Best Practice 5 Tire Rotation?

[prospectfour]

I would say very few people rotate their tires.

Agree. Probably the same % doing their own oil changes.

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[daddycreswell]

Hear me out....Do you rotate your full sized spare on your car/truck now?

 

[Gamecock]

Hear me out....Do you rotate your full sized spare on your car/truck now?

Ok, heard. Very insightful.

To your question: Yes, always when I have a tire on the back. It makes no sense not to.

 

[daddycreswell]

Ok, heard. Very insightful.

To your question: Yes, always when I have a tire on the back. It makes no sense not to.

But I am asking about a normal car, I have a full size spare on my Raptor, I've never rotated it and never will. I bet that is the norm, so why does it matter if the tire is on the tailgate or under the auto?

 

[da_jokker]

So it is an old school plug and not an interior patch? If a plug, I'd just keep it as a spare and do a 4 tire rotation. Plugs are fine and I've done them myself, but patches are more foolproof.

Yeah this is an old school plug. I don't know if it was professional or not but it it's sticking out of the tire. At this point the tires show new that the treads are so much thicker than the existing so I probably can't even put it into rotation.

 

[Gamecock]

But I am asking about a normal car, I have a full size spare on my Raptor, I've never rotated it and never will. I bet that is the norm, so why does it matter if the tire is on the tailgate or under the auto?

...well, first of all you SEE the one on the back of the truck. Do you want an old ass GoodYear 35 hanging off there when you have 90k miles on the truck and have long ago switched to Nittos? So why not rotate it in, get the 20% more life out of them because you did, then change all 5 and have a nice new, good looking tire that matches every time you switch tires?

 

[daddycreswell]

...well, first of all you SEE the one on the back of the truck. Do you want an old ass GoodYear 35 hanging off there when you have 90k miles on the truck and have long ago switched to Nittos? So why not rotate it in, get the 20% more life out of them because you did, then change all 5 and have a nice new, good looking tire that matches every time you switch tires?

I don't know to be honest with you, just never thought about rotating it. And if I change tires, I'll change the 5th out as well old or new.

 

[Gamecock]

I don't know to be honest with you, just never thought about rotating it. And if I change tires, I'll change the 5th out as well old or new.

That's the point....if you're going to switch out all 5 anyway as most people do...might as well use the 5th tire like the other 4 before you do, and go 20% longer before you buy those 5 new tires.

 

[BC overlanding]

Hear me out....Do you rotate your full sized spare on your car/truck now?

apples to oranges jeep/Bronco spare mounted on OEM rim and easy access. Normal spare mounted to cheap steel rim and hard to get to.

 

[Snydermann]

I like to keep my cars absolutely clean and detailed, it's a hobby I enjoy.

I'll keep the spare mounted so the wheel and tire is always new and clean. I know, it's a dumb reason.

 

[Go Devils]

I've read through most of the posts on this and other related threads. In my small brain, I had to write it out and came to one conclusion--based on very basic math.
The spare will always have fewer miles on it if you follow the rotation guide.

For example, if you rotate every 5,000 miles, then after the 5th rotation, the original 4 tires on the ground will have 25,000 miles and the spare will have only 20,000 miles on the ground (note that the vehicle will have ~30,000 miles--assuming it was new when the rotation process began). Again, based on rudimentary math skills from 5th grade, this would translate into an extra 16.66% (30,000-25,000=5,000; 30,000/5,000=6; 100/6=16.66) tread life per ground tire--with the spare having 33.33% extra tread life (30,000-20,000=10,000; 30,000/10,000=3; 100/3=33.33). Based on these calculations, we got an extra 5,000 miles from rotating in the spare. So, now we can go one more rotation before replacing the tires altogether (assuming our tires will last 30k miles +/-). The next questions is if we get 45k miles out of the tires, how many extra miles are we getting from rotating the spare into the mix?

Here is the math...
55,000-45,000=10,000; 55,000/10,000=5.5; 100/5.5=18.18

So now, we have increased our tire life to 18.18% after 45,000 miles on the tires and 55,000 miles on the vehicle. So, when do we get the 20% you might ask? Well, if we want to get an extra 20% of use from our tires? Lets try it... Lets say after 60,000 miles on the tires, our vehicle has traveled 75,000 miles. I know this is pushing it, but lets be optimistic that our tires might last that long (just like we've been optimistic that our Broncos will get here before Christmas-2024).

Here is the math...
75,000-60,000=15,000; 75,000/15,000=5; 100/5=20%

So, after 75,000 miles on the vehicle and 60,000 miles on each tire, we have reached the 20% mark. Now, we have to replace all 5 tires and start again. But who gets 60,000 miles on truck/LT/mud tires? Exactly!

So do we truly get an extra 20% of tire life when rotating the spare into the mix? Based on Mrs. Schmidt's lesson on percentages, I would say only if you are getting 60,000 miles from your tires. Otherwise, you will likely get an extra 5,000-10,000 miles if you're lucky and still have to replace the spare. I am still undecided but I agree that having an old worn tire on the back on my new-ish Bronco is not ideal.

 

[Ramble_Offroad]

I keep this taped to the inside my my garage cabinets. Lots of different “correct ways” it seams, just pick one and be consistent.

 

[Snydermann]

So you have a $32,000+ vehicle that gets 18mpg and you're concerned about replacing an extra $250 spare tire every few years?

 

[broncosor]

See Ford manual below. How can I do a forced re learn of the TPMS without going to dealership?


“ For the best tire life, a five tire rotation is recommended that includes the matching spare tire mounted on the back of the vehicle. This rotation requires a forced re-learning of your tire pressure monitor system sensors by your vehicle, and should be performed by an authorized dealer or a service center to ensure the tire pressure monitor system will provide proper warning at all times. When performing the tire rotation yourself, a four tire rotation is recommended, without using the spare tire in the rotation, so that no tire pressure monitor system sensor re-learn is required. If a five tire rotation is performed without a tire pressure monitor system sensor re-learn, the system may not provide a low tire pressure warning when necessary.”

 

[broncoGIRL21]

I keep this taped to the inside my my garage cabinets. Lots of different “correct ways” it seams, just pick one and be consistent.

So I think I made a total rookie mistake today. Took my Bronco into Belle Tire today to get my tires rotated. Assumed that since they work at a tire store and I don't, they would know what they were doing, so being a girl, I didn't ask any questions. They did all 5 tires and when they were done the guy told me that he rotated them clockwise. Hours later it dawned on me that I don't think he cross-rotated them like the many diagrams I've seen posted in this forum, I think he just moved them all one spot to the right.

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