realfresh

WTF??? Why is a tire rotation 24.99? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a tire rotation just taking tires off and puting them back on different corners? And further, when I've had tire rotations at the stealership, they dont' even inflate the tires to the correct psi.



Boo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

I'm locked into a $10 rotation at my dealership. Part of my negotiations from the purchase. $19 oil change and $10 rotation..............

jupitersolo

I paid $18.99 at the dealer. 20-25 bucks, not a bad price. The Devil "Jiffy Lube" wants $40 to do it. Some will check balance and pressure when they do it.

omnuts

same here, the dealer quoted me 29.99 for rotation only...this is just sick,..went to local tire shop...1/4 the price

realfresh

touche, I think I'm going to call around next time, Discount, Goodyear, and the like. I just don't see how anything above $20 is justifiable. Especially when the car is already lifted, it takes, hmm.... 3 minutes? That amounts to a $400/hr labor rate.

Cocoa

iTrader: (2)

There are places that do free tire rotations. I remember Discount Tires (i think it was them) were doing them for free. Of course they try to sell you something in return, but that's no biggie. Look around, you'll usually see the signs outside the businesses. I've never paid for a rotation back when I didnt have tools in high school.

brettallica

I just paid about $80 for first oil change and first tire rotation, so I got reamed harder than you did. My ass still hurts, to tell you the truth. Last time I go to the Acura dealer to have my oil changed and tires rotated.

01tl4tl

Many of you know my fondness/obsessiveness for accurate tightening and torque of the wheel lugs
because OVER Torque is a killer of rotors, axles, bearing, hubs and more.
There is a 80 ft lb spec for most of our cars for a reason
Therefore in my opinion
When rotating the tires, if you possibly can- do it yourself,
never let anyone touch your car!

If you live in pot-holed areas and the wheels take a lot of abuse, balance is always a good thing- avoid vibrations and probs- a cheap investment in comfort and peace of mind.

XS2K

Just do it yourself for God's sake. Rotating your own tires is as easy as washing the damn car. And when you do it you can inspect the brake pads for wear and the rotors for scoring. Also time to clean up some of the winter crud in the wheel well. A $5 investment will get you a jackstand (you should really have at least 2 but for rotation, only one is needed). Just loosen the lug nuts on both wheels, jack up the car (you do know how to change a tire, I hope), remove the first wheel and place the jack stand under the frame near that wheel. Go to the second wheel and jack it up, remove it, and place the first wheel back on that spot. Snug up the lug nuts, drop the jack and go back to the first location and place the second wheel there, snug up the lug nuts and jack it up enough to remove the jack stand and lower that wheel to the ground. Now tighten the lug nuts to both wheels to the proper torque and you are done. It took me more time to type this silly message than it takes to do the actual work. This should be a no brainer.

jupitersolo

If it was just that easy. Some people do not have the space to do this. You also forgot about the $25-$50 for the torque wrench.

KeithL

I go to discount tires, paid $190 for lifetime road hazard warranty on the TL Michelin tires and they do free rotate and balance every 6k. They fix flats for free (regardless if you buy anything)

01tl4tl

The point of the do it at home is that MOST shops do not use the proper procedure to ensure the safety of your cars parts.
Torque application to the lugs are a critical thing yet most techs unknowingly cause damage that appears later and cost you $$$$

I have very expensive rotors that work awesome (Racing Brake- thanks MrHeelToe)
and because of background in aircraft maitenance- I take the lugs up very slow and specific

The Harbor Freight Tool store is the blessing to Acura owners. Torque wrench 15 bucks on sale, brake caliper spreader 5 bucks, even pairs of jack stands!
Much safer with 2 stands, other threads here show car slipped of floorjack and punched $400 hole in floor

rbf351

it's a one time fee for the torque wrench if you that anal, and after that you can use it on any car you ever have.

it takes a matter of 20 minutes to rotate all the tires on a car.

01tl4tl

Proper torque of the lug nuts is not anal in any way

Its proper installation of parts that hold the wheel to the brake rotor to the axle to the transmission that makes your car go!

There is SPEC from ACURA and there is guessing

pimpin-tl

Don't forget with tire rotation at the dealer they check tire pressure and the key is they rebalance all the tires which is worth it.

JPA3

Many years ago (23) I was driving in my mint 10 year old 1974 Olds Cutlass Salon from Pittsburgh to Annapolis. In the car with me were my Mother and my dog. We were following my father on what was to be about a 3 hour trip. As we left and got up to speed on the PA turnpike outside of Pittsburgh, I felt a vibration. I had the wheels balanced and rotated that morning. But it felt funny, more like a driveshaft would have felt. Mom said "oh this car is beautiful, rides like a dream, nothing wrong".

3 hours later on the Baltimore beltway of 95 somewhere, in HEAVY traffic, the left rear wheel came off. Needless to say the drama that instilled after that, what with a brakedrum hitting the pavement at 70 m.p.h., sparks, and oh... the left rear wheel and tire bouncing past us on the left, the across the bow, then off to the right to the grass... it was S P E C T A C U L A R... hard to control a 3 wheel car at 70 while watching that show, not to mention the traffic.

Luckily, not a scratch to anyone or anything (except the highway) occured.

Needless to say, the lugs were not tourqued.

Jesstzn

Even with the car on the lift and air tools I doubt your going to do it in 3 minutes ... maybe 5 min per wheel including presure check and torquing. Thus 20 min at a shop rate of $70 to $90 / hour its not far out of whack. Most min shop rates are a 1/2 hour.

I have rotated my own for years and if you don't have jack stands a few 4 x 4 x12" work fine.

subinf

^ - correct. if you really break down how much time it takes, putting the car on the lift, moving tires around - its a timely job. instead of charging 10 bucks for a rotation and losing time on a more important job, shops will charge more to reduce the financial impact

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

Correct and wrong. The private shop I work in have all the manufacture tq sticks and we hand TQ them right after. We rotate and judge the rotate based on how the tires are wearing out. You always balance the fronts. And we also throw a glance plus a measurement for 4 brakes. At the end we set tire pressure for what the manufacture calls for and give it a final hand tq plus a road test. A real place like the one I work in will do what you pay for. Stealerships do half ass jobs because they get paid flat rate. Harbor freight is a good place for novice mechanics. Snap-on,mac tools, sears craftsman,SK are all good tools for real life technicans.

04WDPSeDaN

iTrader: (1)

To the two posts above mine, you guys are correct. It all depends now what car you are rotating on. If your doing an expedition GL on that 5 min mark. When you need to take a rubber malot and wack the rims off because they rusted on the rotors then it can easly become into a 30-45 min job. Dealing with bigger heavier wheels take longer to rotate and balance. Balancing a LIP LESS rim will take a good chunk of time.

subinf

I don't know if the OP's price included a balance. I assume it did not because the price was relatively low.

I used to charge more for SUV's because I didn't feel like lifting the heavy ass wheels/tires.

01tl4tl

Its good to see a mechanic on here concerned with quality work. For most members- thats a hard thing to find. Many shops hire fast and blast guys as you well know and get the treatment you described

The problem with torque sticks- (as I understand it and may be wrongly informed)
Is that they are designed to snap ABOVE a set limit.

I was always taught to bring the torque UP to and STOP at the setting.

Sure I have a Snap On tool set, and for most people here doing only their brakes and lug nuts- the Harbor Freight tool is fine, I use it for the TL all the time and it calibrates right with the SnapOn

subinf

I was never a fan of torque sticks. A few of the other guys I worked with used them all the time, but I would always use my torque wrench. I'd also set the torque below the specs the first time around, and then retorque with the proper setting. I do it that way only because that is how I learned. I'm sure if I started with the torque sticks I'd continue to use them.

Jesstzn

Me too .. and torque sticks are designed to save time .. not do it right. You will not find a shop using a 60 lb/ft stick for the first go round then changing to the 80 etc .. And the color coding is easily confused .. My moms wheels were dont to 120 Lb/ft because the guy picked the wrong stick.

ATJ32

Are we actually debating about tire rotations!? You could pay for a torque wrench and stands with the amount of money your saving. Just rotate the damn things your self, if you’re too lazy then go to The Tire Rack or Discount Tires!

gaping46and2

iTrader: (2)

That's a very scary story to be heard, and I'm sure it's even worse to be telling it. Last time I got my tires rotated/balanced at my local Discount Tire I drove 150miles to Austin for the Texas meet, trusting in their work. Once I got there, washed the car, and noticed one of the lugs was completely loose, and had not been tighted. Never again will I allow that company to come within any distance to my car even though I have a protection plan on my tires from them. It's just not worth my time or my safety to put myself in that sort of danger again. From now on, as soon as I get home I always loosen the lugs and re-torque them myself.

Midnight_TL

I'm a customer at discount tire and once you're on file there, they do tire rotation/balancing for free. Might just be this one (Northgate - Seattle) for you washingtonians. They also wipe down my calipers for me (which is what i call service...nothing big, but hey it's the small things that count right?)

Mo_Man

Well when I took in my 2006 TL for a B1 recently, it was the first time I had to pay. Last two visits were free so when the bill came...wow..I couldn't believe my eyes.

I said " $160 for oil change and tire rotation??? " Mechanic was like "yes, it is a lengthy procedure">. I don't even think they topped off the fluids coz I had to it myself a week later even though I don't use Winshield washer fluid that often. lol

Can u believe that??? That is about $140 U.S. dollars.

Anyway, I'm gonna have a chat with the service manager coz he wasn't in when I went to pick it up that day. Or find another place at least.