RA Tire Debate #2 - Rotation

mattgood2 · Jun 1, 2009, 06:53 PM

I'm assuming if you're driving an RA that you probably drive it pretty hard and that you'd also pry rather spend your cash on goodies other than replacement tires ever 10 months. How often do you rotate? Never owned an AWD so do you rotate more or less often? What about w/ the Advans? Their treadwear is pretty terrible, right? General thoughts on RA tire rotation...

LancerGTS · Jun 1, 2009, 07:14 PM

Im assuming "goodies" is performance parts correct? If you are spending money on that then in the end you are going to be wearing out your tires much faster anyways. If you dont want to be buying new tires on a constant basis then performance upgrades arent going to be smart when it comes right down to it.

Best thing to do in terms of tire rotation is to just check it every once and a while and if you notice significant differences then rotate and/or get an alignment done depending on what is wrong.

yahu · Jun 1, 2009, 07:20 PM

I'm just curious why owning an RA causes the assumption jump that people drive it pretty hard. LancerGTS put it really well - if you spend money on go-fast(er) parts then you will likely wear your tires much faster.

mattgood2 · Jun 1, 2009, 07:32 PM

i mean i guess there is always the risk of painting an overly-broad stroke when generalizing, but im just saying that i assume my grandma will get better life out of her sonota's tires since she drives like, well, a grandma. i would think that most of us didn't buy a car with the caliber of motor, tranny and awd that our RA's have to just put around in them is all. ive also had pretty tremendous luck with tire life in the past and i always rotated pretty diligently; didnt know if that diligence would pay dividends on a quicker, awd car like a ralliart or not.

Jyrk · Jun 1, 2009, 07:38 PM

this thread won't end well..

LancerGTS · Jun 1, 2009, 07:40 PM

If your biggest worry about the car is the tire, you should look into the possibility of switching to a 17 inch wheel (though Im not sure if they will clear the brakes). Then you can get a tire that will cost less and last longer. And if you go with a reputable wheel you can lose a good amount of weight on the car which will lessen tire wear and give you some more MPGs back too

yahu · Jun 1, 2009, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattgood2

i mean i guess there is always the risk of painting an overly-broad stroke when generalizing, but im just saying that i assume my grandma will get better life out of her sonota's tires since she drives like, well, a grandma. i would think that most of us didn't buy a car with the caliber of motor, tranny and awd that our RA's have to just put around in them is all. ive also had pretty tremendous luck with tire life in the past and i always rotated pretty diligently; didnt know if that diligence would pay dividends on a quicker, awd car life a ralliart or not.

Ah, I got it. I wasn't sure if that was it or if you RA owners were a little more trigger happy.

I drive my MR pretty casually, actually, and I know a lot of others that do too. Also, look at the average age of Corvette owners (though that has been dropping). I would venture to guess a lot of them take it pretty easy on their tires too.

JohnBradley · Jun 1, 2009, 08:05 PM

The tires still need rotated like any other car. Front to back every 6k, and if you run alot of negative camber or do alot of low speed driving, having them dismounted and flipped every 12k isnt a bad idea.

hibby · Jun 1, 2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yahu

I'm just curious why owning an RA causes the assumption jump that people drive it pretty hard.

The car is marketed to young males, who are statistically prone to aggressive driving. Why is that such a stretch?

Heliart · Jun 2, 2009, 05:25 AM

i think i read in the manuel somewhere that you need to do the cross pattern instead of just front to back...need to double check

yahu · Jun 2, 2009, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hibby

The car is marketed to young males, who are statistically prone to aggressive driving. Why is that such a stretch?

See my other post. I thought there was something in particular with RA drivers.

amalgam · Jun 6, 2009, 12:41 AM

Hi All from an Aussie Newbie,

I always have my cars balanced and aligned by my tire techs from new. I don't trust that the dealers have checked or carried out an alignment at PD.

Thereafter, regular balance and alignments every second service (not oil change) or once a year whichever comes first. This seems to keep the wear even and extends their life regardless of driving style.

Below are links to some aussie performance tire tests/comparisons.

http://wheelsmag.com.au/wheels/site/...els%26ui%3Ddom

robertg · Jul 24, 2009, 10:22 AM

General Rule of thumb I was told by a guy who's father works for Goodyear says to rotate every other scheduled oil change you do.

Ladogaboy · Jul 24, 2009, 01:52 PM

Too many posts to quote, so I'll just write statements that address what seem to be questions or points of interest.

AWD cards DO wear out tires more quickly. It is just the nature of the beast.

The way you drive still does affect the amount and type of tire wear. Rotate your tires accordingly. I would not wait until you see wear to rotate, and I would not wait for every other oil change. I would rotate EVERY oil change. If you drive aggressively, you should be changing your oil every 3,000 miles. If you do not drive aggressively, you should be changing your oil every 5,000 miles. Those are both good schedules for rotating tires, IMO.

Regardless of drive train, the tires should not just be rotated front to back. My preferred method for rotating tires is to move the front tires to opposite-side rear and to move the rear tires to same-side front.

elpoole · Jul 27, 2009, 01:22 AM

I drive mine hard and get an oil change every 3k. I noticed greater tire wear in front and had them rotated at 9k mi.