What exactly is involved in "rotating tires?"

[The Sauce]

As above.

 

[Nohr]

Switching the front tires to the rear and vice versa.

 

[minendo]

Depends on what the specs call for. Could be just switching front and back, could be making a cross-switch.

 

[rival]

surprisingly, theres not a whole lot of rotating going on

 

[amdskip]

Jack on frame, jack up, impact gun is nice if you have access to one. Remove lugnuts, switch the tires, put lugs back on by hand and use a torque wrench to appropriate specs on the lugnuts.

 

[Heisenberg]

On some cars though, the wheels have to stay on the front or back. So to rotate the tires you have to dismount and then remount the tires while leaving the wheels in place. It's fairly rare though.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
On some cars though, the wheels have to stay on the front or back. So to rotate the tires you have to dismount and then remount the tires while leaving the wheels in place. It's fairly rare though.

A lot of new tires have a directional treat patterns too, so if the car calls for an X-pattern rotation then the tires should be dismounted and re-mounted. Also rare though since most new cars only specify a simple front to rear rotation.

ZV

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Originally posted by: amdskip
Jack on frame, jack up, impact gun is nice if you have access to one. Remove lugnuts, switch the tires, put lugs back on by hand and use a torque wrench to appropriate specs on the lugnuts.

Yup...if you ever see a guy putting the lug nuts back on with an impact wrench, run away, far far away...unless of course you enjoy cross threaded and broken lugs...

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

If your doing it yourself. Now is the time to take a good look at the brakes, for wear or
any signs of leakage. Also lube any zerks that maybe on the front suspension.
When the wheels are reinstalled, put a drop or two of oil on the studs. One more,
look for any small nails or glass lurking in the tire, with them off its easy to spot...:sun:

 

[Yossarian]

Mark the point on each tire where the tread touches the ground. Carefully drive forward until that point is touching the ground again. Congratulations, you have successfully rotated your tire one time.

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: PipBoy
Mark the point on each tire where the tread touches the ground. Carefully drive forward until that point is touching the ground again. Congratulations, you have successfully rotated your tire one time.

Heh heh. And, with that method, you can do al 4 at once.

 

[wizardbud]

Drive around until you find a car that's the same make, year, and model as your car, only with better tires.
Remove your tires, and replace them with the tires from the other car.
Putting your tires on the other car is entirely optional.

Rotate!

 

[The Sauce]

So the tires do not actually get rotated in any particular pattern around the car (clockwise, counterclockwise), per se - such that the left front would go to the right front, the right front to the right rear, the reight rear to the left rear, etc.? Reason I'm asking is because I missed one of the schedualed rotation intervals and was wondering when to rotate them next (and where to).

 

[GasX]

Depends on the car, but typically you move the fronts to the back and the back left to the front right and the back right to the front left.

 

[Abhi]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Depends on the car, but typically you move the fronts to the back and the back left to the front right and the back right to the front left.

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: FrankyJunior

Originally posted by: PipBoy
Mark the point on each tire where the tread touches the ground. Carefully drive forward until that point is touching the ground again. Congratulations, you have successfully rotated your tire one time.

Heh heh. And, with that method, you can do al 4 at once.

Cheap and effective :beer:

 

[Papagayo]

If you have uni-directional tires, then they have to be on the same side when rotating..
example.. Front left to Rear left..

If you don't have uni-directional tires, then you rotate from opposite corner..
example.. Front Right to rear left

 

[The Sauce]

A lot of different answers here.

 

[Ranger X]

Speaking of rotating tires, I need to rotate my tires soon. Is it true that Costco will do it for free for their members?

 

[brtspears2]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Speaking of rotating tires, I need to rotate my tires soon. Is it true that Costco will do it for free for their members?

With tire purchase from Costco.

 

[Noirish]

Originally posted by: rival
surprisingly, theres not a whole lot of rotating going on

nah, i bet they rotate each tire like 1000 times before switching them front to back and/or left to right.

 

[Kelemvor]

Main thing is to jsut check your owner's manual if you have one. It should show the recommended rotation pattern for the car. Unless you have special tires that have to stay on the same side, then you dno't have a choice. But the cross pattern is the normal.

 

[Gravity]

BMW recommends that you do NOT rotate tires. There may be some heavier wear up front but the suspension gets accustomed to the tires and rotating can make the car shake some.

 

[GeneValgene]

what's tire balancing then?

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Papagayo
If you have uni-directional tires, then they have to be on the same side when rotating..
example.. Front left to Rear left..

If you don't have uni-directional tires, then you rotate from opposite corner..
example.. Front Right to rear left

Hm. I don't see why any car would have different wear on the left and right. Inside and outside yes, but you can't change that unless you take the tires off the rims.