Scrib

Just curious to how often everyone rotates their tires. I know the manual says every 7500, but I was thinking of going every 4-5K on my Pilot A/S. What is everyone else doing?

CO-CL-S

When I change oil..

Fabvsix

Religiously every 3,000 miles !

Shawn S

Every 3,000 for me.

Bill Faure

I rotate mine based on their looks. Being FWD the fronts become rounded on the edges more than the rears do. Odly enough when I start to notice the rounding is about 7500 miles; as the manual recommends.

Scrib

Hmmm... Maybe I should do mine then... Just over 3000 for me...

Shawn S

Also, something NOT noted on the Comptech Website:
Be careful.....HEADERS cause additional tire wear !!!!!



Shawn S

Fabvsix

When I purchased these EXPENSIVE tires, the shop told me EVERY 3,000 miles to get FULL USE OF THE RUBBER ! Your "eye ball" concept is NOT good..................

Fabvsix

Nor does it mention CALIFORNIA TWISTIES ! :P

Bill Faure

The eye ball concept applies to my non expensive tries. Falken's!

pianoman41

I rotate mine at every other oil change. And I change oil every 4000 miles, so every 8000 for me. Works well. I've done the same on my Maxima and just got 55,000 miles out a set of Z-rated Dunlop Sport SP-5000s. That's pretty damn good for a Z-rated compound.

Scrib

Yeah, that is pretty good... It's too bad the SP-5000s aren't driveable in the snow.

pianoman41

Hey, I live in New England and I've gone through a couple of winters with the SP 5000s in the snow and they were great. And I"m talking like 3"-6" inches of unplowed snow. I've got the asymmetrical ones and for an all-season high-performance tire I think they're tough to beat.

Scrib

That's good to know... Maybe I'll look at em' when my Pilot A/S wear down...

CO-CL-S

I just ordered the SP5000, but I'm going to use blizzaks for winter driving.

EricL

Perhaps a rotation when:

Less than 3000 miles

OR

When it even starts to look like the tread is more worn on the front.

Heck, these cars eat front tires and most shops either provide a rotation policy with install or will offer one later...

Klamalama

Here's some heresy: I hardly ever rotate my tires on any of my cars. When I notice a visible difference between axles then I'll do it.

I can't wait for these Michelins to wear out so I can replace them so I definetly won't be doing it anytime soon. BTW, I have over 12K miles and they're wearing pretty even.

EricL

If you do this on this car with soft enough tires, you probably will be sorry -- it depends.

If you have a tire with enough tread depth and a high enough wear rating to get a "look" to know "that it's time", you’re going to be fine.

OTOH, get some S-03s (or softer tires) and run them hard on some really old pavement that's got some great "tooth" (and grip) and watch how the fronts wear down by the hour... There is a point where it can get pretty "uneven" between front and rear with the non-stock tires that are "soft". You can end up with a lot of "lost" mileage from not swapping them in time.

Those stock tires might as well be Sear's 80,000-mile specials; the rubber is HARD and the rolling resistance is low (that's the ends of the good news).

Finally, add it a bit of toe and camber difference from front to rear and you will really appreciate a close watch AND/OR a minimum rotation schedule for the tires

(If you have a depth gauge handy -- forget everything I said, just use it and do as you please. Most cheapo calipers have one…)

pianoman41

This is commonly done and can actually be very dangerous. Here's why:

When you rotate the tires on a regular basis, wear is spread out evenly over all four tires, which means all four tires have the same amount of tread left. Too often in FWD cars, people run the fronts until they are noticeably worn and then move them to the rears. The rears, which for all intents and purposes are practically new, get moved to the front. The problem lies in different grip at different ends of of the vehicle, especially when braking hard. When you brake hard, you shift all the weight to the front of the vehicle. The back end is light enough as it is, and needs all the downforce it can get to keep traction to the ground. With tires that are more bald in the rear than the front, you can get a rear-wheel lock-up pretty quickly. Even with ABS, your stop time is going to be longer. Remember, CL-Ps have 3-channel ABS and even CL-Ss don't have true 4-channel ABS until VSA kicks in, which means if one rear tire loses traction and locks up, ABS will activate on both and increase your stopping distances. If the surface is wet it is even worse. The chance for hydroplaning increases dramatically because of the reduced tread depth (and low weight) in comparison to the front.

Rotating is more than just about saving $$$ by stretching useable tire life. It's also about safety.

NOLACLS

I do mine every 3K...question....are you supposed to have them ballenced every time you rotate???

Scrib

No, that isn't necessary...

NOLACLS

I didnt think so but I couldnt understand why some places like Acura wanted to do a tire rotation and ballence every time. Well the only reason I could figgure is the $$$

Bill Faure

I disagree. If you've gone more than 1000 miles since your last rotation the tires have changed shape. Granted the shape change is microscopic, but it can effect balance to the point of steering wheel shake. Especially when you consider that a proper rotation moves the front tires to the rear and vice versa. When a tire moves from where it was originally balanced it should be re-balanced. How much are we talking here $5 a wheel for re-balancing? To keep small constant vibrations from the steering wheel I'd say that's $20 well spent.

Scrib

5 bucks per tire to balance??? Maybe 30 years ago...

CO-CL-S

Bull shit!

NOLACLS

Hey where you at in Lafayette...are you going to ull up there?? I used to live there but visit from time to time

CO-CL-S

North West by Waneka Lake, moved in about 23 years ago.

NOLACLS

Ahh 23 years ago huh...I guess you not going to ULL then hahaha Your cl is RED? Ill have to keep an eye out for ya next time im in town

mlrspwr

I rotated last time after 4500 miles. More frequent is better. The better the rubber (softer the compound, meaning), the more frequently you should rotate. Harder rubber does not require as frequent rotations.

CO-CL-S

I don't even know what ULL is??

Bill Faure

Actually, it's even cheaper. As in FREE. If you buy tires and don't get the lifetime FREE roatation and balance you deserve to have to pay more.

Bill Faure

Think about it ass hole. Say you've just had your tires balanced and on the way home you're forced off the road to the point where you've knocked your car out of allignment. Over the next 1000 miles one side of your car's tires has developed a greater circumfrence than the other side. In other words the tire is out of balance! Why do you think the balancing weight is located in a different spot every time you have the tires balanced? It's because the tire is constantly changing shape through wear.

CO-CL-S

Keep your name calling to yourself.. Nobody said anything about off road driving (intentional or otherwise). Most people keep their car on the road, and don't knock their car out of alignment, or bend their rims or knock a balance weight off. If you’re like most people balancing your tires on every rotation is a waste of money.

Bill Faure

Oh, you can call what I say Bull shit, but I can't call you an asshole. Wake up pal! Being forced off the road is not the same thing as off road driving. There are times it can not be avoided. People are human and make mistakes. You and I simply have a disagreement here. In my mind you're wrong and I'm trying to explain to you why you're wrong. I don't agree with what you're saying, but I'll defend to the end your right to say it. However, when you get aggressive and call what other people say as "Bullshit", you get aggression returned!

NOLACLS

Well it was USL but now its ULL but I am now reading that your in Lafayette CO and I am guessing that is not the same Lafayette in Louisiana:P woops wrong Lafayette. hahaha O well sorry about that...USL/ULL is the university there.

heh too much drinking

CO-CL-S

I miss those days..

NOLACLS

Me to....badly

CO-CL-S

Your entry was:
I disagree. If you've gone more than 1000 miles since your last rotation the tires have changed shape. Granted the shape change is microscopic, but it can effect balance to the point of steering wheel shake. Especially when you consider that a proper rotation moves the front tires to the rear and vice versa. When a tire moves from where it was originally balanced it should be re-balanced. How much are we talking here $5 a wheel for re-balancing? To keep small constant vibrations from the steering wheel I'd say that's $20 well spent.

You're claiming that over 1000 miles your tires changed shape "to the point of steering wheel shake". I am saying this is almost always not true. My original tires went 55,000 miles, were never rebalanced and I did not experience Steering Wheel Shake. If I were I would have had the balance checked. You're claiming I should have spent $360.00 ($5 per tire every 3K) to $2,200.00 ($10 per tire every 1K). That's what I'm calling bull shit.. I am not making reference to anything else.

Bill Faure

I notice you did not mention the car. Since you got 55 grand out of a set of tires this was obviously a car that did not require V or higher rated tires. Also, you sound like someone that never drives over 55 mph. If you are driving a RWD lincoln town car at 55 mph that gives no steering wheel feel anyway I can see your point. However, this is an Acura CL forum and these cars are different from a car that would get 55 grand out of a set of tires. You are comparing apples and oranges . I'll be the first to admit tire rotations on a grandpa mobile do not need balancing as often as an Acura CL.

CO-CL-S

The car was/is my CL-S (see sig. ). I did not drive on back roads, or city street with potholes. Most of the mileage was on interstates (65-95 MPH). I never raced the car or did any off road driving. I made no comments about tire rotation (I feel that rotating tires at 7,500 miles is a prudent practice for most CL-s drivers). I actually consider my driving habits to be quite normal. Use, without abuse. I joined this forum shortly after buying my Acura CL-S, and almost all of my posts have been in this forum. YMMV