'90 Accord, tire rotation how often?

Hi all,
I have a '90 Honda Accord with Michelin Roadhandler tires. The tires were
last rotated about 3,000 miles ago. After how many miles should tires
generally be rotated?

Thanks,
Josh

 

I'd go with the advice of the tire shop. Apparently rotation is not even
popular in some areas and posts from the UK often suggest we are daft for
doing it. Most people who rotate tires do it every 5-10K miles. There is no
doubt the front tires wear faster on front wheel drive vehicles, but the
non-rotators just replace the front pair when they wear out. I have to agree
that rotation is like daylight saving time: it was invented by somebody who
cut a foot off one end of his blanket and sewed it on the other to make the
blanket longer.

Mike

 

Many dealers rotate every other oil change.

Don't expect new-car life out of your tires. Your shocks and bushings will
be worn enough to place extra vibrational load on the tires. Frequent
rotation will help, especially if you don't have directionals, and can
rotate diagonally.

 

there's a lot of validity to that argument - the tires wear a "sense"
into themselves, particularly the fronts on hondas, and changing
direction of rotation can have a significant impact on wet
braking/cornering. if you must rotate, do it front to rear. if you
must cross, do it at the rear only, not the front, i.e. bring the rears
to the front keeping sides and put the fronts to the rear crossing over.

if anything, it is arguably worse if the tire is re-wearing its sense at
each rotation.

 

OK. Everybody pay attention now. Here comes some wisdom from an old guy
(56). An old guy who has been in the tire 'bidness' since high school
(class of '68).
In order to make your tires last the longest time, and to have all four
of them wear out at the same time, you MUST:

1. Get a tread depth gauge and learn how to use it to find the depth
of tread remaining on your tires to the nearest thirty second of an inch.
2. When the DIFFERENCE between the fronts and the rears is 1/32nd.
move the front to the back. Keep the tires on the same side of the car.
You will probably notice that your front tires wear at 1/32nd. every
5000 miles.
3. Become familiar with the symptoms of a car that is out of
alignment, tires that are out of balance, or tires that are suffering a
factory defect or low pressure from a small hole.
4. Check your tires for wear and pressure every 5000 miles, and follow
the rules above.

You can thank me later. bob

 

There is no

While I agree with the Idea of this part of your statement; I do see flaws.
Not all cars eat up tires at a rate that makes it worth while to only
replace the worn tires. What if you do get the 50,000 mile warrantee out of
a tire (without rotating them) and it took 5 years. Now the rear tires are
in OK shape but are aged. So we put the new on the rear, but the old on the
front and try to wear them out before the age wears takes them out.

Rotate tires every 6000-10000, at your convenience, or if wear makes it
sooner.

 

Thanks Bob!

Josh
http://www.pingeek.com pinball stuff

 

OK, but why would I care if they wear out at the same time?

This certainly would tend to make them wear out at the same time.

This is a Good Thing. But you forgot the pressure gauge.

A visual check every time you drive, or once a day, or at least whenever you
fuel, is better. If you look at them regularly, you'll usually notice if one is
going low. Check with a pressure gauge at least once a month. The actual
pressure is important, but having them at the same pressure or an appropriate
differential for the car, is more important.On a car with similar tires on front and rear, you just change the pair that
wear out faster. Change the other pair when they wear out. Put the newer ones
where the wear is faster.

You're less likely to have two tires go at the same time (bad road), and spread
the pain of the expense when one goes out before its time.

JMHO.

 

So you can replace them all at the same time, minimizing needed trips to
the tire shop and related downtime. Especially good if your tire dealer
ever has buy-three-get-one-free sales or gives other sorts of discounts
for having the full set done (free balancing, perhaps).

 

Oh, OK. I could see that.
My dealer has been around almost as long as I have, and does great work, which
they stand behind. I know the guy working on my vehicle, most of the time.
Generally their prices are near or better than anyone else. Balancing is
included with mounting. Sorry if you don't have a great shop like that in your
own area.
(They do big-rig tires, too.)