tire rotation on all-wheel-drive vehicles

[manoftaste]

I remember reading somewhere that its not a good idea to rotate tires on an all-wheel drive vehicle. Is that something really true? I have about 16000 miles on my LR3 and have never rotated tires on the truck, and dealer is suggesting that i should do that (the tires are wearing fine though with the fronts wearing a bit more than the rear ones).

Also, the dealer is suggesting that I should have the 4-wheel alignment done as well as the truck has 15000 miles on it now. The truck rides fine, except that a few weeks ago i had started to notice a very slight wobble on the steering at freeway speeds and that seems to have gone away now. Should i just have the wheels balanced and not let them mess with the alignment at all?

thanks for your replies...

 

[joey]

There is nothing wrong with rotating tires on an all wheel drive vehicle. As a matter of fact I have been doing this for years...

The only side effect is my tires last longer.



Here is a portion of the linked article: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=18

Rotating Tires

Because the front and rear tires of all-wheel drive and four-wheel drive vehicles perform different duties while accelerating, braking and cornering, tire rotation is important to even out, and maintain equivalent treadwear of all of the vehicle's tires to minimize potential driveline stresses.

If the vehicle is equipped with a matching road wheel and full-sized spare tire, they should be integrated into the vehicle's rotation pattern at the first tire rotation. This will allow all five of the vehicle's tires to share in the workload and wear at similar rates. In the event that a single tire is damaged and has to be removed from service, this will allow the tread depth equivalent spare tire to be used with the remaining three tires.

If the spare is not integrated into the vehicle's tire rotation pattern, it will not match the tread depth of the four worn tires on the ground when called into service. Additionally, if a single tire is replaced by the full size spare tire, hopefully the new replacement tire can remain as the spare tire until the other four tires have worn out and need to be replaced.

 

[manoftaste]

thanks joey. i guess i will have em rotated then, but as i said that i have never rotated them before and now i have about 16000 miles on the truck so,

a) Would rotating tires now affect the drivetrain in anyway?

b) If I start rotating them now, then should the next rotation be at another 16000 miles to even them out first and then rotate them at like 7500 miles or 3500 miles or so?

c) Its probably not a good idea to include the spare in rotation now as it is brand new and would def not match the tread to others that have 16000 miles on em.

 

[joey]

A = possible vibration if you don't have them balanced

B = I wouldn't go more than 7500, since you stated the rears are already wearing

C = Agreed.

Keep in mind once a tire starts to wear, it will continue to wear with the same pattern, so good or bad wearing will continue. Kind of like shoes... Look at the bottoms of your shoes, they will show a wear pattern that will continue until you buy a new pair.

 

[CoreyS]

Tire rotation on AWD vehicles is a good idea, and certainly not a problem if they are the same size. The front tires will wear faster, since they handle accel and decel, AND they handle the steering duties.

My stock Goodyears are wearing quite nicely, considering all the bad reports on here. Having said that, I don't like the tires at all, but they are wearing well, and lasting longer than expected. I didn't rotate mine until the 22,500mi service (I'm at ~27k now), and the dealer recommended that I do NOT rotate them at all on the LR3. Said it wasn't needed. Considering the dealer is not a tire specialist, I ignored them and had them do it anyway. Of course, they then charged me for it.

My tire wear is pretty even across the tread on all 4 tires, with the fronts wearing a little faster than the rears. What was bothering me, though, was the feathering on the inner and outer tread blocks. It was actually getting pretty noisy on certain pavement types. It also was quite a bit worse on the fronts, but all 4 tires had it in the same direction. So, at rotation, I rotated LF to RR and RF to LR. This should compensate for the offset wear front to rear, and reverse the feathering. BTW, I've always run all the tires at 1psi more then the recommended values listed inside the driver's door.

We'll see how it goes, but I plan on replacing them before the next rainy season anyway, since the tread will pretty worn by then. Right now there's ~30 to 40% left.

 

[nwoods]

In the past many 4x4's had directional tires, and some are still popular today, but for ********* off roading, like Truxus or Interco tires. With our all terrian or street oriented radials, it's no problem to rotate them.

Definitely get the alignment done. I have mine done every 6 months, regardless of mileage, and each time significant adjustments are made.

 

[techboydino]

does anyone know what LR officially recommends on rotation? My tires have 14500 and are very bad. The fronts are cupping pretty horribly and the rears have some serious inside wear. I am going after LR come my 15K service and hope it works out. I didnt want to believe all the bad reviews on these tire, but now I am clearly a victim myself.

 

[manoftaste]

thanks all for your advice. My LR3 has no problem in terms of driving straight on the freeway and there is no pull on either side (except for the natural pull to the right on crowned streets), and the tires are wearing very nicely and all evenly without any issues at all, thats why i wasn't planning to do the alignment, but in the light of your advice i guess i'll have em do that along with the wheel balancing and rotation. Also, I have hit the curb a bunch of times by mistake while making u-turns, etc. I wonder if hitting the curb would affect the alignment, but the truck has no seemingly alignment issues at all. The dealer said that if the tires are wearing ok and there is no pull then there is no need for the alignment.

I am just afraid of them screwing something up while the vehicle is being aligned. Also, i know that there was a revision of alignment specs/settings from LR, which i should specifically mention to them to NOT apply to my truck as the tires are wearing ok so they should stick to the original non-revised factory specs.

Does the manual talk about rotation scheme at all?

 

[joey]

I only have an alignment done with I put new tires on... or if I have done a lot of off roading... since this can be ******* the alignment. So about 1 or 2 times a year (hard off roading doesn't happen often, since I am just way too busy).

 

[CoreyS]

thanks all for your advice. My LR3 has no problem in terms of driving straight on the freeway and there is no pull on either side (except for the natural pull to the right on crowned streets), and the tires are wearing very nicely and all evenly without any issues at all, thats why i wasn't planning to do the alignment, but in the light of your advice i guess i'll have em do that along with the wheel balancing and rotation.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Given your observations, I would rotate your tires, but I wouldn't bother with an alignment. If you are getting even wear, don't mess with it. I must also be one of the lucky ones, my LR3 tracks well on the road and tire wear is even across the tire tread, and I have had no alignments!