Tire Rotation

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I took one of my TDIs to where I bought its tires for a 7,000 mile rotation. The guy called and said all four tires look very good with lots of tread (they’re about 18 months old), but since the fronts have more tread than the tests he saw no reason to rotate them.

Does this sound on the level? When I bought the tires from him, he offered free rotations for as long as I owned them. Since Covid, he’s asks, but doesn’t insist, if he can do an oil change or some other job along with the rotations. I don’t need an oil change. And if I did I’m not sure he’d use the right oil.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

You could wait another 5-7K miles, but I would rotate them at that point. VWs can be hard on tires if they're not rotated.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

They really are in great shape. In 5,000, though. Thanks.

 

[benIV]

I thought it was every 10k with oil change. that’s mk4 but I assumed fairly universal for smaller cars
It’s .. odd .. to offer something and then not do it. Hate to assume one way or another about intentions but maybe he meant like come in do the oil change and he will do the rotation free then? Idk.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

He’s supposed to do them free. But now he’s strongly suggesting if there’s any other work he can do at the time.

 

[dieseldonato]

It's really just a waste of his time and marketing gimmick when you get down to it. Bring the car in to rotate the tires and x, y, and z could use some work etc. Just a quick money grab, hey you could use wiper blades etc. I'll rotate my own tires.

 

[ZippyNH]

Find what works for your driving style.... seriously...brakes are much the same.....
I usually try to time my rotation to get a set on the front with slightly more tread than the rear before winter....but if you have a specialized suspension setup(non factory) you might need to rotate more just to keep them quiet to avoid wearing out the inner edges....
But honestly, more often than every 20k with a 60k tire is overkill for most IMHO

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Diesel, I know exactly what you mean. I’ve never known this guy to be Ike that. Many are.

 

[benIV]

It is a marketing gimmick in a sense, which is not wrong per se, but he should obviously rotate them when you ask since that's what he offered.

 

[Nuje]

My rotations coincide with the swap from winters to all-seasons here. Sometimes it's a little more than 15K km, sometimes less (particularly on the winters).

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Ok. So I’m hearing that it probably doesn’t hurt the tires to wait.

 

[Zak99b5]

My tires rotate every time I drive the car.

But seriously, I’m not rotating my tires or getting an alignment after the shocks & springs installed until the cheap Douglas tires on the car now need replaced. When I get good tires, I’ll swap the front to rear every 6 months or so. It’s nice having two floor jacks.

 

[AverageAndy]

I rotate at home every 10,000 miles when I do oil changes, front-back swap. If the 10,000 mark is an "odd" starting number (like the 150,000 miles coming up) I will do a front-back criss-cross swap. My "even" starting number oil changes include fuel filter (every 20K) and DSG fluid (every 40K) so the easier simply front-back swap is done during those times.

 

[P2B]

I label them in the spring and fall when I change tires and put them on the other end the following year. Both sets are directional.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Why wouldn’t it always be best to do a diagonal rotation with either the front or the rear pair? Seems like it would promote even wear?

 

[AverageAndy]

If you always criss-cross or always go front-back, then the same 2 tires are being swapped at the same 2 corners. The way I do it, each tire eventually is at each of the 4 corners. Not sure that is needed, just what I do

 

[P2B]

Some tires are directional (designed to turn in one direction) so would need to be removed from their rims to rotate them diagonally.

Directional tires have a Rotation arrow on the sidewall.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Some people warn against cross-rotation, saying that the belts in the tire take a "set" from rotating in one direction and reversing the direction of rotation isn't good. I've always just rotated front to rear.

And now a few of my cars have directional tires, so front to rear rotation is my option.

 

[x1800MODMY360x]

I just had my tires done, the front still had more tread than the rears. Of course they recommend to rotate to the rears but I declined as front wheel drive cars wear more in the front. (Learned from my Impala and had bad uneven thread depth).

So I had them just balanced them instead.

 

[Nuje]

I thought that the owner's manual for these cars stated that tire "rotation" was simply front <---> back (?).

 

[Metal Man]

I obviously rotate way more often than most. I rotate every 3,300 miles. Fronts go straight back, rears get crossed going on the front. Most of my cars wear the inside edge of the tire. When there is still signs of tread on the inside edge I have the tires flipped on the wheel to move the worn edge to the outside. This puts like 75% tread on the inside.

 

[thatwhitejsw]

Typically, atleast on FWD cars, the tires with more tread should be relocated to the rear in order to aid in/help prevent the event of the rear end sliding out and providing more traction to help get back on track.

 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Typically, atleast on FWD cars, the tires with more tread should be relocated to the rear in order to aid in/help prevent the event of the rear end sliding out and providing more traction to help get back on track.

My mechanic must have known that. Unfortunate.

 

[Nuje]

Typically, atleast on FWD cars, the tires with more tread should be relocated to the rear in order to aid in/help prevent the event of the rear end sliding out and providing more traction to help get back on track.

Right - just like if you only have two snow tires, you're supposed to put those on the rear....or on your set of four, put the best pair back there.