Tire rotation needed every oil change?

[jrod81]

hey guys,
i am sitting in the toyota dealer right now as the prius is getting her oil changed. i was asked if i wanted the tires rotated and i declined, but wanted to get advice from you guys. i had the tires rotated last oil change, do i need to plan to do this every time i get an oil change... it is another $25 so if it is not needed that would be grand!

[JimboK]

I have historically rotated my tires about every 10K. I realized very recently that that may not be enough for the Prius.

Some background. At about 15K I had to replace one of my tires because of an unrepairable road hazard. The replacment was put on the left front. At my 20K rotation, with only 5K on that one, I decided to leave it there. Recently, at about 27K, I noticed some uneven wear on the outer edge of that tire suggestive of an alignment problem. I had the alignment checked, which was slightly out of specifications, both camber and toe. Probably not much in the big scheme of things, but enough for that newest tire, with only 12K miles, to be in the worst shape among the four. More frequent rotation might have reduced the wear, and possibly could have allowed me to catch the uneven wear sooner.

Coincidentally, I got the alignment done at a Goodyear dealer. While urging me to rotate the tires every 5K, they also said Goodyear dealers are supposed to rotate their own brand for free. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but it's worth calling your local dealer to ask.

Even more coincidentally and beside the point somewhat, four days after the alignment I had another unrepairable road hazard on another tire. With the overall tread wear, I replaced them all with Michelin Hydroedges. But back to the point: I will rotate those every 5K.

[FL_Prius_Driver]

Do not overlook the obvious. You can actually look at the wear and decide based on that if a rotation is needed. The wear is very dependent on the tire hardness. The Goodyear Integrity (The usual tires on a new Prius) has a wear rating of 460. This is pretty low so this tire wears faster and would be rotated more often then a Goodyear Regatta (what I use) with a wear rating of 680. If an obvious wear difference is apparent, then the rotation is justified.

[priusincc]

I intend to rotate the tires (front to back) along with the oil/filter change every 5K miles. I think that's what the manual recommends for 2007 model. This is pretty much what I've always done with my vehicles.

[apriusfan]

Get a tire tread depth gauge and measure the tread depth every 5,000 miles. If the fronts are worn more than the rears, then it is time to rotate. If not, then it is not time. Automatically rotating (or not rotating) every 5,000 miles does not take into consideration your actual driving conditions or the impact on the tire compound. A tread depth gauge is not going cost $1,000 (or anywhere near that). At one point, Michelin dealers were giving them away with every set of 4 tires they sold.

[hobbit]

I rotated the Hydroedges front to back about 6K after getting them,
and took pix of each side's pair matched up right next to each
other while looking straight down tangentially through the treads.
I could detect *no* height difference. Next time I'll do a
circumferential check or something to see if that gives better
resolution.
.
_H*

[apriusfan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Jul 10 2007, 06:28 PM) [snapback]476511[/snapback]</div>

I rotated the Hydroedges front to back about 6K after getting them,
and took pix of each side's pair matched up right next to each
other while looking straight down tangentially through the treads.
I could detect *no* height difference. Next time I'll do a
circumferential check or something to see if that gives better
resolution.
.
_H*
[/b]

The measurement standard is tread depth, not tire circumference. If there was no difference in tread depth, then there was really no need to rotate the tires. Which was why I was advocating measuring before rotating.

[coonbutt]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jrod81 @ Jul 10 2007, 11:09 AM) [snapback]476160[/snapback]</div>

hey guys,
i am sitting in the toyota dealer right now as the prius is getting her oil changed. i was asked if i wanted the tires rotated and i declined, but wanted to get advice from you guys. i had the tires rotated last oil change, do i need to plan to do this every time i get an oil change... it is another $25 so if it is not needed that would be grand!
[/b]

I plan doing rotations every 10k miles. By the way, Walmart rotates tires for $1.50 each (or only $6 total). For that kind of price I'll avoid doing it myself.

[JimboK]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prickly commute @ Jul 11 2007, 08:40 AM) [snapback]476727[/snapback]</div>

I plan doing rotations every 10k miles. By the way, Walmart rotates tires for $1.50 each (or only $6 total). For that kind of price I'll avoid doing it myself. [/b]

Again, supposedly Goodyear dealers will rotate Goodyear tires for free. You might want to check your local dealer. For that kind of price you can avoid a DIY job and Wal-Mart.

[daronspicher]

I have a 2006 and rotated my tires at 10k, 20k, 30k, 40k and 55k so far. They have 57k on them and should last me till 70k at least. I check them out at the 5k oil changes to make sure they aren't doing anything goofy on me. Look for excessive wear, rips, bulges and anything that is just weird. So far so good for me. I had one screw in a tire once that I had to get repaired.

I rotate them myself in the garage, it usually takes me about a half hour to do it using a hydraulic jack and the standard tire iron.

5k can't hurt but I think it's excessive (at least for my car with my alignment and acceptable performance thus far)..