides.

There's visible wear and calculable wear if you have a depth gauge (or a coin).

 

Well, I'm turning the disadvantage of what I think are crappy OEM tires. (I have the Dunlops) into the freedom to not worry too much about rotations. I have rotated the tires but quite frankly? I don't care if they do wear out unevenly. As soon as I can, I plan to upgrade. With a better set of tires, I'll rotate more often, but with the dunlops? I don't care if 2 wear out faster than the other 2...when they get bad? I'm replacing all 4.

 

^ True. I still don't see the OEM's as all that awful. They have low grip limits, but they're VERY predictable about break-away, and they still provide great fuel economy. While I'd love a slightly stickier set of tires, they're still (especially for OEM's on a sub-$20K car) pretty solid- Mark W.

 

Okay, I don't like the Dunlops...but I'll back pedal a little. They aren't the worst OEM tires I've ever had on a vehicle. I once bought a new Nissan Pick-Up and the OEM tires were so cheap they started giving me trouble literally months into ownership. So cheap they picked up everything and would go flat.

After about 60 days and several flat repairs I traded them in. I remember the Tire Saleman telling me the tires looked fine and hinting I had lost my mind.

All I know? After replacing the tires the vehicle handled better, got better gas mileage AND mysteriously I stopped getting flats every 2 weeks.

So yes, The Dunlops aren't the worst...I still want better.

 

The oem dunlop are shitty they are noisy as hell

 

I think that when it's time for an oil change, the maintenance minder will also determine if it's also time for a tire rotation. That's when a "1" will appear, along with the oil change symbol ("A" or "B", can't remember which}. I don't think the "1" will come on unless it's also time to change the oil.

 

50,000 in this set, never rotated.