jetblakTL

I usually rotate tires on my cars after about 6-7K miles. But the dealership says to wait until the MID specifies that it's time to do it. What the general concensus for the 3rd gens?

kenny5

Does the MID tell you when to rotate? I rotated mine at 5k, which was done by the dealership at gratis.

SouthernBoy

Best time to rotate tires is in the morning, before the sun has had a chance to warm them up.. unless you adjusted the air beforehand.

Seriously, taking your car into a dealer or some shop for a tire rotation is not the best way to do it because of two things: 1) You can bet they will not adjust tire pressure correctly. 2) After having driven the car, the tires are not in the best of condition for proper tire pressure adjustment. Ideally, you really need to do this with cold tires (as in not driven and not exposed to sunlight), and then correct the pressure.

Now if you have an '05 automatic, this is not necessary since all for tires carry the same pressure. However, there is this thing called proper wheel torque.

subinf

i rotate mine about every 10k

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

have mine done every 5k

subinf

so pretty much every oil change?

ggesq

iTrader: (1)

yes sir

i've got 30k on my original michelins and still have about 10k solid miles left on them.

LTxArucAx60

iTrader: (9)

Got my first oil change on my 06 and they say the next oil change at about 10k miles the tires will need rotating.

FSU-Acura

You would be surprised how even the dealer will never get the wheel torque right. They use those air pressured guns which supposebly will automatically tighten the bolts to the right torque, however these are often not accurate and can cause all kinds of wheel, rotor and brake problems.

ecliptics

after i got my falkens, they told me to come back in 5K to rotate, and balance my tires

jetblakTL

As I suspected, the dealership is full of @#$%$#! I've got 11K on my 06 and I think I'm overdue to rotate these tires - Bridgestones don't have the best treadware rating to begin with. Thanx, guys.

baby_igor

Just to take this thread on a slight tangent... What is a good brand or model of torque wrench or power tool to take them on and off right?

gurneyeagle

Timely thread for me. I just had my tires rotated (every 5K for me) this week. Don't laugh, but I go to the WalMart down the street from the office (a two minute walk). It costs a total of $6.00 and comes with a detailed printout of tread depth, tire pressure and torque wrench readings.

I actually watched then do the work one day (without the mechanic seeing me) and they are pretty meticulous.

I had brought the car to the dealer earlier in the week for the recall (fuel pump?) and lazily had them change the cabin filter ($45 plus $40 labor!!!!) and even more stupidly, the engine filter ($8.00 plus $40 labor!!!!!!!!! The roids are still hurting over that one.). Nobody's fault but mine. I've been mega-pinched for time and thought it would be easier for them to change the filters but was too stupid to ask what it would cost.

I did ask for the quote to rotate the tires while I was there, knowing WalMart does it for $6.00. The quote? Would you believe $32.50!

Beware young whipper-snappers - Wisdom doesn't always come with age; but the cashflow does improve!

onsknth

Doesn't A1 on the mid =

A for oil

1 for tires

or vice-versa?

TheBigWhite 21

IM thinking of rotating my tires myself, what exactly do i need to do it, besides the jack and torque wrench? And how much am i supposed to torque my lugnuts?

subinf

Get a good torque wrench and set it to the proper setting, simple as that. Some people believe there is a method to rotating tires - not true. Rotate tires, screw on lug nuts, then use the torque wrench.

Will Y.

Yes- A = oil, 1 = tire rotation.

You'll probably need jack stands since the entire side of the car will need to be raised, not just one corner, to rotate the tires. Either that or two jacks that can lock/be chocked into place.

The lug nuts should each be hand torqued to 80 ft. lbs., in an alternating pattern (across from each other rather than each adjacent nut).

TheBigWhite 21

cool! thanks man!

onsknth

You know what I found?

Putting the rear on jackstands and then lifting the front by either side caused the rear to raise off one of the jackstands.

If you have directional tires, it looks like you can lift the entire side at once from the front jacking point... If you cross the rear tires onto the front (ala non-directional) this isn't as easy to accomplish.

Another thing on the torquing... Whip around the block when you're done and then re-torque.

HEK

Same here is a good number, I did that on all my previous cars and managed to get the most miles on all 4 tires....

SouthernBoy

I use two floor jacks placed under the bady jack points and raise the entire side of the car CAREFULLY. By this I mean, I jack a little at a time on each jack so that the side is raised at a pretty even rate. This puts much less stress on the body since the whole side is being raised at the same rate.

Before I raise a side, I loosen the lug nuts on the wheels. Then once the side is raised, I can easily remove the wheels. I then inspect the tires for wear patterns, nails or screws, and anything unusual. I also inspect the inside and outside brake pads and rotors for wear. Then I switch the wheels and tighten the lug nuts close to the torque spec. Once lowered, I complete the torquing of the lugs carefully in an alternating pattern.

As for air pressure, I do this job in the morning in my garage before the car has seen the sun (I was serious about this). Since my '04 TL is a manual, the front and rear tire pressure is different (35 in front, 32 in rear) than the automatic which is 32 all around. So air balancing the pressure is VERY important.

Rotating your own tires is a pain and takes around 1 hour when you do it this way, but there are numerous advantages. Inspection of tires, wheels, and brakes can be done first hand.. as in, by you. The proper care is afforted to your car. You know the correct torque was applied to the wheels. The proper air pressure setting was performed at the proper time (you should NEVER add or remove air from a tire when it has been driven except in an emergency situation).

One more time. Use a torque wrench for lug nuts, crankcase drain plugs, and transmission drain/fill/check plugs. You'll save yourself heartache and more if you do.

Mike 06 TL

I jack under the front center jack point and put it on jack stands and then jack at the rear center jack point and put the rear up on jack stands. If you do this, make sure to jack the front up a little higher than you may think you need to go. If you don't then once you jack the rear it will level the car and the front tires might touch the ground.

If I ever build my dream house you can be sure I will have a 3 bay garage with high ceilings with room for a lift.

SouthernBoy

I do the same thing when I get new tires. I remove them from my TL just as you mentioned and take them up to the tire store in my pickup truck. That way, my TL is home safe in my garage.

Your method is also mandatory when rotating non-directional tires in an 'X' manner.

avs007

I raise the front first, than the back.. Not because of the above reason... But because if you raise the back first, my jack won't fit under the front....

I raise the front using the front/center jack point, then put the front on jack stands... Then I raise the back using the back/center jack point, then put the rear on stands... Then I rotate the tires....

verse101

2006 TL, 14k miles, 2 oil changes, 2 tire rotations. Costco will do it for free if you buy tires from them I believe. But since these are new tires, I just had Honda rotate them for $22 along w/ the $30 oil change. There are things I would do myself, this wasn't worth it. Didn't want to pay for a good torque wrench (although they are useful), didn't want to jack up the car, didn't want to waste an hour to save $22.

avs007

I thought of that too with our current house... I ended up building a storage area above the garage door in the 3rd bay.

I made up for it by buying an Air Compressor and associated tools. Including an air-assisted hydraulic floor jack. Works just as good as a lift in my opinion. (Granted it can only lift 22" or so, but just the fact I can press a button and pft pft pft, the car goes up by itself is a timesaver (and backsaver) for me. Best $270 I ever spent.

Plus I installed a line-dryer on my compressor (that I bought at homedepot for like $15), so I have nice dry air to fill my tires, and don't need to waste $$$ on nitrogen bs.

TheBigWhite 21

Im debating if i should do it myself, rotating my tires. But then, i dont want to go to the trouble of jacking up my car or the labor. Do most of you guys rotate them yourself?

The last time i got mine rotated was my last oil change, at the ACura dealer. Do you think if i go to a local tire store, like Firestone, is not bad at all, or should i jus stick with acura?