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Tire Rotation: How often should we do this?

ykkspring

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July 6, 2007
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City, State
Simsbury, CT
Year, Model & Trim Level
'02 XLT
Hi,
I have a Ford Expl'02 XLT.
Please advise how often should I rotate the tires( someone suggested every 10K...is that recommended)?
what is the ideal pattern of rotation ( Is the simplest method 'front ones to rear and rear to front' good enough?)
Thanks.
 



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I rotate mine every oil change, which is about 5,000 miles
 






welcome aboard
 












what is the ideal pattern of rotation ( Is the simplest method 'front ones to rear and rear to front' good enough?)
Thanks.

You will get differing opinions on this. Some will say just rotate front to back while others will say to rotate the tires in a "modified" X pattern. Maybe I am old school but I would personally never switch what side the tires are on with radials. When you switch what sides the tires are on you are changing their direction of rotation. My vote is just rotate front to back.
 






I do mine about every other oil change. 6k
 






I do mine about every other oil change. 6k

ditto that. Also, I do not change sides (changes rotation direction), I only swap them front to back.

At the same time I inspect and measure the brakes, and track the brake pad thickness (for all my cars). That way, I can predict when replacement is coming due, and have the parts in hand, at my convenience, whenever I get around to the next rotation. That way, changing the pads only adds a few minutes to my maintenance routine, although pads on my Explorer last a very, very long time.
 






Scott you only rotate your tires when the rears are slick, ive never seen you rotate tires just replace them.
 






I do them as recommended by Ford, every 10,000 miles, front to back. More often is probably better but a lot of extra work.
 






I have the AWD (non-switch 4wd) every 4-5k with the oil change. I heard if you don't you could burn up the viscous clutch in the xfer case.
 






I do mine about every other oil change. 6k

Double dittooooooooooooo. Just harder to do mine cause i only have one jack and 2 stands... lol. talk about thinking.
 






Double dittooooooooooooo. Just harder to do mine cause i only have one jack and 2 stands... lol. talk about thinking.

If you only rotate front to back, two stands and a jack are all you need. My problem is plenty of stands (6) but my jack has insufficient height to get the Ex up for the size of my bigger stands.
 






I do mine about every second oil change. Depends on how lazy I am the day I'm changing the oil. :)

I do a modified "X" rotation...The recommended procedure. Cross the two rears, and rotate them to the front.
 






You should rotate tires :confused: I never have and I am on my second set of tires they are about 1/2 to 3/4 spent, 160k+. I should make it to 170kish as I got 85k out of the first set.

But I would think 6k to 10k would be more then good.
 






I thought I was having major transfer case or wheel speed sensor troubles on my '02 EB because of on any situation that required the application of power, the 4WD would kick in at any speed. Had a major issue with the dealer over all of this and they couldn't figure out the cause and wanted to replace the clutch packs in the front transfer case and the wheel speed sensors after changing out the front end's fluids. Come to find out that it was all because of the treadwear differences between the front and rear wheels. I replaced my quite worn rear tires with a set of Michelin X's that had almost identical treadwear to my front Cooper's (a bit more than half tread). Problem solved immediately. It seems that the onboard computer senses wheel speed very carefully so that much difference between tires cause it to think a wheel slippage is occurring and thus the 4WD kicks in to fix or in this case exaccerbate the problem. Per my '00 Toyota 4Runner's recommendations from the factory, I'll be rotating the Explorers in the diagonal pattern to hopefully keep the treadwear even.

As an aside, the Michelin X's that I'd put on when new were well over $200 each and the the used ones mounted, balanced, new valve stems & etc. cost me a grand total of $52.50 tax and all for the two of them. I may not ever buy new tires again after running across this local used tire dealership that does stand behind them. They have a network where they can get almost any brand and size for incredibly reasonable prices with a little notice. They get them of recent totals and also from the folks that upgrade wheels and tires. The guy that owns the used tire place makes more money on his great used tires than the average new tire dealer does. The tires that I bought for basically $26 each have at least 25k miles left on them!
 






Rotating tires is defiantly good, remember, most of your turns are right turns. I use the X pattern that E. B. Cornburner speaks of.

I'd say rotate them with oil changes. I don't rotate mine that often, but I should..

Edit: I should have left a smart azz post. Here goes...
I rotate my tires every time I drive:D
 






I started thinking about that...Most of my turns are left turns. Left to go to work, left to come home, left to go to downtown, etc.

Maybe I just live in a wierd area?

I make so many left turns I've been thinking about adding a little stagger to my tires! :D Maybe play with spring rates, diagonal and wedge too!:p:
 






You oughta toe out your left tires, and toe in the right ones so you can corner faster:D
 






The modified X pattern of tire rotation can greatly reduce the likelihood of developing a radial pull which a straight front-back rotation does not address.

If there is any significant deviation from nominal in the camber of one or more wheels or even if the camber is in spec but in opposite direction (positive on one side, negative on the other) your tires will tend to develop a sort of conic shape that generates a pull as you drive. By doing your tire rotations in the modified X pattern, all four tires will wear evenly so any pull at one tire is offset by a similar but opposite pull at the other side negating any pull overall.

Even if you get an annual wheel alignment done, most of the people doing the wheel alignments don't bother to look for let alone correct minor camber problems so you might not know about it. To do takes time and most consumers will go elsewhere rather than pay for the time it takes for a proper 4 wheel alignment. If this is a concern and you want things done right, make sure you get a printout and look for any problem, then see what will be necessary to correct the problem.
 



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The owners manual shows you how to rotate the tires. 4 tire rotation pattern and 5 tire pattern.
 






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