Tyres and mileage

It sounds like you're asking about tire rotation. The intervals should be specified in your maintenance booklet. Yes, front wheel drive cars are pretty hard on the front tires and will definitely wear much quicker than the rears.

However, some have the opinion that unless it's free or <$20, it's not worth it. See http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/2004/September/03.html and http://cars.cartalk.com/content/advice/rotatingtires.html, for example.

 

Why would you need to re-balance them? Most people simply rotate them. Having them rebalanced every time you rotate is not cost efficient unless you are paying a very low one-time fee for "lifetime" balancing. In my opinion, just rotate them and save your money for the next set of tires. This is assuming you have not subjected your tires to harsh road/curb damage which could cause severe unbalancing.

 

Like F8L said, there is no need for a re balance unless you notice vibration from the wheels. Normally a re balance is a waste of money.

The 5,000 mile Toyota recommendation for tire rotation is more than often enough. 10,000 miles would be good enough. There is no reason to rotate them at 3,000 miles.

The best reason for rotating tires is so that they all wear out at the same time so you get 4 new tires at the same time. Otherwise you will have a mix of new and old tires, often of different models and brands which will effect handling.

 

The tires are balanced with the wheels off the car, so the balance is unaffected by where on the car you put each wheel.

Provided that all four wheels are properly balanced before the rotation there is no need to re-balance them during the rotation.