cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Tire Rotation Not Needed?

CarnationSailor
Explorer II
Explorer II
Took my 2015 Silverado 2500 to the Chevy dealer for a regular oil and filter change, and tire rotation. The service writer told me the tires did not need to be rotated because the tires with the most tread were already on the rear. (I have 8/32's on the rear tires and 7/32's on the front tires.) I have never heard of such an idea. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks
2015 Crossroads Rushmore Springfield
2015 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax
45 REPLIES 45

JRscooby
Explorer II
Explorer II
97chevor wrote:
My experience is more weight on the wheel the longer the tire will last. Semi trucks can go over 400,000 miles on tires.
On my dually the fronts tend to round quite a bit faster than the four rear tires wear. I bought two more tires and wheels and run 8 tires in rotation. taking the front tires off swapping with the spares. Then when those round those four go to rear.


For my truck tires to run 400,000 miles, they would be wearing the 2nd recap. But the 2nd cap or steering was the only time I would have a highway tread pattern.
If you want to see a tire wear fast put a say 80% next to a new on a duel. Yes, that new tire will wear faster than it should because it has more weight on it. But the worn tire will wear much much faster. The new tire, will travel farther per revolution than the shorter one. But because they are spinning the same RPM the tire with the least weight will always be slipping on the pavement...
BTW, last 4 wheeled vehicle I had that normally wore rear tires first was a '69 El Camino, with a 396/4 speed. Only drove in nice weather, and for fun 😉

RAS43
Explorer III
Explorer III
dodge guy wrote:
Ron3rd wrote:
Range Maggot Bob wrote:
Just to add to the mess, I change oil and rotate every 5K. Faithfully. And I don't care if it costs a little more money.


That's a very good policy.


I agree. Great way to maintain your vehicle!


Me too!!

dodge_guy
Explorer
Explorer
Ron3rd wrote:
Range Maggot Bob wrote:
Just to add to the mess, I change oil and rotate every 5K. Faithfully. And I don't care if it costs a little more money.


That's a very good policy.


I agree. Great way to maintain your vehicle!
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 17yrs
Daughter Marissa 16yrs
Dog Bailey

12 Forest River Georgetown 350TS Hellwig sway bars, BlueOx TrueCenter stabilizer

13 Ford Explorer Roadmaster Stowmaster 5000, VIP Tow>
A bad day camping is
better than a good day at work!

Ron3rd
Explorer
Explorer
Range Maggot Bob wrote:
Just to add to the mess, I change oil and rotate every 5K. Faithfully. And I don't care if it costs a little more money.


That's a very good policy.
2016 6.7 CTD 2500 BIG HORN MEGA CAB
2013 Forest River 3001W Windjammer
Equilizer Hitch
Honda EU2000

"I have this plan to live forever; so far my plan is working"

Range_Maggot_Bo
Explorer
Explorer
Just to add to the mess, I change oil and rotate every 5K. Faithfully. And I don't care if it costs a little more money.

Ron3rd
Explorer
Explorer
Old-Biscuit wrote:
I get an e-mail from Discount tire ----Time to rotate and check air pressure

Service is FREE


X2,but called America's Tire in my neck of the woods.
2016 6.7 CTD 2500 BIG HORN MEGA CAB
2013 Forest River 3001W Windjammer
Equilizer Hitch
Honda EU2000

"I have this plan to live forever; so far my plan is working"

NRALIFR
Explorer
Explorer
On my vehicles, none of which have a lot of miles put on them annually, I see little value in spending the time and effort it would take to rotate the tires. That’s especially true for the truck.

Most of the time, the tires will end up being replaced because they have too many years on them, rather than miles anyway. The front tires do tend to get a bit rounded from turning, especially right turns (sharper due to driving on the right). But I don’t care, if I ever manage to actually wear out the front tires before the rears (it’s happened once or twice), I’ll buy two new tires and put them on the rear.

If I was putting enough miles on any of my vehicles where getting the most miles out of them was important, I’d probably rotate them. Right now, I’m not.

:):)
2001 Lance 1121 on a 2016 F450 ‘Scuse me while I whinge.
And for all you Scooby-Doo and Yosemite Sam types………..Let’s Go Brandon!!!

FishOnOne
Explorer III
Explorer III
Rotated my 20" tires yesterday after 12k miles. Man these tires/rims weigh a ton.
'12 Ford Super Duty FX4 ELD CC 6.7 PSD 400HP 800ft/lbs "270k Miles"
'16 Sprinter 319MKS "Wide Body"

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
97chevor wrote:
My experience is more weight on the wheel the longer the tire will last. Semi trucks can go over 400,000 miles on tires.
On my dually the fronts tend to round quite a bit faster than the four rear tires wear. I bought two more tires and wheels and run 8 tires in rotation. taking the front tires off swapping with the spares. Then when those round those four go to rear.


True because of what I just posted.
Remember, your fronts are always carrying 2500lb + per tire every time you drive it.
AND they steer and get the weight bias when braking. Your rear tires don’t ever see that much weight per tire unless you’ve got 6-7000lbs of payload in the bed.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
Anyone comparing a dually front and rear , that is a different situation than 4 wheelers.
Dually tires are almost undersized for the front of a diesel pickup and 4 tires in the rear is overkill until you’re reaching the upper limits of capacity, so it stands to reason duallies generally wear faster in front.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

97chevor
Explorer
Explorer
My experience is more weight on the wheel the longer the tire will last. Semi trucks can go over 400,000 miles on tires.
On my dually the fronts tend to round quite a bit faster than the four rear tires wear. I bought two more tires and wheels and run 8 tires in rotation. taking the front tires off swapping with the spares. Then when those round those four go to rear.

Cummins12V98
Explorer III
Explorer III
Tvov wrote:
Cummins12V98 wrote:
My question is why are the fronts wearing faster? Under inflation?


My fronts have always seemed to wear faster, I am a little surprised at all the people saying rears wear faster. I've always assumed it was a combination of front weight and steering... with the majority of wear caused by steering.

I tow almost daily, but not "heavy" towing... landscape equipment trailers, and our camper, all of which are roughly only half of my trucks rated capacity. My rear tires last noticeably longer than my front.

Especially when I had my 1987 F350 dually dump truck - that truck had limited slip rear end, and an amazing turning radius. The front wheels almost went to 90 degrees it seemed like. Combine limited rear end with front tires almost sideways during slow maneuvers - I would actually leave skid marks on pavement from the front tires with the wheel all the way over, with all 4 rear wheels trying to push the truck straight. I would have to replace the front tires twice as often as the back. And that truck was regularly overloaded.

As to dealers not rotating tires - typical. They offer things like free rotation to get you in the shop, then turn around and claim it is not needed - while charging you for other services. Whatever a dealer says, you probably need the opposite.

Don't mean to sound too negative, but decades of dealing with dealers just confirms all the stereotypes about them.


Get your axles weighed, use the tire weight/inflation chart for your tires. Then add 5 psi to rears and 10 psi to fronts to what the chart says.
2015 RAM LongHorn 3500 Dually CrewCab 4X4 CUMMINS/AISIN RearAir 385HP/865TQ 4:10's
37,800# GCVWR "Towing Beast"

"HeavyWeight" B&W RVK3600

2016 MobileSuites 39TKSB3 highly "Elited" In the stable

2007.5 Mobile Suites 36 SB3 29,000# Combined SOLD

Grit_dog
Nomad III
Nomad III
dodge guy wrote:
It’s simple. They don’t want to rotate then because they aren’t ready to be rotated yet. Unless the fronts are feathering then I would leave them until they are ready.


True, unless the rears are wearing faster.
I've seen opposite here, dealer/tire shop insisting the most tread to remain on the fronts. Good for braking and handling, within reason, but better to sell new tires quicker due to 2 wearing out prematurely.

As far as front tires wearing MORE than rears, I can think of exactly zero vehicles in the 30 years of driving that this was the case. Unless maybe easy driving, and Mountian road all the time that tend to feather out fronts much quicker.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold

4x4ord
Explorer III
Explorer III
My truck sees very little wear on the front compared to the back. I usually rotate the tires every 10000 miles or so and still only get 40000 miles out of a set of tires.
2023 F350 SRW Platinum short box 4x4.
B&W Companion
2008 Citation Platinum XL 34.5