Tire Rotation Made Simple

Tire Rotation

First off this is a do-it-yourself post, please be aware of this as there are many ways that you can accomplish this.

Now I do the Princess at about 10k give or take and I have also do it at 5 and at 25k but have found that 10 usually is the best for me as she gets to be used with the camper / sled deck and pull the trailer so lots of weight usually. I also keep the pressure  at the max when I am carrying weight or pulling the trailer and adjust it down when I am not loaded. I do hope you all check your tire pressure regularly as this helps with fuel mileage and tread ware . You know the saying " change to winter air from your summer air " But I degress, back to the tires

Step 1) lift your vehicle off the floor (use a floor jack)  and put it on suitable blocking devises ( jack stands ) under and please make sure it is stable

Step 2) Pick a wheel to start with, I choose the front drivers side but is does not matter, loosen the lug nuts in a cross pattern (just a habit I have) with an impact wrench or lug nut wrench and set the aside. Remove the wheel and mark the inside so you know were it came from.

Step 3) Go to the wheel on the same side in the rear and repeat step 2. 

Step 4) Because this is your vehicle it is time to inspect stuff, brakes, tie rod ends, ball joints etc. It is also a good time to lube the chassis (with your favorite grease gun of course)

Step 5) Now this is optional here I roll the tires around and pick rocks out of them, now this may sound like a waste of time but hear me out. I have found and hopefully saved a few tires because of the rocks I have dug out of treads, not just  the ones you see but the little ones that get into the tiny treads (sipes I believe that is what they are called) that get down to the cords and wreck tires. Again this is just my way and not necessary in the process. 

Step 6) install front to back that is take the first tire you removed and put it on the axle of  second tire you removed, put the lug nuts on by hand first, this is what I like about my impact wrench as I can set it to 1 of 4 power levels. so I put it on 1 or 2 and finish putting on the lug nuts in a cross pattern as in ( out of 8 BTW ) 1 then 3 then 5 then 7 then 2 then 4 then 6 then 8 again. This should be enough to seat the rim.

Step 7 ) Preform step 6 on the the other tire that you removed second.

Step 8) Now repeat step 2 though 7 on the other side of your vehicle, it's just that easy BUT you are not done.

Step 9) Now you get to carefully lower your vehicle to the floor.

Step 10) The MOST IMPORTANT of the final process, torque the wheels. You must find the correct  torque for your vehicle, in my case 135lbs (not sure what the metric number is). Now I will go through the procedure one round at 65, one round at 95 and the final at 135, I do this twice, just to make sure. All in the same sequence as in step 6, here I used my old faithful beam style torque wrench as it is the easiest for me. Yours may differ of course.

Well,

There you have it a 10 step how to, do hope you see these as helpful and please let me know K. And in the words of one of my idols be safe and keep your stick on the ice .

 

P.S. ALMOST FORGOT ---- after about 50-100 kms PLEASE RE-TORQUE your wheels, if you find any that are loose you MUST repete this again until they keep their torque. THANKS ALL