Tow Vehicle Tire Rotation

[HangOutdoors]

Getting ready to rotate the new Tires I put on. Getting conflicting info. Which way is the proper way to rotate the tires. They are Michelin Defenders. This will be their first rotation 2017 Ford Expedition Limited 4 x 4 HD Towing

 

[jthackman]

top pic is what i do....my truck and grand cherokee manual (both 4x4, both tow) confirms...called 'rearward cross'

 

[2kwik4u]

Depends on how they're wearing.

Top one for solid rear axle RWD vehicles that are heavily loaded. Balances the power output from the rear (tends to wear center or evenly) with camber from front tires wearing the insides.

Bottom one for AWD, lighter loading, or better balanced vehicles. Will attempt to balance inner tire wear across all tires, and extend life through even wear.

Ultimately, every vehicle is a little different. I do the bottom on my Q7. I have (what I call) "semi-directional" tires. There is an "inside" and "outside" marked on them. Then the alignment is setup with negative camber at all 4 corners, so I tend to see inside tire wear early and often. If the tires weren't directional, then I would have them dismounted and remounted to "flip" them and wear more evenly. She's also a heavy SUV with a driver that has a lead foot, so getting 40k miles from a set is a good day, and as much as I drive I might only rotate them once or twice, ever.

Keep in mind, the goal is to wear the tires evenly and thoroughly. The fact that you're rotating them at all, is showing you'll be just fine. Pick one you like, do that, then monitor tire wear and adjust as necessary. There is no "wrong" answer here.

 

[Bottom Bracket]

Old school, never turn around a radial, front to rear as soon as I detect wear on the fronts or the steer wheel starts to get heavy....

 

[anmut]

For my vehicles, because tires are directional, only need to do front to back, no crisscrossing, even with 4wd.

Boat trailer (just did this), I did a crisscross pattern to negate the wear caused by tire drag on the tandem trailer.

 

[HangOutdoors]

ok, getting different answers and thoughts. So..... What is the consensus?

 

[anmut]

LOL I'd do the bottom one if I were you and you really wanted to be sure (especially on the HD setup).

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I have the Michelin Defenders on my 2020 F-350 4x4 CC SRW pick up, before that I had them on four other F-350’s. I do the top rotation, the only time I did not is when my truck came with five tires and wheels then I’d do a five tire rotation.

As @2kwik4u stated, you should have a careful look to make sure they are wearing relatively even, but otherwise that top rotation will take care of any uneven wear pattern. If the alignment is good, other than some rounding of the edges on the fronts your tires should be fairly even. Also depends on how frequently you rotate your tires, if you do it every oil change, roughly 8-9,000 miles your tires should be wearing fine. How are they wearing?

 

[HangOutdoors]

Feels like whats the best oil topic

 

[HangOutdoors]

I have the Michelin Defenders on my 2020 F-350 4x4 CC SRW pick up, before that I had them on four other F-350’s. I do the top rotation, the only time I did not is when my truck came with five tires and wheels then I’d do a five tire rotation.

As @2kwik4u stated, you should have a careful look to make sure they are wearing relatively even, but otherwise that top rotation will take care of any uneven wear pattern. If the alignment is good, other than some rounding of the edges on the fronts your tires should be fairly even. Also depends on how frequently you rotate your tires, if you do it every oil change, roughly 8-9,000 miles your tires should be wearing fine. How are they wearing?

I change my oil every 3-4k. With the notorious Cam Phaser issue on the EB 3.5L, that seems to help alot and it doesn't become a problem.

I put the tires on almost 2 years ago but only have about 9-10k miles on them at most, if not less.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Ok found the manual.

 

[HangOutdoors]

Alright, rotated them. Getting ready to go get the boat soon.

 

[Maslin]

Old school, never turn around a radial, front to rear as soon as I detect wear on the fronts or the steer wheel starts to get heavy....

Agreed. Front to back, don't change direction.

 

[mtudb24]

Agreed. Front to back, don't change direction.

I have run everything on my 4wd trucks and Jeeps from Super Swampers, to Ground Hawgs, to BFG's MT, AT's, Cooper SST's, Goodyear duratrac's Hancook Dynapro AT/MT's, to General Grabber X3's, ATX's and have always done just front to back. Had a set of BFG MT K2's that I made the mistake of switching directions of those radial tires and regretted it for the rest of the length I owned those tires. They got 100% louder and rode like crap. Maybe its different on a All Season or all weather tires, but if you have any aggressive tread pattern, reversing direction of those tires is not advised.
Just my opinion. YMMV...

 

[2kwik4u]

Feels like whats the best oil topic

100% is, exactly that!

I've had several vehicles that wore evenly without rotation, so I didn't rotate. My '03 Yukon was that way. Our RX8 was SUPER sensitive to tire wear on the rears, so I rotated them, what felt like, monthly.

Again, no wrong answer. Pick the one that speaks to you, then monitor wear and adjust as necessary.