Is tire rotation necessary?
05-15-2024, 11:22 AM
#1
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
Is tire rotation necessary?
I'm wondering if it is really necessary to rotate tires on an all-wheel-drive car. I read somewhere that it wasn't, because all of the wheels provide propulsion.
I've been holding off doing the job because my garage is very narrow, and my driveway very steep. I can do it in my garage, but it takes twice as long because of the difficulty maneuvering in there. And I won't take it to a shop and pay for something I'm capable of doing myself.
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I've been holding off doing the job because my garage is very narrow, and my driveway very steep. I can do it in my garage, but it takes twice as long because of the difficulty maneuvering in there. And I won't take it to a shop and pay for something I'm capable of doing myself.
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05-15-2024, 11:59 AM
#2
Club AutoUnion
I've been holding off doing the job because my garage is very narrow, and my driveway very steep. I can do it in my garage, but it takes twice as long because of the difficulty maneuvering in there. And I won't take it to a shop and pay for something I'm capable of doing myself.
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05-15-2024, 12:51 PM
#3
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
[QUOTE=mikeru;25907695]Necessary? No. But advisable if you're concerned about tire wear. The front tires will usually wear out faster, regardless of whether a car is FWD, RWD, or AWD. Rotating them helps with that.
Do you have any room outside the garage such as a driveway to do this work? If not it sounds like you might not be capable of doing it yourself. I mean I'm sure you're physically capable, but working in that small of a space might compromise safety.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. My driveway is too steep to jack up a car on. My alternative is to do it in the street in front of my house, but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that.
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Do you have any room outside the garage such as a driveway to do this work? If not it sounds like you might not be capable of doing it yourself. I mean I'm sure you're physically capable, but working in that small of a space might compromise safety.[/QUOTE]
I'm wondering if it is really necessary to rotate tires on an all-wheel-drive car. I read somewhere that it wasn't, because all of the wheels provide propulsion.
I've been holding off doing the job because my garage is very narrow, and my driveway very steep. I can do it in my garage, but it takes twice as long because of the difficulty maneuvering in there. And I won't take it to a shop and pay for something I'm capable of doing myself.
I've been holding off doing the job because my garage is very narrow, and my driveway very steep. I can do it in my garage, but it takes twice as long because of the difficulty maneuvering in there. And I won't take it to a shop and pay for something I'm capable of doing myself.
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05-15-2024, 01:38 PM
#4
Club AutoUnion
[QUOTE=A4Driver;25907712]
Haha sorry, I missed that part about your driveway in your original post. Having a large garage was a major consideration when the wife and I were house shopping. A small garage like you're describing was a deal breaker for both of us. I have her convinced that our retirement home will be a shouse, which she is fully on board with LOL.
Necessary? No. But advisable if you're concerned about tire wear. The front tires will usually wear out faster, regardless of whether a car is FWD, RWD, or AWD. Rotating them helps with that.
Do you have any room outside the garage such as a driveway to do this work? If not it sounds like you might not be capable of doing it yourself. I mean I'm sure you're physically capable, but working in that small of a space might compromise safety.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. My driveway is too steep to jack up a car on. My alternative is to do it in the street in front of my house, but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that.
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Do you have any room outside the garage such as a driveway to do this work? If not it sounds like you might not be capable of doing it yourself. I mean I'm sure you're physically capable, but working in that small of a space might compromise safety.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. My driveway is too steep to jack up a car on. My alternative is to do it in the street in front of my house, but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that.
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05-15-2024, 02:14 PM
#5
[QUOTE=A4Driver;25907712]
give your neighbors the heads up..won't take you more than 20 mins tops. Loosen the bolts on the left side..Jack it up..use a safety jack..Jack up the other side..pill them off, switch and tighten and your done.
I miss how easy it was in my GTI..Jack up the front and the rear comes off the ground too..super easy
Necessary? No. But advisable if you're concerned about tire wear. The front tires will usually wear out faster, regardless of whether a car is FWD, RWD, or AWD. Rotating them helps with that.
Do you have any room outside the garage such as a driveway to do this work? If not it sounds like you might not be capable of doing it yourself. I mean I'm sure you're physically capable, but working in that small of a space might compromise safety.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. My driveway is too steep to jack up a car on. My alternative is to do it in the street in front of my house, but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that.
.
.
.
Do you have any room outside the garage such as a driveway to do this work? If not it sounds like you might not be capable of doing it yourself. I mean I'm sure you're physically capable, but working in that small of a space might compromise safety.[/QUOTE]
Thanks. My driveway is too steep to jack up a car on. My alternative is to do it in the street in front of my house, but I don't think my neighbors would appreciate that.
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I miss how easy it was in my GTI..Jack up the front and the rear comes off the ground too..super easy
05-15-2024, 05:18 PM
#6
AudiWorld Member
Tire rotations are necessary to prolong tread life, and with a square tire setup on the A4, it's kind of silly not to do rotate unless you enjoy trying out different tires every so often.
I am not sure if you have a Discount Tire/America's Tire near you, but sign up for their lifetime tire rotation plan (if you didn't purchase tires from them). It's like $80 and they'll rotate AND road force balance your tires for free.
Ever since I've moved further out in the 'burbs, my preferred tire shop is too far. I built a good relationship with my local Discount Tire after trusting them to replace my tires and not damage my wheels, so they take great care of my vehicles. I no longer have to worry about trying to jack up the car in my garage when Discount Tire takes 15-20 minutes to take care of this maintenance and I'm on my way.
I am not sure if you have a Discount Tire/America's Tire near you, but sign up for their lifetime tire rotation plan (if you didn't purchase tires from them). It's like $80 and they'll rotate AND road force balance your tires for free.
Ever since I've moved further out in the 'burbs, my preferred tire shop is too far. I built a good relationship with my local Discount Tire after trusting them to replace my tires and not damage my wheels, so they take great care of my vehicles. I no longer have to worry about trying to jack up the car in my garage when Discount Tire takes 15-20 minutes to take care of this maintenance and I'm on my way.
05-16-2024, 07:30 AM
#7
AudiWorld Senior Member
Do you need to do it? No. Is there a benefit to doing it? Yes / maybe.
Pre ultra drivetrains are front biased and ultra equipped cars look 'pretty close' to front wheel drive cars. So, there is a benefit to a front to back rotation in terms of evening out tire wear. Don't rotate the tires and the front tires will typically hit their wear limits before the rear tires do forcing an earlier than absolutely necessary tire replacement. However, if you don't drive your car a lot you might want to consider the fact that most all season tires have very high UTQG values and the rubber may age out before the tread is approaching its wear limit. If you are driving on sticky ultra high performance low UTQG tires then tread wear will usually get get you first. I have 3 vehicles and the alroad only sees about 8000 km per year of use. To boot, I do a summer / winter switch so the all season summer tires probably only see about 5000 km per year. I believe that both Continental and Michelin recommend that a tire be replaced at or before 10 years of age regardless of tread wear. Ford, MB and Nissan recommend 6 years. In about 4 years from now the summer all season rubber on my car is going to be getting pretty hard; but, I expect that there will be lots of tread left. So, I will be replacing the tires based upon age rather than tread wear. I don't really have a reason to maximize tread wear on my car.
If you are a low mileage driver like me there may be less benefit to rotation (I still rotate because its easy to do when I do my winter - summer switch). If you are a high mileage driver then there is a benefit to doing the rotation to maximize tread wear, particularly if you are running soft ultra high performance tires. Your choice.
Pre ultra drivetrains are front biased and ultra equipped cars look 'pretty close' to front wheel drive cars. So, there is a benefit to a front to back rotation in terms of evening out tire wear. Don't rotate the tires and the front tires will typically hit their wear limits before the rear tires do forcing an earlier than absolutely necessary tire replacement. However, if you don't drive your car a lot you might want to consider the fact that most all season tires have very high UTQG values and the rubber may age out before the tread is approaching its wear limit. If you are driving on sticky ultra high performance low UTQG tires then tread wear will usually get get you first. I have 3 vehicles and the alroad only sees about 8000 km per year of use. To boot, I do a summer / winter switch so the all season summer tires probably only see about 5000 km per year. I believe that both Continental and Michelin recommend that a tire be replaced at or before 10 years of age regardless of tread wear. Ford, MB and Nissan recommend 6 years. In about 4 years from now the summer all season rubber on my car is going to be getting pretty hard; but, I expect that there will be lots of tread left. So, I will be replacing the tires based upon age rather than tread wear. I don't really have a reason to maximize tread wear on my car.
If you are a low mileage driver like me there may be less benefit to rotation (I still rotate because its easy to do when I do my winter - summer switch). If you are a high mileage driver then there is a benefit to doing the rotation to maximize tread wear, particularly if you are running soft ultra high performance tires. Your choice.
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05-16-2024, 11:42 AM
#8
AudiWorld Member
I am a high mileage driver (approx 18K a year, mostly highway). I try to have mine done every 6 months as my tire shop does it free for life with purchase. I did it last about 6 -8 months ago. I just had my car inspected and the depth on all tires was exactly the same. The report said no rotation needed at this time. I will have it done soon though for just my piece of mine. I ride on Michelin Sport 4.
05-16-2024, 06:40 PM
#9
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
I am a high mileage driver (approx 18K a year, mostly highway). I try to have mine done every 6 months as my tire shop does it free for life with purchase. I did it last about 6 -8 months ago. I just had my car inspected and the depth on all tires was exactly the same. The report said no rotation needed at this time. I will have it done soon though for just my piece of mine. I ride on Michelin Sport 4.
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05-16-2024, 06:48 PM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
Thread Starter
[QUOTE=mikeru;25907722]
I bought my house 35 years ago when I had a Mazda RX-7. Plenty of room to work on it in the garage.
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Haha sorry, I missed that part about your driveway in your original post. Having a large garage was a major consideration when the wife and I were house shopping. A small garage like you're describing was a deal breaker for both of us. I have her convinced that our retirement home will be a shouse, which she is fully on board with LOL.
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