Question on 1st Tire Rotation

[Apexcars]

Most P/U truc

I only do a 4 tire rotation, X fronts to rear and rears to front same side. I have done this on all my rigs since I got out of the military at 5,000 mile intervals and have always gotten even tread wear and long life from my tires...

Lot's of opinions on this but Ford recommends this for their Raptors, RAM recommends it for my TRX, Jeep shows it in their owners manual...Plus if you do decide to change size or brand of tire, you now have a never-on-ground tire to sell to help offset the cost of your new ones!

Most P/U trucks carry a full size spare but you don't do a 5 tire rotation because that spare doesn't have a wheel that matches your other 4 tires. Your truck will look kinda funny for 4/5ths of the time while the spare works it's way back around to the spot up under the bed.

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[rivercrossing]

Sorry, but that makes no sense in this world. Our tires are not directional. If they were then doing a standard 4-tire rotation would still screw them up. You'd have to do a front to rear rotation (assuming non-staggered tires).

This is true. not directional tires, not directional rims, same size front and back tires, full size spare with matching rim.

But besides this one 4wd vehicle all my other vehicles had something stopping a 5 tire rotation.

A friend had a Corvette. It had;
directional tires
directional rims
Different sizes front to back (wider tires on the back)
Not a full size spare
Not a matching rim on the spare.

He could not rotate tires at all unless he had them unmounted and remounted then he could do side to side.

95% of new cars can't do a 5 tire rotation. 60 years nearly all cars could do a 5 tire rotation.

For someone coming to a wrangler from nearly any other vehicle, this 5 tire rotation will be new and something they may not understand.

 

[rivercrossing]

It's been said, but a 5 tire rotation makes a driveway job extremely simple since you only have one wheel off at a time. I don't have to worry about dragging out jack stands and the PITA associated with getting the Jeep on and off of them.

The only issue I see is if someone is running heavy 37s or larger, getting that spare back on the carrier is likely a solid kick to the crotch.

This is very true.

But if you can't get your spare off and on for a tire rotation you better have a plan to get it off and on when you have a flat. (Any one have a hint on how to make this easier?)

 

[Radioman]

Just thinking out lout, as a lazy option, can I only swap the spare with the tire that shows the lowest tread depth, and leave the other 3? All 5 are not new, tread depth are relatively even, ranging from 12-13.
I was planning to do this in between the full rotation. For example, full rotation every 10k miles, and this 1 swap option in between at 5K miles. Any drawbacks?

If you have been doing the 5 tire rotation, all the tires should have about the same tread depth.

 

[Radioman]

95% of new cars can't do a 5 tire rotation. 60 years nearly all cars could do a 5 tire rotation.

Many new cars come without a spare nowadays...

 

[sunset]

Most P/U trucks carry a full size spare but you don't do a 5 tire rotation because that spare doesn't have a wheel that matches your other 4 tires. Your truck will look kinda funny for 4/5ths of the time while the spare works it's way back around to the spot up under the bed.

I didn't know that. So, I infer this full-size spare is consigned by the manufacturer to be for temporary use on pick-up trucks.

I have been rotating tires for 50 years and what I always do is cross rotate (X) the 4 on the ground.
As soon as I see or feel the outer edge starting to cup on the front it is time to rotate.
We have all heard that car or truck going down the road with that annoying tire noise.
If you wait to long there is nothing you can do to fix the cupped tires.
By doing this I have got as high as 80k out of a set of tires without any cupping or tire noise.

I gotta ask... In your 50 years of doing this, of the ones that had a full-size spare, were most of these spares hidden away in the trunk thus perhaps easy to exclude in the 4-tire theology? If any of your vehicles were Jeeps with the obvious full-size spare in view, what was your reasoning to exclude this tire from rotation? Was it just a habit you got into?

 

[sunset]

If you have been doing the 5 tire rotation, all the tires should have about the same tread depth.

It seemed to me at first glance that the longer you wait between rotations, the longer it takes to end up with all 5 tires ending up with the same wear.

Using the 2024 Owners Manual chart recommendation of 4-tire rotation every 10,000 miles but adapted here for 5-tire rotation:

First 10,000 miles, four tires have 10k wear, the spare has 0k wear.

2nd 10,000 miles, three tires have 20k wear, one as 10k wear, spare has 10k wear.

3rd 10,000 miles, three tires have 30k wear, one has 20k wear, spare has 20k wear.

4th 10,000 miles, three tires have 40k wear, one has 30k wear, spare has 30k wear.

5th 10,000 miles, three tires have 50k wear, one has 40k wear, spare has 40k wear.

6th 10,000 miles, three tires have 60k wear, one has 50k wear, spare has 50k wear.

etc.

Ok, looks like at second glance that two tires will always be 10k behind the other three?

And if a 10k difference matters, we could reduce that 10k difference to 5k by rotating every 5000 miles.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Radioman]

It seemed to me at first glance that the longer you wait between rotations, the longer it takes to end up with all 5 tires ending up with the same wear.

Using the 2024 Owners Manual chart recommendation of 4-tire rotation every 10,000 miles but adapted here for 5-tire rotation:

First 10,000 miles, four tires have 10k wear, the spare has 0k wear.

2nd 10,000 miles, three tires have 20k wear, one as 10k wear, spare has 10k wear.

3rd 10,000 miles, three tires have 30k wear, one has 20k wear, spare has 20k wear.

4th 10,000 miles, three tires have 40k wear, one has 30k wear, spare has 30k wear.

5th 10,000 miles, three tires have 50k wear, one has 40k wear, spare has 40k wear.

6th 10,000 miles, three tires have 60k wear, one has 50k wear, spare has 50k wear.

etc.

Ok, looks like at second glance that two tires will always be 10k behind the other three?

And if a 10k difference matters, we could reduce that 10k difference to 5k by rotating every 5000 miles.

Thoughts, anyone?

I always rotate at 5,000 miles.

 

[THAW]

But if you can't get your spare off and on for a tire rotation you better have a plan to get it off and on when you have a flat. (Any one have a hint on how to make this easier?)

Nena Barlow has a few tips.

 

[sunset]

Another related question for me, a Jeep newbie who also is not a mechanic...

When they rotate my Camaro tires, they also balance them with these metal weights, seen here attached to this pre-restoration dirty rim:

Moving forward, am I going to expect to see these weights on my Wrangler rims after each rotation? Or is this a 2WD thing?

Pardon my ignorance.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

This is very true.

But if you can't get your spare off and on for a tire rotation you better have a plan to get it off and on when you have a flat. (Any one have a hint on how to make this easier?)

You can normally get an edge on your rear bumper and then flip it up to where it is really close to position. Since my rear bumper is flat, I actually carry a hitch, without the ball, that has a 6" drop. I turn it upside down so it has a rise and the spare is in a really good position once flipped up there.

 

[Bobby Hank]

I bought a sixth wheel/tire and do a six tire rotation every 1000 miles. Swap TPMS sensors so they stay dedicated to one spot for ultimate reliability. Fill tires with helium to make the jeep float a bit higher.

 

[Terrymo]

I bought a sixth wheel/tire and do a six tire rotation every 1000 miles. Swap TPMS sensors so they stay dedicated to one spot for ultimate reliability. Fill tires with helium to make the jeep float a bit higher.

 

[2nd 392]

F in 2025. C in 2026. https://dgaddcosprod.blob.core.wind...ents/clz74riy502c701kqq5h7lyvi-v5-bfg-ko3.pdf

If you rotate all five you might make it, then you won't have to figure out what to do with the unused spare

 

[gdeyarmond]

Rotate the 5th in....why let it rot on the back of the Jeep?

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