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

[u-joint]

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.

This is great news!

Dealers get a bad rep - mostly deserved - but, some of the people who work there are good people who honestly try to do right by their customers.

Kudos for your service advisor.

Sponsored

 

[49Gramps]

Just put 5 new tires and wheels on, and would expect a 5 tire rotation. I will say I was a bit miffed when I noticed my spare was 245/75 17 while the other 4 were 255/70 18s....

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Just put 5 new tires and wheels on, and would expect a 5 tire rotation. I will say I was a bit miffed when I noticed my spare was 245/75 17 while the other 4 were 255/70 18s....

Makes perfect sense for Jeep to buy all of the same steel wheel for all JT versions spare. It's a spare, it's not matching any vehicle at all, any wheel at all, so it really doesn't matter. Saves them a ton of money.

There are a few people who like to run steel wheels so you might be able to sell it.

 

[Blade1668]

If I could have snagged up 4 more (OEM steel) I'd be running them now even though I've got 8 SportS rims. Yes I'm in the 5 tire rotation club.

 

[Geoarch]

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.

Discount tire mounts my tires. I just tell dealers not to rotate since Discount gladly does it every 6000 miles.

 

[WILDHOBO]

I definitely don’t trust anyone to do rotations for me, especially now that I have spidertrax spacers. Even discount tire was rough with the wheels on my wife’s Volvo. I was cringing while watching through their window, winching they’d treat the parts as if they were theirs. Too many young people with little training. They think impact wrenches are the be all end all. Just my take. I also get mental health relief by doing work on our own vehicles. It resets me.

 

[Uparms]

I like to stick with 4 tire rotation plus my spare was a used metric. I have been perfect at 5K home rotations but if life gets busy, I think the 5 tire can be a little off or wear/drive and sound. Just how I do it. could be wrong. 5 Wranglers and never a flat tire!

 

[WILDHOBO]

I like to stick with 4 tire rotation plus my spare was a used metric. I have been perfect at 5K home rotations but if life gets busy, I think the 5 tire can be a little off or wear/drive and sound. Just how I do it. could be wrong. 5 Wranglers and never a flat tire!

There’s certainly nothing wrong with doing 4. My tires are so expensive, I just want a bit more life from them.

 

[Ole Cowboy]

5 tire rotation! NEVER done, never will. Learned from my Dad who bought his FIRST car for $10 bucks, used, at the Ford Dealership.. They had just come out with the Model A (1928) and he got a deal on a Model T.

Did he rotate tires? YES!

WHY? Dry ROT! Tires back in those days rotted out very quickly, not like the tires of Post WWII. Today's tires are "wet" and last a very long time, in fact not unusual to find an old barn-stored car with tires that are 20 years and still holding air.

So why rotate anyhow? Because to get even wear across all the tires would be very difficult unless you rotated very often. Unless you do it yourself it would be expensive. In addition in the event of a catastrophic event, you have 1 good tire you and depend upon. In addition, when it comes time to buy new tires, you can just buy 3 and put your best roller on as the spare.

Then there is always the sales or trade in pitch....'the Spare has never been on the ground'

In my 58 years of driving, I have never put my spare in rotation. Of course, it's YOU Jeep, YOUR wallet, YOUR pride of ride...do it YOUR way!

 

[Blade1668]

I've had the "luck" to have just got tires and destroyed a sidewall to then find out that tire tread, size or brand has been discontinued. I ended up with at least 3 "sets" of 3 tires if not more. So that's part of my reason for sets of 5 tires and rotation.

 

[doc-ketamine]

yep. I asked about 5 tire rotation ... So I did it myself. Let them do the free “Jeep Wave” front to back rotation and when I got home, switched the spare and right rear. Next rotation I switched the spare and left rear.

Came across this post on my searching for answers. My dealer was all on board for a 5-wheel rotation (i bought 5 matching rims and tires when I upgraded to 35s) but they way they did it didn't match the diagrams I had seen online. They looked at me like I had seven eyes when I showed them a diagonal-style 5-tire rotation. What they did was front-to-rear (LF<->LR, RF<->RR) and then put the spare on the LR. They said they did this because of the wear indicators (spreading out the thicker treads?).

But how will they do it next time? I thought the rotation was not just for tread depth but also for uneven patterns that might come up d/t alignment issues, etc?

 

[Mr._Bill]

If you want it done right...

Another reason I don't bother with 5-tire rotations. I get mine rotated with the Wave oil changes. My dealer can handle that okay. I don't have the time or energy to do it myself, anymore.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If you want it done right...

Another reason I don't bother with 5-tire rotations. I get mine rotated with the Wave oil changes. My dealer can handle that okay. I don't have the time or energy to do it myself, anymore.

The dealers here do it without hesitation (after that one service writer argued about it, never had another problem.)
All I do is say "wave oil change and tire rotation - a 5 tire rotation, matching spare" and they make note and do it.

 

[Gatorized]

Came across this post on my searching for answers. My dealer was all on board for a 5-wheel rotation (i bought 5 matching rims and tires when I upgraded to 35s) but they way they did it didn't match the diagrams I had seen online. They looked at me like I had seven eyes when I showed them a diagonal-style 5-tire rotation. What they did was front-to-rear (LF<->LR, RF<->RR) and then put the spare on the LR. They said they did this because of the wear indicators (spreading out the thicker treads?).

But how will they do it next time? I thought the rotation was not just for tread depth but also for uneven patterns that might come up d/t alignment issues, etc?

You pretty much have to. Dictate to the service writer how you want it done - or you will get a different method each time you get a different tech working on your Jeep.
I’ve had 2 techs working together and they screwed it up royally!
Since then I’ve made it simple for them - I put a pc of painters tape with a number 1- 5 on each fender and the same number on the wheel that should be in that position when they finish. LF to LR, LR to Spare, Spare to RF, RF to RR, RR to LF… if they are smart, they pull the LR first so each position is empty for the wheel going to that position so they don‘t have to put each wheel down and pick it up again! Note - I do have the wheels marked so I can tell if they just move the paint tape. I haven’t had any tech try that shortcut!

 

[Geoarch]

This. It's a PITA to remove the spare from under a truck. And in the case of the JT it's not a matching wheel anyway so why would they?

My wheel and tire match.

Sponsored