What is the point in rotating tires?

[OREOSpeedwagon]

The place I bought my tires at rotates them for free every 5-6k miles.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Actaeon
Why pay someone else to rotate it? Jack up the car, switch the tires around, either criss cross or just front to back. Hardly anything worth paying someone for.

It's a hefty job with a slanted driveway or a curved sidewalk (that's dangerous out in the street anyway) and 17" plus wheels. How do you swap tires with 1 jack ? It's too much work. I'd rather pay the $5 extra.

 

[TwoBills]

How do you swap tires with 1 jack ? It's too much work. I'd rather pay the $5 extra.[/quote]

You pull out the spare (good time to check it), remove the right rear, put on the spare, rr to rf, rf to lr, lr to lf, lf to rr (or to spare if you're doing 5 tire rotation). This is for rear wheel drive. Adjust the air and you're set.
Oil changes and tire rotation are about more than the obvious. Every couple of months you spend a day with your car, checking it out and performing other maintenance items. There's always something to do.

 

[CombatChuk]

The front tires have a lot more load (with the engine up front). Plus with about 80% of the braking load happens up front, the front set of tires wear out faster and rotating the tires strech out the life of the tires.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: Actaeon
Why pay someone else to rotate it? Jack up the car, switch the tires around, either criss cross or just front to back. Hardly anything worth paying someone for.

It's a hefty job with a slanted driveway or a curved sidewalk (that's dangerous out in the street anyway) and 17" plus wheels. How do you swap tires with 1 jack ? It's too much work. I'd rather pay the $5 extra.

yeah it takes a long time with a single jack and a spare, worth it to have someone else do it