Tire Rotation

A floor jack & no jack stands? One whole side up at a time? I haven't done that, good deal

 

Man, we need to organize a meet-up for tire rotations and make bets. It would be EPIC!!

 

lol sketchy as f. People would die!

But we'd get so many donations for the families!

 

I’m waiting for one of the forum gestapo agents to say how dare we question Toyota’s engineers and not rotate the tires like they say.
I got my first vehicle to drive when I was 14. Worked on a farm. The patterns always was cross fronts to opposite rear and move rear up.
The staying on the same side came out with directional. I think it was Goodyear in the mid 80s that came out with the directional tire. If I remember correctly it was the Goodyear vr50 for the corvette. 82 84 time frame.

 

That’s why I posted the question because I looked all over the tires and couldn’t see any arrows or any notation that they are directional.

 

Just went for my first 6 month check up at the dealer for tire rotation. I asked three different people at the service department if the tires were directional due to fact that they rotate the tires back to front and front to back without crossing the front to the back because I will be doing my own rotation when the free check ups are over. Guess what ….. nobody could tell me if they are directional. I asked them why do you rotate them like they are. I was told “we’ll that’s just what we do with everybody that comes in for rotation”. I’m thinking really, you don’t know ?!?! Like I said before there is nothing on the tires to indicate if they are directional.

 

All the more reason to do this yourself, I'm quite sure if you asked three technicians about the torque spec you'd get three different answers.
Betting most techs are using torque sticks which aren't really that accurate if you thread the nut just a few turns then slam them down with an impact.
I strongly recommend crossing the FRONTS back to the rear, then rear straight to the front. I worked on Heeps for many years and you could keep the mud terrain tires relatively flat and quiet with this method.

 

Your owners manual is your best friend and guide here, as for the dealers

 

Rear cross for me; evens out heel-toe wear.

I drop the spare and incorporate it as a 'place holder'; allows me to exercise and lube the hoist and check psi.

I jack the rear one side at a time and the front at the center; no jackstands.

Takes about 30 minutes.

 

I take that bet, and I wont even use my 2 post lift. fast pump floor jack with arm bar, can lift 1 side completely off the ground very quickly, add 2 jack stands, go to the other side, lift, leaving on jack, remove all 4 with cordless impact, rotate, with crossing the fronts rearward, install all with cordless impact lightly seating the lugs, wheels. drop jack side, jack up, and drop stands. whip out the Snap-On torque wrench to 85 ft/lbs, hit 24 lugs, and.... pay me my money, IN CASH!

Oh, in 25-50 you need to verify the 85 ft/lbs, to be safe. (i do that to my own, as well). I did this last night on the Mrs, Subi. took me longer to walk to the impact and retrieve it (in another building), than it did to rotate the tires. Ski

 

The owners manual shows the rotation pattern as back to front and front to back. I just called them this morning and specifically asked for the service manager. He said they will rotate on any pattern I want and will not effect the warranty. Why wasn’t I told this yesterday, ugh !!! I don’t want to give them any excuse to void my warranty for the next two years. I changed my oil last week at 5,000 with Toyota oil and filter and they do it free every 10,000 for two years. I did previously ask if changing my own oil will also effect my warranty and was told no. I’m anal about my rides, can’t help it.

 

Dude.
You do you. Rotate the way you want. Change your oil every 100 miles if you want.
It's yours. If you have a warranty claim, they will evaluate on their terms, not yours.
The manual is there for a reason. If you disagree with it then fine. You won't find many on your side but you do you.

 

I agree. I don't time myself either but easily in under half an hour. Using my Makita (your brand can vary) impact driver to zing off the lug nuts makes it go very fast, then zing 'em back snug and final torque with a freshly calibrated torque wrench to 83. Not only does it beat going to the dealer time wise, you are sure that they're all torqued to spec which is something the dealers rarely if ever do. The best advice is to just jack the wheel enough to barely clear the ground so you don't have to lift very far to get it back on the lugs.

 

Some people were anal about horses and wagons back in the day because their lives depended on them. Fast forward to now, not so much.
What with mass transit, Uber, taxis, bans on some city streets, rocketing sky high insurance premiums, some people actually resent vehicles and neglect them.

The manufacturers have lowered the maintenance cost by extending maintenance intervals and save money for rental cars companies, leasers and fleets, as these folks are not long term owners and are looking to save money, while the remainders like us are in the minority. And so they try and silence us.

Good luck with that because we know what (maintenance) works lol!

Moral of the story, keep being anal, because even if you don’t keep it long, the next guy who buys it will appreciated you, and keep the reliability ratings high, which will reward you with higher re-sale rates.

 

I agree, maintenance works. I have a 1979 Chevy C10 stepside (last year of the wooden bed) that I bought new. It went 420,000 before I rebuilt the engine, still driving it. I drive a vehicle till it is only worth melting down for scrap. If this new Tacoma isn’t a lemon then I’ll take care of it till I get dementia and they take my license away, lol.

 

Taco stock tires are not directional. Cross rotations every other time will extend the life and keep them quiet.

 

I’ve always done straight front to back swap. No crossing.