Does it really matter where you get your tires rotated on? Would it be a big difference if you went to, like, Walmart to rotate on tires, or should you go to some autocenter to get it down by specialists? O, and also, how often should you rotate? Thanks.

Z

 

walmart, or a place like that should be able to rotate your tires, but if you have low-pro tires i would recommend going somewhere else. you should rotate your tires every 5000 miles or so

 

you can rotate them yourself. It really doesn't matter unless you have directional tread on your tires. with directional tread, you can really only rotate front to back and vice versa. no side to side.

 

rotating tires requires 5 minutes of your time. directional tires go front to back and all-seasons go front to back in an X-pattern. They don't actually remove tires from rims...at least when I worked at SAM's Club in the garage we didn't.

 

Damn... so I could rotate my OWN tires?! Wouldn't that make my alignment funny or anything? I'll have to look into that..... Thanks fellas

Z

 

No it won't mess up your alignment. It is as simple as changing a flat...just you are doing it four times. Depending on your tools/equipment 7-15 minutes tops.

Here is the intervals I use:
oil changes every 3K
tire rotation (front to back) every 6K
tire rotation and rebalance every 12K


[Modified by SLPR, 9:05 AM 2/11/2003]

 

Damn you're fast! Do you have a lift in your garage?

 

It won't throw of your alignment, but if it pulls to either side, your tires could be going bad.

 

Moderatly fast is a full tire rotation and re-balance. Tires leaving the ground and touching back down in 7 minutes.

 

Yes you can do the rotation yourself. The hard part is you have to have two wheels in the air at a time, so be careful. Also, one word of advice... Use a torque wrench to tighten your lug nuts to 80 lb/ft. Your rotors will thank you. That's alo why I avoid chain tire stores.... air impact guns!!!