5 wheel tire rotation... Why you should do it!

[Lakelife36]

The extra 20% of life is nice but in reality you're going to replace the tires 2 times in the life of a vehicle the added 20k miles will be nice but you won't really see the benefit of it unless you're taking the car beyond 160k miles. Most people aren't. And in the meantime you've paid around $600 extra for tires by this point.

That's my thinking. I'm open to hearing other peoples counter opinions.

Can you break down your math a bit please? After that I'll offer my counter.

Sponsored

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

Can you break down your math a bit please? After that I'll offer my counter.

I think he's saying that you'll average 50-55k per set, so three sets will get you to around 160K?

I never did, when I lived in the mountains, I was always using my prorated credit when buying new tires. I was running Coopers, good price and I really liked the way they handled the snow and dirt, but I'd wear them out well before their warranty and I'd get a nice prorated amount on the next purchase. Pepboys always honored the prorated amount, so I didn't care that I was going thru tires quicker.

Between buy 3 get 1 free and my prorated credit, it came out to half what the next choice would be. And I was only driving around 8k/year, which would be 54k in 6 years, but I was only getting about 4 years. I think I averaged something like $106 per tire out the door on $160 tires.

 

[dgorsett]

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but at 54 years old, I've never rotated the tires on any vehicle I've ever owned. My current daily driver got 70K miles out of a set of BFG KO's (and still had visible tread), and I'm at 40K miles on the KO2's that are on it now.

Another thread I was going to stay away from due to possible flaming, I sometimes rotate but usually when I notice abnormal wear. Really I usually get bored with tires and want bigger or better before they wear out.

 

[_jeff]

I'm going with a 5 tire rotation every 5k miles.

 

[Broncoman7072]

This is my "cheat sheet". I keep it in my phone, and I have a print in the glovebox in case I'm not the one doing the rotation (like when it's at the dealer for the 10,000 mi. service)...

I don't use a cheat sheet. Simply remember cross the non-driving wheels. Applies to every vehicle I have rotated the tires on. It's second nature. Fwd or rwd it does matter, cross the non-driving wheels. 5 tire rotation I have to think for just a second.

Never owned an awd so I am not sure what I would want to do.

***Yes the bronco is 4wd but it's 2wd 99% of the time***

 

[thenewjs]

What does the manual suggest? I don’t have one yet!

 

[Scott R Nelson]

I don't use a cheat sheet. Simply remember cross the non-driving wheels. Applies to every vehicle I have rotated the tires on. It's second nature. Fwd or rwd it does matter, cross the non-driving wheels. 5 tire rotation I have to think for just a second.

The original Bronco Owner's Manual (i.e., the 2021 version) shows back to front on same side, cross over when moving front to rear. This agrees with you and disagrees with the one "Ramble_Offroad" posted.

You want the spare to go on the right rear because that tire often gets a bit more wear than the others on rear wheel drive vehicles, so put the one with more tread there. The one that would have gone on the right rear in a 4-tire rotation then goes in the spare position.

I don't know if the service guys have a standard way of doing it, but I explained it clearly to them when they did mine to make sure this was how it was done. Then I watched just to be sure...

 

[Roger123]

What does the manual suggest? I don’t have one yet!

 

[thenewjs]

End of conversation for me!

 

[Roger123]

End of conversation for me!

Just realize that the stuff about programming the TPMS is not true. It seems as though they updated the system so it automatically figures itself out.

 

[RhodeIslandRed]

I'm surprised no one has brought up directional tires. The five-wheel rotation requires flipping a mount to rotate directional tires. It's an extra pain. But all the other arguments hold true, it's just more work to run to the tire shop for a flip on the one that moves from one side of the rig to the other. And don't forget to get it re-balanced.

 

[Ramble_Offroad]

Well this is the third five tire rotation pattern I’ve seen, this one with the rears crossed to the front which I believe is similar to an all wheel drive four tire rotation pattern.

Lots of different patterns & theory’s, long ago I arbitrarily chose this one and have stuck with it.

When I was younger, and wheeled more (god that makes me sound like an old man) I would sell my tires every spring and buy new ones.

 

[Scott R Nelson]

Just realize that the stuff about programming the TPMS is not true. It seems as though they updated the system so it automatically figures itself out.

Yeah, I was trying to figure out when the guys that rotated my tires fiddled with things so that the former spare would get recognized. I didn't see them do anything, and that is probably because they don't have to anymore. That's a good thing in my book.

I'm surprised no one has brought up directional tires.

I can see it now - you're only allowed to get flat tires on the right side, because the spare is directional for going on the right side.

I remember 20 years ago when I had a Honda S2000. That car had wider tires in the back AND they were directional. No tire rotations of any form on that one.

 

[Taltyman]

I had an 80's Bronco and did not rotate the spare. Went out one fine morning and notice the spare had blown out on the top side. So either cover or rotate or park in the shade

 

[RhodeIslandRed]

Yeah, I was trying to figure out when the guys that rotated my tires fiddled with things so that the former spare would get recognized. I didn't see them do anything, and that is probably because they don't have to anymore. That's a good thing in my book.

I can see it now - you're only allowed to get flat tires on the right side, because the spare is directional for going on the right side.

I remember 20 years ago when I had a Honda S2000. That car had wider tires in the back AND they were directional. No tire rotations of any form on that one.

It is an extra pain. But if you go in mud a lot, the self-cleaning siping feature of directional mud tires is a huge advantage.

Of course, in a nation-wide drought, it's less of an issue.

This certainly is another thing to consider when picking tires.

Sponsored