Tire rotation?

I found the Tirerack answer, which makes sense to me. Include the full-sized spare in the rotation, else it will have become mismatched by the time you need it:

Why not follow the diagram in the owner's manual?

Just bought a 2004 Forester and asked about this. Dealer said DO NOT INCLUDE SPARE IN ROTATION because the spare, although full size, does not have the same tread thickness or durability.

Mike Yankee

(Address is munged to thwart spammers. To reply, delete everything after "com".)

I would never include the spare in the rotation. It is only used in the event I get a flat tire and in that case, only very sparingly. If you do include it, are you saying your next tire change will require getting 5 tires instead of 4? That would negate any cost advantage from averaging out the wear. I doubt that very many people would rotate the spare.

CW

So you would rather risk damage to the car's drivetrain by using a spare that isn't within proper size requirements? By practicing false economy, you've just cost yourself the price of a new differential. Which, by the way, is much, much more expensive than 1 tire.

I'd call Bullsh*t on that statement from the dealer. My full size spare is the exact same model and size as the other 4.

Well...

I'm not very many people, of course, but whenever I've had a vehicle with five of the same sized tires, I've rotated and bought sets of five. Chances of finding the "same" tire as the spare are often slim at the first replacement cycle, almost certainly slim or none at the second or later ones. With the "requirements" for similar circumference tires on AWB vehicles, and the difficulties mentioned here trying to buy a single tire, it only makes sense to me to use 'em up along the way instead of saving a "virgin" spare forever. As for the economics, set yourself up with a spreadsheet to compare 4 vs 5, as I did once, and you'll find overall operating cost remains extremely close. At least when you run your cars 200k or more miles as many of us try to do.

Just my opinion, of course!

Rick

Sounds like bunk to me, but it's easy enough to check out: measure the spare's tread, read the sidewalls, compare with the tires on the ground. If they're different, your dealer's telling you the right story, but if they're the same, make your own decision on rotating.

Rick

In Sales at a Dealership in NE, USA

The Forester spare, (the only Subaru that comes with a Full size) I would rotate the spare with the other 4, the spare rim is different in appearance on certain models, but you could purchase an extra rim so it would match.

The tires are the SAME !!!!

You gotta take it out anyway, the valve to check the pressure is always on the underside of the spare well .

Marc Soloway Natick Subaru Sales Natick, MA

I bought a new 2000 Forester GT fitted with standard Geolander tyres on "mag" wheels, plus the same type of tyre on a steel rim for the spare.

The dealer services "rotated" the tyres - actually front to back - same side. As far as I know, same direction rotation requirements for radial tyres still apply.

I got to 60,000Km when I got my first slow leak puncture - time to change the tyres!! Luckily I never had to use the spare, so it was as new - I was happy with the performance of the standard tyres, so I bought 3 new Geolanders the same as the original (that cost me enough anyway!!), and had the best of the old tyres changed over to the steel rim for the spare.

I am aware of the problems with different circumference tyres, but I will only be using the spare as a limp home if I get a puncture, and then repair the original asap. I don't expect that any serious diff damage would occur in the short term if the speed is kept down, and distance driven is small.

I don't do a lot of off road and very rough driving, but I have found over my 40 years of driving with various cars that tyres usually pick up punctures when they are reaching the end of their life anyway - I guess the tread is getting thinner, and nails etc. can penetrate easier. My first puncture is usually a signal that new tyres are required. Maybe I have just been lucky, but I have never punctured or staked a good tyre bad enough to have to replace it.

Regards

Dave Cogg>

Hi,

IIRC, Michelin was the first to drop that "requirement" as manufacturing techniques made it obsolete. In the mid-70s! Most, if not all major manufacturers followed suit. But it persists. Many rotation schedules still advise it, and the idea will probably never die, so you can rotate front to back if it feels more comfortable to you, but you're not gonna hurt anything with a cross rotation pattern (excluding, of course, directional tires.)

Probably not, but how many people "truly" limp home? I see 'em out on the freeway every day running 70+ mph on the temporary "donuts" that are listed for 50 mph max! Now that's gotta be hard on any diff, not just AWD. As well as being of dubious safety regarding the tire itself.

Exactly the opposite of my experience! I pick up most of the puncturing items in the first coupla thousand miles of a new set of tires! My tire guy says that's not unusual... the thinner, worn tire would seem the likely victim, but he figures the new tread is perhaps a bit softer, so it grabs stuff. He's not sure of the real reason, neither am I. In my case, I figure it's a family curse--as a kid I remember my mother getting a new set of tires in the morning before a day trip, and three hours later, about 100 miles away, she ran over some kind of a piece of metal that sliced and ruined one of her brand new tires. As luck would have it, she was a half block from a tire dealer who handled the same brand! We should all be so lucky?

Rick

According to the owners manual for my '03 Forester XS 5M, Subaru recommends a four wheel rotation. Subaru recommends you swap the back right with the front right and follow the same procedure on the left.

I'll stick with that advice.