Tire rotation?

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billybgame

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 3, 2007
Location
Saginaw, MI
TDI
2005 Passat Wagon
Do I definitely need to rotate my TDI's tires? I've read some opposing things on VWs pertaining to this.

Searched, but couldn't seem to find much, at first glance. So, forgive if this has been previously covered.
 
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ruking

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 27, 2003
Location
San Jose area, CA
TDI
2003 VW Jetta, 5 M, Reflex Silver: 09 Jetta, 6 Sp DSG, Candy White: 12 VW Touareg, 8 Sp A/T, Flint Gray
Do you definitely need to rotate your TDI tires? Absolutely NOT! Some to all tire vendors will be more than happy to take your money. (prematurely)

It has been covered in great detail over more than a few threads. You would need to refine your search parameters.

Upshot, RTFM and rotate IAW the owners manual, technical data, shop manuals; 10,000 miles rotation recommendation-last I checked.
 
HopefulFred

HopefulFred

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2002
Location
Atlanta, GA
TDI
Golf, 2006, Indigo Blue
I like to rotate mine about twice as often as I change the oil... but I don't pay anyone to do it. Even if the front end of your car does not produce irregular wear on the tires, the rear probably does. The stock alignment eats a lot of rear tires (so I've heard - I don't see it on mine :) )
 
K

kwong7

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Location
Southern Caifornia
TDI
2001 Golf GLS TDI / White
My local and trusted tire shop does free tire rotations. It's usually a 20 minute wait and I rotate every 12K miles (about 6 months). I've noticed the surface of the tread wear pretty evenly when comparing front tires to rear; however the outside shoulders of the rear tires wear down faster than the front tires. The rear camber is quite a bit more than the front (designed for stability and preventing oversteer).

I would highly recommend routine tire rotations at least every 15K miles. Evenly worn tires should make the car more predictable.
 
sodapop6620

sodapop6620

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2004
Location
Lancaster, Pa
TDI
Jetta 2000
I do mine every oil change (10K)

Front to rear
rear to opposite front (assuming that you do not have directional tires)
And I keep them at 40 psi with no uneven wear issues
 
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dayne66

dayne66

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2008
Location
The Island,BC
TDI
(TRADED)2006 Jetta TDI Package 3 (Cdn) 5 sp
Do a rotation when I swap from summer to winter wheels/tires, Which, for me is less than 10,000km between rotations. I didn't end up putting the kms on the car that I expected to when I bought it.
 
abctdi

abctdi

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 31, 2004
Location
ABQ, NM, USA
TDI
2005 Passat GLS
billybgame said:
Do I definitely need to rotate my TDI's tires? I've read some opposing things on VWs pertaining to this.

Searched, but couldn't seem to find much, at first glance. So, forgive if this has been previously covered.
Click to expand...
Why would tdi or vw brand make a difference? Rotation is universal.
 
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MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.
I rotate my tires every time I drive. Ba-dum-bum!

Seriously though, it's up to you. If you don't, the tires will probably cup on the outer edges, especially the fronts. If they get cupped and then you rotate them they'll be noisier than hell.
 
AndyBees

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
I've bought tires from the same place for over 35 years. Their price includes new valve stems, mounted, balanced (life of tires), rotated every 7500 miles (life of tires) and tire disposal (road hazard warranty included).

The last set of BF Goodrich tires rolled over 82k miles.
 
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TonyJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 15, 2005
Location
Tucson, Az
TDI
'15 Jetta TDI SE / '06 Jetta TDI DSG Pkg0 / '96 Passat TDI
Whether you bought the tires there or not...Discount Tire will rotate and balance for FREE! Although, I have bought tires there in the past.

Tony
 
M

MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.
Lee_Taylor said:
one of the larger UK tyre fitters no longer recommends it.
Click to expand...
That's so they can sell more tires. Tires wear unevenly. They've been wearing unevenly since tires were invented.

If you drive in a straight line all the time, with all four wheels in perfect alignment, and perfect 50/50 weight distribution, then maybe you can forgo rotating the tires. But since many tire retailers will rotate tires free of charge, why not rotate them? Even if you have to do it yourself, it only takes an hour, maybe, once or twice a year.
 
Car901

Car901

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Location
Avon, MA
TDI
2010 JSW 6spd, Black, in and out - traded for '17 Alltrack
Rotate every 6 - 8k miles. As a former tire seller and installer, this simple plan will return to you the optimum tread-life. Proper pressure, alignment, balance and rotation is the answer. This is how I get 70k, with even wear, on my war wagon - twice. Many people on this site are enthusiastic about every aspect of their TDI; tire maintenance is part of it. Except these factory Hankooks leave much to be desired; with a treadwear index of 340, I may get 25k out of them.
 
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RalphVa

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Location
Virginia
TDI
Jetta
On a FWD car like the TDI, the front tires see a lot more wear than the rears. This is why it's necessary to rotate the tires, unless you want to wear out the fronts a lot quicker.

I usually rotate mine once/year with oil changes, which is usually around 6-7k miles. On my other vehicles, I crisscross the tires. The VW owner's manual says to run them front to back on the same side. A few tires are uni-directional where this is necessary. Most aren't.

All it takes is a couple of hydraulic floor jacks and a good 4 way lug wrench.
 
PDJetta

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
I used to rotate tires every 10,000 miles but since it is a pain, I lengthened it to 15,000. I figure as long as the tires spend equal mileage on the front and rear, all is good.

--Nate
 
AndyBees

AndyBees

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
Rotating

Car901 said:
Rotate every 6 - 8k miles. As a former tire seller and installer, this simple plan will return to you the optimum tread-life. Proper pressure, alignment, balance and rotation is the answer. This is how I get 70k, with even wear, on my war wagon - twice. Many people on this site are enthusiastic about every aspect of their TDI; tire maintenance is part of it. Except these factory Hankooks leave much to be desired; with a treadwear index of 340, I may get 25k out of them.
Click to expand...

Well said!:D
 
K

k2h2

Active member
Joined
Nov 30, 2004
Location
Riverside, CA
TDI
Golf, 2000, 5-speed manual, blue
I rotate every 10k. something to do while the front end is getting the oil changed. its only a few extra minutes and its a good chance to check tire pressure, look over the brakes, and just get a warm fuzzy that those parts of the car are still lookin' good.

--a side note, I figured after rotating for nearly 200,000 miles I'd eventually lose a hubcap from pulling it off so often. not so. still have all 4!
 
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GGK

Veteran Member
Joined
May 10, 2009
Location
High Desert in NM
TDI
2009 Jetta Sedan
I'm about to rotate my tires (5k) and the book calls for front to rear instead of the usual cross rotation. I can see doing that if you have directional tires but the ones that came with my car(Bridgestone ) are not:confused:
 
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RalphVa

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2009
Location
Virginia
TDI
Jetta
Doing your own tire rotations is also a good opportunity to wash and Armour all the in side of the tires and to clean up the inside of the wheels.
 
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