Does your dealer tell you NOT to Rotate your tires?

[toddjb122]

I'm at 60K and have always kept my tires rotated front to rear. (either at the dealership or on my own) I have switched over to the Michelins some time ago.

Took my car in for the 60K service this week and they rotated the tires as part of this. On the ride home I noticed the steering wheel vibrating at 55-60mph, which it didn't do on the way to the dealership. I got home and checked tire pressures for F/R which was correct.

So, I'm back at the dealership now (they're going to look at it), but their quick fix suggestions was to rotate the tires back as rotation is not recommended for the LR3. ?

I figure it is likely a tire balance or alignment issue. A tire could have been out of balance on the back, but I didn't notice it until it was connected to my steering.

Anyway, curious on your thoughts regarding LR3 tire rotation and what my response should be to the dealer if they tell me they "fixed" the problem by "un"rotating the tires.

Thanks.

 

[PaulLR3]

We don't have enough miles on our LR3 yet, but I can tell you that I never bothered to rotate the tires on all the Audis I have owned and they wear evenly. I think full time 4WD or all wheel drive wears the tires pretty evenly.

 

[richpike]

I can't imagine not rotating the tires - unless you have directional tires and different size tires front to back. It is pretty simple to think about it - the tires do vastly different things depending on their position - this tells me that to get the most mileage out of my tires you should rotate them to counteract that wear.

And, although my LR dealer is fantastic and very knowledgable, the vast majority of dealers I've dealt with seem to know significantly less about cars than I do (it is pretty sad when you have to explain to the dealer that your car is a special edition, or when you have to explain the difference between two all-wheel drive systems - quattro is not always the same - OK, maybe it is just that our Audi dealer sucks ).

-Rich

 

[toddjb122]

Appreciate the feedback. Yup, I don't have time to argue it with them but that's what they did (just rotated them back to where they started). They checked that the tires were balanced but did not do an alignment check. The alignment guy looked at the vehicle and said that will not fix this problem (vibration at 55-60mph).

 

[Houm_WA]

My dealer says no need to rotate, but others say I should. I routinely take the Michelins on and off for the Coopers (when I go offroad) and when I that, Discount tire swaps them for me (for free!) and they rotate as needed....it's sort of "random rotation" and I think it's working out okay.

 

[toddjb122]

My dealer says no need to rotate, but others say I should. I routinely take the Michelins on and off for the Coopers (when I go offroad) and when I that, Discount tire swaps them for me (for free!) and they rotate as needed....it's sort of "random rotation" and I think it's working out okay.

That's funny. The Discount Tire near me is an absolute nightmare! If I wanted to do what you suggested, I'd have to plan on sitting around for a few hours each time...and they'd probably cross thread a couple nuts in the process.

It was so bad that even though I had time left on my free allignment/rotation/etc. I stopped going to them. Time is money and they wasted so much of it, its worth paying LR to do it with scheduled service. I get a loaner and its done correctly.

 

[Houm_WA]

Well...I do it fairly often. The last time, they even let me leave my Michelins there for a week until I needed them (I had back-to-back trips planned). I'm practically on a first name basis with those guys and they are great. That's in Seattle. The shop in Portland also did it for me (even though I didn't purchase them there) and they were cool about it; but they were busy so it took longer.

I think that a guy has to time it right if he wants to get it done quick. Otherwise, take something to work on with you!

 

[toddjb122]

Just to close out the original question. They swapped the tires back to where they were and the vibration is gone. What is it about the LR3 that would cause tire wear that could cause this?

They used vehicle weight as an excuse and mentioned LR should really put better tires on the truck. I told them I'm on some fairly new Michelins and he didnt have a response.

But, one thing was clear....back in the original location with tire pressures adjusted the vibration is gone. Maybe it is something in the tires themselves as I noticed this when Discount rotated the tires as well. Back then just assumed they did a sh*tty balance and took them in for rebalancing, which come to think of it, didn't really help. Its too late and the argument would be too long for me to go down the path of a defective tire. At this point wouldn't be able to prove it wasn't tire wear caused by the vehicle anyway. But, it was worth mentioning.

 

[richpike]

If I had to venture a guess, I would say your original speculation about not noticing it on the rear is what is really happening. I've had tires "balanced" before, only to find them horribly out of balance once up to speed - took them back, had them do the tires again and it solved the problem. You might try a dedicated tire shop to see if they think they need balancing. Good luck.

-Rich

 

[AAN]

According to the European Maintenace (Service) Check sheet:

MAIN SERVICE (VEHICLE EXTERIOR)
6. Annual corrosion/cosmetic inspection - Using annual corrosion inspection sheet
7. Check tyre pressures, condition and tread depth.
8. Remove road wheels
9. Inspect brake pads for wear, calipers for leaks and disks for condition
10. Replace Brake Fluid (Every 3 years)*
11. Renew fuel filter element (Diesel)
12. Drain fuel sedimentor (Diesel)
13. Refit road wheels to opposite sides of the same axle ( Use anti-sieze compound on spigot bore ) Not vehicles fitted with uni-directional tyres
14. Check operation of door checks, bonnet catch & fuel flap and lubricate door checks