Thread: Tyre Rotation

The standards of knowledge vary greatly.

Some shops will only balance the front tyres when you buy a set of four tyres. When I ask about tyre rotation they say "was that then"
Complete idiots and shouldn't be allowed to sell tyres.

I have found a tyre dealer in Phrae who is clued up.
He even knows the date codes of all tyre makers.
When I had a puncture he asked if he could rotate all four tyres for me and didn't charge for it.

Keep looking until you find someone who desrves your business

Front and rear tyres develop different wear patterns. Depending on how the tyres were rotated you could find that you have quite different cornering characteristics on left and right turns afterwards.

It's usually considered standard in the U.S. to rotate front and rear tires, never left to right or right to left since the steel belts develop directional patterns in them after a short time and by reversing them can cause quick failure due to separation of the rubber and steel.

Some shops balance the tires on the car, some don't.

Originally Posted by Dougal

Front and rear tyres develop different wear patterns.

Yes. Thats why you rotate them.

I will only swap tyres front to rear on the same side.
That way the tyre still rotates in the same direction.

Originally Posted by Bung

Went back to the dealer to get my tyres rotated (they were supposed to do it at the last service) and was told they only swapped the front ones over (they didn't, there is a mark on one) and when I pointed out that the manual states the whole lot need to be swapped around they said that to do that you will need to have your tyres rebalanced and that they didn't have the equipment to do that.

What a load of crap.

So I went to a tyre shop and when they removed the tyres, they wanted to have them re balanced. Total nonsense I said and and no need to do it. Oh well they said we won't do it but you will be back to have the tyres balanced. I haven't been back and the tyres are perfect. charged me 200 baht to do it which was a bit steep in hindsight.

Just another annoying dealer bullshit story about work that was supposed to be done, not done. It's in the manual for christssake! No mention of balancing the tyres again!

Anyway, am I wrong or right? Why don't these people in the business know better?

Is this the tyre dealer or the new car dealer?
A reputable tyre dealer will include free tyre rotation every so many Kms.

The new car dealer will normally charge for this service.



Also note that nearly all modern radial tyres require rotation front to rear!
The only exceptions I'm aware of are the hi performance racing radials which are rotated front to rear but in an X pattern.

If you aren't experiencing vibrations from the the tyres you don't need balancing.

But when you buy a set of tyres from any of the large tyre dealer
they include the free service every 10K kms or so.

ALWAYS have tyre / tires balanced whenever they are removed from the rim and then remounted.

It is pure foolishness not to have them done.

It may be recommended by some Thai's not to have the balancing done, but hey! take a look around you and tell me what the average Thai knows about road safety or anything to do with vehicle safety.

To say it is not nessacerry is just wrong, wrong and even more wrong.

Originally Posted by Old Codger

ALWAYS have tyre / tires balanced whenever they are removed from the rim and then remounted.

We are not talking about removing the tyres from their wheels

Originally Posted by Old Codger

...To say it is not nessacerry is just wrong, wrong and even more wrong.

Damn right there, OC. 8 errors in one word is pretty f*cking amazing.

Yeah there are some idiots out there. I went to another shop a couple of years ago to have new tyres fitted.

Well, as the guy was balancing one he kept on putting more and more weights on, so many that they went halfway around the rim. Luckily i was watching and finally convinced him to remount it, much to his disgust. Mai Pen rai!

After remounting it, it required one weight only....

Like I always say, treat them like your brother.

Your little brother.

Interesting about changing front to back on the same side, that is how he did mine but I thought you needed to change sides as well, as the manual says.