Tyre Rotation - which is the correct method?

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

I know I have had a bit of a whinge below however after all the waffle I just want to know what is the best practice for tyre rotation. The Toyota manual or the swap front tyres to back?

Had my 1st service done last week by the Toyota dealer. I marked the filters and numbered the tyres to ensure things were actually done.

Firstly the manual reads to rotate your tyres every 5000km? however no mention of this in the 10,000km service list of things to be done?
I ask the service dept to rotate tyres as per the book. He politely tells me its $18 for that. No probs I say, just do it as per the manaul reads, including swapping the spare at the back.
Oh no sir, we swap front to back, don't use the spare. No i say, please do as per the LOG BOOK reads. Twice I had to ask that and he said "we will do that for you sir". When I picked up the car it was starting to get dark and after I went over the items checklist it was too dark to see my tyre numbering. When I get home using a torch they have used the spare but stuffed the correct sequence. I took it back and the apologetically swapped them for me.

Thanks
PeteS

[quadcam Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close quadcam]

I would go by the Owners Manual as you have insisted. We have a Prado and a Rav4 and went by the back <> front swaps including spare on LHS for the 1st set of tyres on each car. It's definitely not right as you constantly feather the same lug edges by keeping tyres on the same side. So it basically means you wear them out earlier and they are more noisy.

On the 2nd sets I am rotating them myself every 5000km. With the swap to the opposite side the feathering edge is swapped on the lug so it evens out nicely. I have done 3 changes on the Rav and if you look closely you can see the wear starting on the edges so it probably is the right time to change them.

[Fazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fazza]

I would also agree that the owners manual is as good a guide as any.
You probably noticed that mention was made of side to side in the hand book, one small word of warning some with some tyres the cord & belting get settled in running in one direction, if swapped to other side may go out of shape. (Particularly if tyre pressures have been to low) But near the end of the tyres life who cares.
I would definitely use the spare as it will get to old & hard just sitting there.
Normally the main reason for outside left tyre wear is full lock "U" turns,not helped by front constant four wheel drive. However some vehicles may wear the inside edge if they have an excessive neg camber issue.
I personally would rotate at 10,000km mainly to see what wear pattern you are getting or as the Owners Manual states the most appropriate timing may vary according to your driving habits & road surface.

Fazza :wink:

[xvprado Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close xvprado]

Dont know what the book say's, but IMO there is only one way
Front to back, and back to opposite side front, every 5000klm
Every tyre then gets 5000klm on every position, even wear is nearly guaranteed

[Grandeman Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Grandeman]

I recently had my 20,000 service and asked to have the tyres rotated.

When I picked the car up. it was late and I was in a rush - the guy went over the services performed and no mention of the rotation.

When I asked, I was told: "There was no need to do it".

"But that is what I asked you to do and you agreed to do it".

"Sorry Sir, if you drop the car back again we can do it next time".

There will be no next time - why not do what was agreed? They won't be paying for a new set of tyres because the old ones are prematurely worn.

I don't mind paying thru the nose for service at an authorised dealer, but I expect top notch service in return.

It really narks me to see this type of slackness, indifference or incompetence (call it what you will). I think it's just a crap attitude! :x :evil:

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Toyota quality

Toyota pride themselves on selling better quality motor vehicles and I'm sure most of us would agree that they do achieve this quite well.

I wonder if their head office would be happy in the knowledge that their service network were up to such tricks "at the coal face".

I reckon it might be a matter of a slack attitude at the dealership that has bred through a lack of monitoring or feedback from corporate headquarters.

If I ever get crappy service like this from an organisation that I believe is capable of doing better, I try to let them know. I believe in Toyota, they make great cars at an affordable price, I don't see why we should put up with local "dogey brothers" bogan Aussie "she'll be right, we can get away with it" attitude at a dealership.

But not everyone can be bothered (nor should have to bother) calling Toyota Australia when they get crappy service, so some dealership service centres seem to keep getting away with the crap service.

Anyway, I'm getting off the soap box now. Lack of attention to quality workmanship in today's world is one of my pet hates. :evil: :lol:

FWIW, I get my tyres rotated by my Cooper dealer every 10,000km, and I insist they are rotated as per the book. Tyres are too damn expensive to be farting about with.

Cheers,

Drew.

[Blokeman Member Find all posts View Profile Close Blokeman]

I've had a similar winge in another thread about valve clearances, which my dealer will not do. You have to wonder eh?
// Toyota are you reading this? //

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

RE: Toyota quality

I wonder if their head office would be happy in the knowledge that their service network were up to such tricks "at the coal face".

Drew
On all my previous new vehicles I have been sent a customer form which asked me a number of questions. I expected to receive this and vent my spleen in that format direct to Toyota. It has been over 2 months now and

I uess the forms no longer exist?

Cheers
PeteS

[Drew Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Drew]

Re: RE: Toyota quality

I wonder if their head office would be happy in the knowledge that their service network were up to such tricks "at the coal face".

Drew
On all my previous new vehicles I have been sent a customer form which asked me a number of questions. I expected to receive this and vent my spleen in that format direct to Toyota. It has been over 2 months now and

I uess the forms no longer exist?

Cheers
PeteS

Mate I'd give their head office a call, ask for the National Service Manager or something. It's not like it a Mitsubushi/Ford/Kia or whatever. :lol:

Drew.

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: RE: Toyota quality

I wonder if their head office would be happy in the knowledge that their service network were up to such tricks "at the coal face".

Drew
On all my previous new vehicles I have been sent a customer form which asked me a number of questions. I expected to receive this and vent my spleen in that format direct to Toyota. It has been over 2 months now and

I uess the forms no longer exist?

Cheers
PeteS

Pete, i got a form from Toyota today and my car is six weeks old.

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

Toyota quality

Pete, i got a form from Toyota today and my car is six weeks old.

Thanks Drew. I was sure a feedback form was still standard these days. I will follow up with my dealer as I had a number of issues.My vehicle was delivered 22/2/07 so should have received by now.

PeteS

[phil Member Find all posts View Profile Close phil]

I got my form before i picked up my new car, they had forged my singnature on the licence transfere so the deal would be included in the previous month. They told me they didn't know how that happened, so i told them it must have been the cleaners the week before :roll: :roll: .

[phil Member Find all posts View Profile Close phil]

Forms get sent to toyota australia and bad reports are not good for dealers, they do get their asses kicked by toyota.

[Jacto Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jacto]

Toyota quality

I have to agree with the comment posted by Fazza in that some tyres do get a "set" in the cord body of the carcass of the tyre and during my thirty plus years associated with the tyre industry and training of tyre fitters, I have witnessed tyre manufacturers deny warranty on tyres that have failed after being subjected to diagonal rotation. In a radial tyre, the cords of the tyre are built at an angle of 90 degrees to the bead during manufacture and sometimes when the tyre cords settle into a running direction and are then reversed into the opposite running direction during diagonal rotation, the cords can be subjected to undue stress and suffer catastrophic failure. There has even been cases of vehicles being written off because of these types of tyre failure causing vehicle rollover. If any of my own tyres shown abnormal wear on one edge in particular and it is necessary to put the tyre on the opposite side of the vehicle, I always strip the tyre from the rim and refit it so that the worn edge is on the opposite but still running in the same direction, eg. if worn on outer edge on left hand side of vehicle, it will be stripped and refitted so that the worn edge is on the inner position on the right hand side of the vehicle. I do not recommend turning a tyre around to operate in the opposite direction to how it commenced its life.

[CASTOY Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CASTOY]

Tyre rotation diagonally!!!

Jacto, Some reasons why a tyre would fail are:

A: Under inflation/Overloading.
B: Excessive stress on belt edges due to poor tyre maintenance;
IE. Misalignment placing excess stress on belt edge.

C: Cuts & abrasions to tread which may penetrate between belt layers resulting in moisture inducing a separation between belt layers.

The cord material in a tyre is bonded between layers of rubber during manufacture & will only flex within the design parameters of the tyre.
A lower profile tyre is more susceptible to failures due to the extreme forces placed on such tyres.

I have never known any tyres cord material to stretch outside the parameters of the carcass if the tyre is run the opposite direction.