Tire Rotation Intervals

[Mike5150]

I've noticed that most people here are rotating their tires around the 5000 mile mark but is it really necessary? I mean if a person was to pick say 7500 or 10,000 mile intervals would it be just as good. I know on my car I was going with the 7500 mile rotation and my tires are wearing just fine.

[Splicer]

As with so many questions, the answer is -- it depends.

Depends on how you drive. If it's mostly straight-line and you typically get very high mileage from your tires, stretch it to as much as 10K miles -- but no more than that imo.

If your driving includes mountain roads with a lot of cornering (especially on abrasive surfaces such as chip-sealed roads), I wouldn't go past about 5K miles.

Side note: using a tread depth gauge will help you notice unusual wear patterns long before your eyes will notice a problem.

[LQQKatmy06]

IMO Don't go past 5k, here in NC Walmart rotates for $1.50 a wheel. I do mine myself and takes about a half hour, have not done the Tacoma yet only have 2200.

[SilverStreak05]

Depends on what kind of tire you have. I personally do mine every 5k.

Off road tires need more frequent rotatations because their rubber compound is softer and wears faster.

AT or street tires should be fine with a 7500-10000 mile rotation schedule.

[msibille]

+1 to all above.

Driving conditions, tire compounds, tread designs, vehicle characteristics and alignment, all play a factor. If your particular vehicle and driving style/conditions don't produce significantly different wear patterns on each of the wheels, and you keep it well aligned, you can get by w/ longer intervals on rotation, particularlyl true of some frnt wheel drive vehicles. (After all, if wearing evenly, what does it matter whether the front tires wear at the same rate as the rear or not? Either way, you'll get nearly the same average miles per tire- you may just have to replace the front more often than the rear.) However, if your vehicle and/or driving results in significantly different wear patterns from one wheel to the other (in particular, front vs. rear), then much can be gained by more frequent rotations. (And, they're fairly easy and cheap.) If you can properly change your oil, you can do this in about the same time -with the right equipment.
Don't cheap out on safety -you must have jack stands to support wheels and a quality jack, and this is not an activity to have small children or pets around. (Don't rely on frequent use of the vehicle jack -it's like a temporary spare, it's not meant for hvy use.)

For certain front wheel drive vehicles that are somewhat sedate, some mfrs and tire mfrs note that you can get great service from tires by not rotating them. In those instances, they claim that the rear tires may nearly last the life of the vehicle - of course, I'd be worried about deterioration of the sidewalls after a few years, so I don't recommend that (as well as they'd look pretty crappy). But with rear wheel drive, or agressive handling suspensions and driving, you'll find reduced overall tread life if you don't rotate regularly.

That having been said, most will likely find 5k to 10k effective if they are using standard all weather tires and don't drive too aggressively. Others with more aggressive tires and driving routines may benefit from more frequent rotations (and alignments if they offroad much).

[Pb]

It's easy to do all maintenance at the same time, so I just change the oil and rotate tires at the same time. Every 5k.
This is OT, but....I just got a real nice 4 ton rolling Craftsman air jack, and it really makes things a lot easier and faster. You can pump it up manually, or just connect it to an air compressor and press the lever on the jack; up goes the truck. I got a sweet deal on it. $250 new for a $500 jack.

[Splicer]

Pb, you have all the toys...