5 tire rotation question?

[6.2Blazer]

I took mine in to @Discount Tire on Saturday for my first rotation at 6k miles on this set and spec'd a 5 tire rotation, 29psi, black wheel weights and keep the valve stem up on the spare (backup sensor issues). All items were noted on my printout. They got the valve stem up as requested, and the black wheel weights but the rear 2 tires had about 34psi and the fronts had 31-32psi. Not a big deal, I'll just let a little out. As I was doing so this evening, I noticed that my spare tire (which was brand new, so very easy to tell) had been placed on the driver's rear instead of the passenger rear which would be consistent with the standard 5-tire rearward cross. I'm quite annoyed, as there's now no way to tell what tire was where or to know what type of pattern they actually used, aside from a random one as it seems.

I know, I know... do your own work. This is exactly why I do, 99.9999% of the time!!! I don't, however, have a tire balancer, and this service is included with my tire purchase there (and needs to be documented for tire warranty purposes), so I let them do it. Guess I'm gonna have to mark the tires from now on and watch them work a bit closer....

Regarding the pressure, if you drove the vehicle home and then checked the pressure you could expect a slightly higher number just from the tires warming up. I also wouldn't count on two different pressure gauges reading exactly the same. Especially you have a $5 Walmart gauge.....not saying there is anything wrong with that, or that a few psi difference will cause an issue. But if you went and bought 10 fairly cheap tire gauges at Autozone or Walmart they will all most likely give you a different reading. Keep in mind that you can easily spend over $100 on a high level gauge (again, not that the average person needs it).

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[dlong1119]

Regarding the pressure, if you drove the vehicle home and then checked the pressure you could expect a slightly higher number just from the tires warming up. I also wouldn't count on two different pressure gauges reading exactly the same. Especially you have a $5 Walmart gauge.....not saying there is anything wrong with that, or that a few psi difference will cause an issue. But if you went and bought 10 fairly cheap tire gauges at Autozone or Walmart they will all most likely give you a different reading. Keep in mind that you can easily spend over $100 on a high level gauge (again, not that the average person needs it).

Thanks, but I'm well aware of that. My gauge and the TPMS all matched up pretty well, checked while warm and cold, and was seeing a ~4psi difference from front to rear both ways. Just chalking it up to shitty work, along with the screwy rotation pattern.

 

[Boatbuilder88]

Also, oddly enough, I just took a look at my owner's manual and it has zero mention of a 5 tire rotation and only shows the 4 tire rearward cross as the recommended rotation pattern.

You're right! Probably a lazy cut-and-paste job from another vehicle's owner's manual.

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