Tire Rotation at Home

I was just letting you know the three options I listed are your choices for an at home rotation. It’s just the way it is unfortunately.
You could break beads and swap sensors too I guess.

 

I rotate mine all the time with 1 jack and 2 jack stands. I first jack up the rear. Put jack stands on the left and right of the rear axle. Then jack up the front by the center support near the skid plate. Leave the jack in place while rotating all 4. Never had a problem. Sure there is a small chance the jack can fail but just don't go under the vehicle.

 

Actually I did that once, and didn't find it worth the cost. Better to keep your money in your pocket and keep the spare, which you may NEVER need.

Especially the cost of a new aluminum rim and TPMS and extra tire, when you have one already sitting there.

 

My spare is still the original Goodyear, barely even scratched the contact-surface. Keep it intact for later.

 

mentioned a couple of times in thread. here it is from owner's manual. also what toyota care does when they rotate tires and we all know that is the gold standard. since this is easy, with minimal equipment and no TPMS issue, i am doing it this way until i see there is a problem with wear. so far none. (this site continues to have the worst image insertion tools ever).

 

The sensors are inside the tire, you can't just switch them around.

 

I have done it but most places where I buy tires does it free. I just let them do it.

I've tried 5 way rotations too. Not worth the effort on most vehicles. I did it on a Wrangler with a matching 5th wheel that was easy to access but wouldn't do it again on a truck. For one thing you have the expense of a 5th matching wheel that gets filthy under the truck. If you're going to do a 5 way rotation you get a little more time before you wear out those 5, but then you need to buy 5 more to keep it up. If you have to pay for a 5th matching wheel it costs more to do a 5 way rotation. Even if your vehicle came with matching wheels it's a wash.

I buy 4 new tires at a time and always rotate the best of the old tires to the spare. Tires need to be replaced every 6-10 years anyway, even the spare. This way the spare is under 10 years of age.

 

They are part of the valve stem and can be switched between tires, just have to break the bead to access them. Not really that difficult.

 

I prefer the 5 tire rotation for three reasons, first is I get 20% more mileage on a set of tires, second is I always have a spare that matches the other 4 exactly and third reason is 99% of the time I replace tires they are a different size or brand than what I’m removing.

 

I rotate my own, always have. I use two jack stands on the rear and floor jack on the front. Raise the back and put jack stands there and set the parking brake. Floor jack one one front tire at a time. Works well for me since I’m not in the pits at Talladega. I rotate every oil change (5000 miles)

 

I don't really care if you do a 5 tire or a 4 tire rotation, but as a technician, shop owner (years ago) service manager over 30 years and last 17 years for the biggest automotive tire manufacture in the world, if a technician has to do a 5 tire rotation then the customer should be required to have the 5th tire accessible and not under the vehicle, or pay extra for the free rotation, or you are taking food off his table if he/she is a flat rate tech, if hourly, then at least a tip... Remember it is 20% more work for the tech/mech doing the job...

A 5 tire rotation might/will give you an extra 20% in mileage, but now you will be paying 20% more for new tires when you need them... Now instead of $1,000 - $1,500 it will be $1,200 - $1,800 (as examples)... The seller loves the 5th tire, the buyer not always.... lol

Again, not against the 5th tire, but just take care of the mech doing the job if not doing it yourself...

 

I hope you meant setting the E-brake before jacking up the back, cause setting the e-brake does you no good once the tires are off the ground...
If not on a flat surface I hope you use a wheel chock for the front tires, cause with the back tires off the ground it (e-brake) does nothing to keep the truck from rolling, unless being in 4wd keeps the fronts from turning...

 

It makes no difference setting the E brake before or after I put the rear on jack stands. I only set the E brake so the back wheels won’t want to turn a little while breaking loose the lug nuts even though it is in park. I’m on level ground and don’t feel the need to chock the front tires. I don’t use an impact either, I use breaker bar since the wheels are only torqued to 83 ft lbs. Been doing this way for 50 years.

 

My tires get rotated every time I drive it.

 

Break the lug nuts loose before jacking the vehicle up, much easier...

 

The spare does not.

 

Actually the spare was rotated for tens of thousands of miles on a crappy alignment. It now spends the last couple of years of its life under the truck hopefully to never be seen again. Well, until it's time for another brand new set of 5 tires. Then it'll see the tire dumpster.

 

I also put a tiny dab of anti seize on the wheel studs every few years. I know it affects the torque value but was curious how much. A friend at church that is a retired AA maintenance technician has a fancy high dollar dual direction torque wrench. So we checked my truck. All the lugs nuts were within 83-85 ft lbs. Since I’m not doing 200 mph at Texas Motor Speedway, that’s good enough for me. Since we were checking mine we decided to check his wife’s Highlander that recently had a rotation at the stealership. Every lug nut was way out of speck, the best was 92 ft lbs and the worst was 105 ft lbs. That tells ya something about the lube techs at the stealership. They just hammer on those lug nuts with an impact and get it done cause the cars are lined up outside waiting for service.

 

i do it the opposite, specifically because i know the front of the truck is the heaviest. i put the front a-arms on jack stands, just under the ball joint, and then lift the rear axle by the diff with the jack.

and when doing this, i'm never underneath the vehicle

 

Ditto