4 or 5 tire rotation...???

I am getting ready to rotate my Nitto trail grapplers for the first time before my trip to the Badlands on April 20 and was wondering the pros and cons of doing a 4 vs a 5 tire rotation. Also, what rotation pattern is best? My rig is a daily driver and I keep the spare exposed to the elements year round on the EVO carrier. I plan on sticking with the same tires when these wear out in a year or two (they only have about 2000 miles on them right now).

I rotate my spare in.

2011 JKU 3.5 R.E. Longarm lift.

Only have to buy 4 tires if you stick with the same ones with a 4 tire rotation.

But you get 20% more wear out of 5 tire rotation.


I did 5 on my duratracs, and 4 on my current nittos.

MTG said:

Only have to buy 4 tires if you stick with the same ones with a 4 tire rotation.

But you get 20% more wear out of 5 tire rotation.


I did 5 on my duratracs, and 4 on my current nittos.

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Haha, thanks, but that doesn't help me make up my mind! Why did you switch to 4?

munstie said:

I rotate my spare in.

2011 JKU 3.5 R.E. Longarm lift.

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Thank you. I saved that image to my phone!

I know some of the deltas, are gonna be at the Badlands on the seventh and we are having a suds n grub on the 20th

2011 JKU 3.5 R.E. Longarm lift.

munstie said:

I know some of the deltas, are gonna be at the Badlands on the seventh and we are having a suds n grub on the 20th

2011 JKU 3.5 R.E. Longarm lift.

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I am headed out the 20th with a couple other local guys from Peoria. Just a small group of about 5 rigs. Trying to get my Protek skids, PowerPlant, and DIY hydro assist installed by then, so I won't be ready by the 7th. Plus I can't do Sundays. Thanks for the heads up though! You guys should do a suds and grub down here in Peoria some time!

4

I think if you are going with the same tires in the same size the next time around then just rotate the 4. That way you only have to buy 4 when they wear out

Great question how long is the shelf life of a tire 4 years or so i would think before the rubber starts to break down. I would say if you dont put to many miles do all 5 and if you are high milage do the 4 tire so you can save money next time and only get 4 tires. This was just my thought.

The rubber in the spare will degrade as time goes on meaning after a few years in UV cracks will form on the sidewall. Eventually it will be unusable but still never ridden on. That doesn't make sense to me.

The only reason I would do a 4 tire is if you cut a tire and have to replace it while the rest are low on tread or if you buy a worn tire specifically as a spare.

Skirmish said:

The rubber in the spare will degrade as time goes on meaning after a few years in UV cracks will form on the sidewall. Eventually it will be unusable but still never ridden on. That doesn't make sense to me.

The only reason I would do a 4 tire is if you cut a tire and have to replace it while the rest are low on tread or if you buy a worn tire specifically as a spare.

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Thats what i was thinking about the tire breaking down. I do a 5 tire rotation.

I do the 5 tire rotation to get the max value/miles out of them. Knowing my luck my spare would be junk the 1 time I would need it if it sat back there unused for yrs.

silverbackjk said:

Great question how long is the shelf life of a tire 4 years or so i would think before the rubber starts to break down.

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This would be great to get some true knowledge. Maybe Mel at ORE or the guys representing Discount Tire could bring in some facts.

Not that I don't trust you all, just maybe they have some additional insights.

I'm gonna do 5. I never know what the future brings and whether I will want the same tire in 2 years.

Will this still be my daily driver? Will gas be $8/gal or $2? Will I want 40's? Will there be a new hot tire out then? A 4-tire rotation assumes you keep the same tires forever. And the difference (for me anyway) is $1600 in 2 years or $2000 in 2.5 years. $66/month either way.

If you are only keeping the Jeep for 2-4 years, then I think 4 makes sense (i.e. you buy new tires just once). You buy 3 tires in a couple years and put an old worn one in the spare spot. Now you are down to $1200 in ~3 years, or $33/mo.

Dave

I think I remember reading Mel's explanation on this why one is better but I cant remember exactly what he said.

Being from a family of mechanics, here is why you want to rotate your spare in.

If you do need to use your spare tire in the event of a flat tire or damage, you want your spare tire to have an even wear on it with the other tires. If you don't, you have the potential to doing damage to your vehicle. It would be like having 3 x 33inch tires on and 1 x 31 inch tire on. This could cause damage to your axles, ring and pinion and etc....I personally experienced this problem not by my fault. I had Goodyear put some brand new MTR's on my Jeep. After about 2,000 miles of driving cross country, I noticed a weird grinding noise coming from my Jeep. I got it in the garage and took of the diff cover and there was nothing but metal shavings. I contacted Jeep and brought my vehicle to the Dealership in Palmdale, CA. They were awesome; my warranty had just gone out. I had 71,700 miles on my jeep. That told me they would see what they could do, they contacted Chrysler and they agreed to fix it for free, my ring, pinion and front drive shaft were bad.

Well, about a day into repairs I get a call and they said that they were not going to pay for damage because I had an odd size tire on the passenger front. It was a 32 inch tire and the others were 33 inch and that is what caused the damage. I explained I just had the tire put on. So, I called the Goodyear that installed my tires and explained the situation, they called the Chrysler dealership and long and behold Goodyear agreed to pay for the damages. They admitted that there were a bad lot of tires that were improperly labeled on the white labels that go across the tire.

So, back to my point, rotate your spar in to allow for even wear on all your tires in case you ever have to use your spare. I would rather pay 300-450 for a tire than a few thousand for repairs caused by running a spare tire that was not broken in.

Just my two cents, others may disagree.


Sincerely,
Mark

i do all five. dont want a spare getting old hanging off the back. tires have dates molded on them for a reason. if you look at the sidewall there is usually a small oval that reads DOT xxxx, which is the week and year. for example, 0313 would be the 3rd week of 2013. i was laughing at a friend who got a "killer deal' on some tires and when we checked the date they were 2 years old....lol Several have posted reasons why five is the better method. it doesnt save you money later to only buy four because you are simply buying them sooner. Use it and then get 5 fresh ones....dont be lazy.

JAGS said:

This would be great to get some true knowledge. Maybe Mel at ORE or the guys representing Discount Tire could bring in some facts.

Not that I don't trust you all, just maybe they have some additional insights.

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there are several factors that effect this. where they are stored, uv light, weather, are they aired up, do they have a load, etc. It doesnt matter though because not using the spare doesnt save you any money, you just go through your set faster.

Thanks for the info. I have never done the 5 tire rotation but think I will start.

so here is a follow up question. i have only rotated my tires once and coming up on the second one now. is it too late to rotate in my spare? my 4 have about 10,000 miles on them at this point.