Service writer says "we don't recommend or do 5 tire rotations"

[MarineHawk]

Not enough difference to affect anything.

^ This.

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[KAT$JT]

Right on, thank you everyone for your input, it's much appreciated.

 

[Hootbro]

I was having the 5-tire-rotation conversation with a coworker; he stated that 5 tire rotations are not recommended because the spare tire will have more tread (depending on how often you rotate) than the others. So with every 5 tire rotation performed, a larger diameter tire than the other three would always be added in, putting more stress on the diff.

What are the thoughts here on that? Would there be enough of a tread difference with 5,000 miles between rotations to cause problems? I have all five matching wheels & tires, but I don't want to do the five tire rotation if it'll cause issues.

Stop taking advice from your co-worker, he does not know what he is talking about.

 

[Steppenwolf]

The 5-tire rotation comes standard on the Rubicon trim.

No issues.

 

[Gatorized]

The 5-tire rotation comes standard on the Rubicon trim.

No issues.

Only if you pick up a 5th matching wheel and tire to replace the steel spare.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

Coming from a family where almost everyone has worked or currently works in the car biz in various capacities, In normal times there’s a 75% probability that anything that comes after “service writer says” or “service manager says” is complete BS. Their job is to keep the work flowing with minimal additional complications to the techs and to sell services. In fairness a lot of the customers they deal with are demanding idiots too.

Here’s something folks here may not understand. They hate Jeep forum guys. I don’t care if it’s a “cool” dealership with a bunch of enthusiasts working as techs. They’re in the business to maximize profit. Most dealerships have 50% or more staff turnover per year. It’s a cut throat pressure cooker. They don’t really want to talk about our mods, deal with our dirty engine compartments or weird suspension issues or do extra work like take off the spare to rotate it in. Forum people want discounts and know too much about the product. Dealerships like low information middle of the road customers who buy off the lot and don’t ever think about their spare tire


Even basic technical expertise isn’t a requirement to work as a service writer, manager or parts guy. They need to manage schedules, workloads and inventory. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to find techs that have even basic mechanical skills. There’s usually 2 or 3 experienced guys and the rest of the shop is votech flunkies. In an ideal world a service technician should have a minimum of an associates degree in electrical engineering.

But a service writer you could replace with a bot and many dealerships are starting to outsource that work to call centers in India. I don’t trust anything a dealership person tells me about my vehicles unless it’s something along the lines of “we’re seeing a lot of Jeeps come in with X….”

I’ve never not rotated with 5. What if I end up not wanting KM3s or whatever again? I’ve got 1 oddball tire I have to sell. And the coworker that says it strains the axle. Slap him in the mouth. Minor road imperfections represent a greater difference than the minimal diametrical delta between the spare and mounted tires. With off road tires you should be rotating frequently so the delta should be minimal anyway or you will have scalloped tires, terrible ride, etc. Just ask anyone who let Goodyear MT/R’s go too long between rotations.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

2 years later......... ?

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

2 years later......... ?

I was actually looking for the 5 rotation pattern diagram came across this thread and was “triggered,” started foaming at the mouth and decided to squirt out a quick service writer manifesto. Several IPAs and an Aventinus might have had something to do with it.

 

[salvino]

I was actually looking for the 5 rotation pattern diagram came across this thread and was “triggered,” started foaming at the mouth and decided to squirt out a quick service writer manifesto. Several IPAs and an Aventinus might have had something to do with it.

I have an off road trailer with matching wheels and tires to my JTR. I do a 7 tire rotation. Not only is it better to wear all tires evenly, the whole point of rotation, It maximizes the investment you make in 5, or in my case 7 tires. I stopped having the dealers rotate my tires long ago. Even if they agree to rotate all 5, they often say they did when they actually did a 4 tire rotation.

 

[kad's_Glad]

It might be a matching wheel on your JT, but it's not a matching wheel on any other JT, hence the dealer policy.

And my dealership won't do 5-tire rotations on JLs either. They also won't do the cross-rotation pattern prescribed in the owners manual, they only do front to back.

This is why I always do my own rotations in the driveway. It adds what, 20 minutes to each oil change? And I know it's done correctly.

So the alleged “subject matter expert” service writer and/or the “trained, certified, professional mechanic” refuse to do the job right, even though that’s what they’re trained AND paid to do — so we’re all to just do it ourselves? Would you feel that way if you needed a cavity filled? “No doc, I don’t trust you to do it right - I’ll do it myself.” It’s no wonder most of service departments don’t do sh*t these days. They don’t get called out for this crap.

 

[Deleted member 28696]

And I'm like - what did you say? We used to do that all the time with full sized spares.
He said "and the recommendation to stop doing that came out several years ago, it's not recommended"
So wanting to make sure I'm not Rip VanWinkle or something, and slept through some big notice that 5 tire rotations are bad (and that's exactly what he implied) I checked - ok, what did I miss.
Nope, Cooper, tirebuyer, tirerack, and others, still show it and still say "it's good for 4 wheel drive and all wheel drive when there's wear on the other tires and you need to use the spare"
So what the heck - where's this guy getting "we don't do that" and "it's not recommended and hasn't been for years" bit??
When he said that I thought - good grief, why, what's the harm? It's GOOD, IMO - you use 5 tires over their age, not 4, you keep wear of the spare the same as the others for LIMITED SLIP differentials and others, and - what could it possibly hurt?

Other than the extra labor and them not wanting to do it for the flat rate tire rotation charge - what possible logic could there by for not doing it?

I have a matching Overland rim and plan on doing it when I get them swapped (he said it would cost $40 for them to swap rims on my JT, put the spare on the new wheel.)
Oh, he also said "but is it the SAME SIZE rim" - I felt like DUH - I told him twice it was a matching rim from a JT OVerland,
And again he said - but is it the same size? I wanted to say "YES, DAMN IT - it's off another JT OVERLAND - what the hell size WOULD it be?" but didn't.

Man, I give up on these stupid dealers.

I would think you would want to rotate the 5th tire into the mix just so it doesn't rot away. The only other thing he may be referring to is that the tread wear is different since the 4 already on the vehicle have tread wear and the 5th doesn't. I suppose that could be a reason especially with 4 wheel drive vehicles. I wouldn't think it would be that much difference in tread wear that it would affect anything else but could be why it's not recommended.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I did the math and over a mile, you'd be looking at 5 or 6 revolutions difference......... if that. Some don't wear as fast meaning there would be a smaller difference. Take a curve on the highway and you have a rotational difference.

 

[WILDHOBO]

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43

Found Tire Racks recommendations. They say it’s recommended if all 5 wheels and tires match. Even if it only makes a small positive difference.Figure G shows their recommended pattern. Looks to make sense.

 

[aevgladitorrubi]

And I'm like - what did you say? We used to do that all the time with full sized spares.
He said "and the recommendation to stop doing that came out several years ago, it's not recommended"
So wanting to make sure I'm not Rip VanWinkle or something, and slept through some big notice that 5 tire rotations are bad (and that's exactly what he implied) I checked - ok, what did I miss.
Nope, Cooper, tirebuyer, tirerack, and others, still show it and still say "it's good for 4 wheel drive and all wheel drive when there's wear on the other tires and you need to use the spare"
So what the heck - where's this guy getting "we don't do that" and "it's not recommended and hasn't been for years" bit??
When he said that I thought - good grief, why, what's the harm? It's GOOD, IMO - you use 5 tires over their age, not 4, you keep wear of the spare the same as the others for LIMITED SLIP differentials and others, and - what could it possibly hurt?

Other than the extra labor and them not wanting to do it for the flat rate tire rotation charge - what possible logic could there by for not doing it?

I have a matching Overland rim and plan on doing it when I get them swapped (he said it would cost $40 for them to swap rims on my JT, put the spare on the new wheel.)
Oh, he also said "but is it the SAME SIZE rim" - I felt like DUH - I told him twice it was a matching rim from a JT OVerland,
And again he said - but is it the same size? I wanted to say "YES, DAMN IT - it's off another JT OVERLAND - what the hell size WOULD it be?" but didn't.

Man, I give up on these stupid dealers.

Get a new dealership-- really!!!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Get a new dealership-- really!!!

Actually, got a new service writer. I've not had a problem since. In fact the guy I work with now not only got me a good deal on 5 tires, he never batted an eye when I took it in for the last rotation and they did all 5.
The other guy was a problem when the tonneau cover was loose, too. Then another guy came along and made a couple of comments and things got resolved. After that, I was working with a new guy. Not only have I not had any further issues or problems, they've done things I expected to pay for - and told them as much but got the paperwork and it was no charge.

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