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

[GroovyGeek]

Controversial opinion: 5 fire rotations are pointless if you will by the same brand tires when the time comes. I will never do anything other than ko2s so I have no intention wasting money on 5 fire rotations. And even if you plan on buying different brand tires you can keep the spare different if you are ok with the looks. The spare will be on only if you have an emergency and 20-40 miles with mismatched tires at low speed will be fine as long as the size same

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[kodiakisland]

Controversial opinion: 5 fire rotations are pointless if you will by the same brand tires when the time comes. I will never do anything other than ko2s so I have no intention wasting money on 5 fire rotations. And even if you plan on buying different brand tires you can keep the spare different if you are ok with the looks. The spare will be on only if you have an emergency and 20-40 miles with mismatched tires at low speed will be fine as long as the size same

Not sure how 5 tire rotations waste money. Does it cost you more to do 5 instead of 4? Why have a tire bought and paid for you don't use? Is that wasting money? You could do the 5 tire and at the end keep the best of the lot for the spare. You still buy 4 new tires, but you drive 20% farther before doing it. That wasting money? There's just little downside to rotating all your tires, other than some folks not wanting to remove their spare.

 

[GroovyGeek]

Not sure how 5 tire rotations waste money. Does it cost you more to do 5 instead of 4? Why have a tire bought and paid for you don't use? Is that wasting money? You could do the 5 tire and at the end keep the best of the lot for the spare. You still buy 4 new tires, but you drive 20% farther before doing it. That wasting money? There's just little downside to rotating all your tires, other than some folks not wanting to remove their spare.

5 fire rotations cost more due to labor. Over the 3-4 year life span of a set it adds to more than the cost of 1 tire, even if you get free rotations from discount tire they will charge you for a 5 tire rotation I believe.

 

[kodiakisland]

5 fire rotations cost more due to labor. Over the 3-4 year life span of a set it adds to more than the cost of 1 tire, even if you get free rotations from discount tire they will charge you for a 5 tire rotation I believe.

Well, I have no idea what it costs to have someone rotate your tires for you, but it takes me about the same time doing 5 since I don't have to leave one wheel on a jack stand. Or factor in my time spent at a shop getting the tires rotated, miles driven, etc. I figure I'm ahead doing 5 any way you look at it, but I also don't mind taking the spare off and putting it back on. I know it's a struggle for some.

 

[GroovyGeek]

Well, I have no idea what it costs to have someone rotate your tires for you, but it takes me about the same time doing 5 since I don't have to leave one wheel on a jack stand. Or factor in my time spent at a shop getting the tires rotated, miles driven, etc. I figure I'm ahead doing 5 any way you look at it, but I also don't mind taking the spare off and putting it back on. I know it's a struggle for some.

Yes if you do it yourself it makes sense. I have a discount tire I mile away from home and they do rotations in under 30 mins, for free if you bought the tires from them. Some of us have small garages ( or no garages) so stands, jacks, etc are not an option

 

[scotman623]

I have been doing the 5 tire rotation for years myself, will continue on with it.

 

[kodiakisland]

Yes if you do it yourself it makes sense. I have a discount tire I mile away from home and they do rotations in under 30 mins, for free if you bought the tires from them. Some of us have small garages ( or no garages) so stands, jacks, etc are not an option

Garages and floor jacks are nice, but I've rotated many a tire in a parking lot with the factory supplied jack. Everyone should have that. Again, the 5 tire does away with the need to use a stand. I get it many people don't want to do their own work, but I trust me more than the lowest paid guy at the shop.

I like changing my own as I look everything over underneath at the same time. It's a good idea to be familiar with your vehicle and see things going wrong before they are a problem. 4, 5 whatever, but again there is little downside to the 5 and just makes sense for many of us.

 

[NVCowboy]

I win.

 

[Scott R Nelson]

5 fire rotations cost more due to labor. Over the 3-4 year life span of a set it adds to more than the cost of 1 tire, even if you get free rotations from discount tire they will charge you for a 5 tire rotation I believe.

My Ford dealer does it at no cost, so four times zero or five times zero still costs me exactly the same.

You have a very weak argument for rotating four instead of five tires.

If you get a flat half-way through the life of your tires, the spare from a five-tire rotation will be the same diameter as the other tires while the spare from a four-tire rotation will be larger, which will affect handling and possibly the differential. Weak argument.

 

[Discount Tire]

5 fire rotations cost more due to labor. Over the 3-4 year life span of a set it adds to more than the cost of 1 tire, even if you get free rotations from discount tire they will charge you for a 5 tire rotation I believe.

Discount Tire will do your 5 tire rotation at no extra charge. Just let the agent you are talking to know that you would like to include the spare into the rotation and they will make it happen!

 

[Scott R Nelson]

Discount Tire will do your 5 tire rotation at no extra charge.

I was going to mention you guys too, but wasn't absolutely sure because I haven't visited one of your stores for a while. Thanks for the additional feedback.

 

[Discount Tire]

I was going to mention you guys too, but wasn't absolutely sure because I haven't visited one of your stores for a while. Thanks for the additional feedback.

No Worries! We are here to help. If you have any questions, please reach out!

 

[dejones64]

I do a 5 tire rotation every time I get the oil changed (5k) at the dealer. Total cost for oil change and rotation is $98, so it seems I am not being charged for the rotation (never looked closely at my invoice, suppose I should do that).

When these tires (32's) wear out I'll probably upgrade to maybe 35's.

 

[Arrowbear Rider]

5 fire rotations cost more due to labor. Over the 3-4 year life span of a set it adds to more than the cost of 1 tire, even if you get free rotations from discount tire they will charge you for a 5 tire rotation I believe.

When I took delivery, for $295 I purchased 3 years of synthetic oil changes, every 5K miles (10 total including break in), and it comes with a 5 tire rotation. The first thing I asked was does it include and do you guys do 5 tire rotations and they do and it does, so there's no extra cost for a 5th tire; same if not prepaid if going through the "Quick Lube Lane" at same dealership.

other than some folks not wanting to remove their spare.

Funny you wrote that, I was washing my truck yesterday and I was thinking next time I go in for the oil change/rotation I should take off the spare and put it in the back, so I can clean and wax behind the spare. Then let the tech put the next one in the rotation back on the carrier when they do the rotation.

But... My service advisor is pretty cool and he would probably let me go back to the work bay and clean and wax while the tech has the wheel off and I'd wouldn't even have removed it myself; I'll have to ask. He's let me go back and inspect under my truck after a few off road adventures and I tidy up/zip tied some wires from my lights that I installed; and he has just been pretty accommodating. Per my request, he also had the tech give me a quart of my old oil from my break in oil change so I could test it or at least check it out myself.

It's great when one finds a good dealer for service compared to some of the posts on here.

 

[H0pelessOpus]

I decided to do a 5 tire rotation as well. Told my dealer that I wanted it when I stopped in for my early oil change.

The service desk advised me against doing it and said stick to 4 tire rotation. I insisted he do a 5 and went about my day.

About an hour later I get a call from the service desk saying the technician on the floor is imploring him that I only do a 4 tire rotation or it’ll “mess up your 4wd system”. I caved and just rotated in the 5th tire when I got it back.

Seems like there’s a lot of misinformation out there, dealerships are not exempt!

Out of curiosity what location did you put the spare?

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