tire rotation: longest life with least effort
 

Is there much point in rotating directional tires more than once during their useful life, and non-directional tires more than three times? Doing only this would put each tire in as many positions as it can go without being placed back into a position in which it’s already been.

Well, beyond the goal of having all tires wear to nil at the same point, there's also a point of not having the wear ending up too mismatched at any one point.

My OE tires were rotated two times, at about 10K and 20K. Unfortunately this means the tires that were originally on the front were there for a total of 20K miles, and the rears only saw 10K of front wheel duty. At 30K the fronts were down to the wear bars, and the rears had about 4/32nds left. If I'd rotated at 15K, or at 5K I would have been better off. I had an out-of-alignment issue too, that was caught/corrected when I had the tires replaced this week. The tires wore evenly across the tread though.

30K is a short life for tires. Waiting until 20K (assuming they last 40K) for rotation is too long a period to have a benefit. I think I'd rotate every 5-7K like I did on prior cars and keep them on the same side.

Of course if you're paying for rotations this'll cost 40K/5K=8 rotations * $30/rotation= $240, or more than the cost of two tires. Add in the risk of stripped lugs and it's not worth rotating at all.

I'm a bit torn, I paid $20 extra for free lifetime rotation at NTB and they are careful about torquing and pretty convenient so I'll probably rotate every 5K.

On a Front Wheel Drive the front tires deliver drive power to the road and they handle cornering forces. Swapping them out with the rears helps balance the wear factor. As far as following the traditional 'X' pattern, it's of questionable value to over-all tire life.

Factor in the cost of having them rotated - it could be a wash, however, undo wear on the fronts will effect driving stability. It is good practice to rotate every 6K or so. Knowing the tread wear rate on all four corners tells you a lot about how your car is set up and can/will uncover alignment/suspension issues not readily felt in handling or steering.

Trick is to wear them all at the same rate and replace them as a set. I've driven more than my share of cars with miss matched tires... and having tires diff by more than 3/32 is dangerous.

Good point, and well put. But as others have noted you have to factor in the cost either in time or in dollars required to keep moving them around. I think that with my current set of directionals I'm going to try rotating once at about 25k and see what happens.

Cost and time? I guess if you're not an enthusiast and only care about getting from point A to point B, then you'll probably not bother with tire rotation too, just wear them out and forget about it and change 2 tires at a time.

But it takes just a bit of elbow grease to rotate say every 7500 miles, gives you a chance to properly clean each wheel when you have them off the car, and done... it costs $50 for a kit with a jack and 2 jack stands, wheel chocks and a creeper. Nothing fancy needed, and this is not big honkin SUV tires we're talking about either.

I guess I've got OCD, because that's one reason I don't mind rotating the tires at each oil change.

I love being able to roll the wheels outside and clean out all the brake dust on the inside of them.

Plus it's nice to check the status of the brake pads.

Don't forget $40 for a torque wrench.

If the cost was more than $20 at NTB for the life of the tires, or if they weren't convenient I'd get the wrench and do it myself. Borrow the scissors jack from the other car and skip the jack stands (you're not getting under it).

Oil changes are a separate issue needing the other items. I might switch to doing my own after the warranty is up (some thought to warranty claims with a document trail of oil changes by the dealer at $50/change for synthetic). But even then I'm not sure it's worth the hassle of DIY. I don't get a DIY buzz changing my own oil. YMMV.

Good point - I did get that, and a breaker bar type lug wrench for removal of lug nuts (in case some service tech messes up, but the dealer I get some things done at seems to have their power wrenches at reasonable settings).

I found that tire rotation was the perfect excuse to remove the wheel and get it cleaned on the inside where you can't reach during a regular car wash.

I did have the jack/stacks from a previous car though, and even though I lived in an apartment back then, it didn't stop me from doing a DIY brake job. But never had the luxury of cleaning off the wheels back then. :(

I rotate them every 10,000 miles myself. Since my dad's got a jack, torque wrench and breaker bar, I do it myself and save the cash. When I go to replace the tires in about another 7,000 miles, I'm leaving the car at home and taking the wheels into town to be mounted, and balanced. I can't stand the tire service in town.

for me since i swap to snow tire set in the fall and back to stock wheel set in the spring i just look at the tires and place them where they belong....meaning, if they have good tread left yet more worn than others they go in the rear.

if they are pretty worn and looks like its their last season, i place the worst ones on the front and get a new set soon after. putting worn tires the rear could cause hydroplaning/spin outs on wet highways as the treads are too shallow to channel water correctly.

A fact not understood by many who drive front wheel drive cars.

yep. it's funny how some folks put snow tires just in the front and leave the rears stock. very dangerous in snow when making a turn or going 35mph+ in deeper snow.

I do all of my rotations myself, (used to work at a tire shop so I have the know how) and for Utah the best way was fronts go straight back, and rears cross to the front every 5-10k. Then torque everything and you're set! Pretty simple.
Directionals are even easier, just sawp fronts and rears on the same side and torque the lugs and you're solid. To me it's worth it rotating more often because I can do it all myself in about 30 minutes with tools I have available. Power tools, even faster.
And I think it's worth it to rotate more often because then you don't have to worry about uneven wear when you're deciding to buy new tires. Plus you start all fresh and while you're running on your tires they are all worn pretty close to the same and IMO it's safer.
But that's just me and my two cents (;

I rotate when I swap in the Snows which ends up being about 10K on the Tires before they move. I stick a piece of masking tape on them with their current position so when they go back on in the spring, they'll get rotated. This year they'll be up for replacement after the snows go on as with 32K on the odo (27K on the tires themselves), they are down to 3/32 and time for replacement. I'll be hunting the good deals as I'll have all winter to get the tires replaced.

~SB

i wonder if there are any runflats in our size. i havent looked so dont know but would give my wife piece of mind knowing she can drive home even if she got a flat. with kids on board i'd be worth the investment.

Triple A will unlock your car, bring you gas as well as change a tire - more versatile.

Or see if your insurance offers the same, which can be a lot cheaper.

Not to mention our cars which are especially front heavy. Hard braking in the Fit shows you the rear of the cars anticipation to get ahead of the front!

My last car, I didn't rotate the directional tires at all. Just replaced all 4 tires after 1 front tires replacement. Save me $ and time, but this might not work for everyone.