2003 F-350 dually tire rotation

I've searched through the archives for this group but couldn't find a definitive answer for my problem.

It has recently come time for my first tire rotation. The owners manual says to rotate the rear duallies side to side and the front tires side to side. It doesn't say anything about changing tire direction though. My dealership says if I want to rotate that way then I have to have all 6 of the tires dismounted and remounted/balanced to keep the rotation direction the same ($$$). My local tire shop, who I've been dealing with for years, says that maintaining the rotation direction isn't a consideration on modern radials - it's only a problem for much older tires.

So, I go in for the rotation at my Ford dealership and they rotate the FR to the RLO and the FL to the RRO and leave the two inner tires on the rear in place, unrotated. I have three problems with this:

1) This is only a 4 tire rotation and doesn't follow the owner's manual recommendations. 2) The rims sides are now switched - what was on the inside is now on the outside. I had brightly polished aluminium rims (standard equip on the model that I have) which are now badly pitted and stained with brake dust. I've spent considerable time and elbow grease trying to polish them back up but haven't had any luck. I can't imagine how bad this is going to look in a few years. 3) I've got conflicting advice on whether keeping the tire rotation direction fixed is required or not.

I'm looking for some clarification here. Help!

Reply to
Brandon
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That's the way I rotate tires on my '99 dually, only I rotate the two rear inners from side to side too, as they are on steel and the other four are on polished aluminum. I paid no attention really to the manual.

It works out great, after you get the wheels clean, and I rotate them back at every other oil change, about 7000 miles between rotations.

Spdloader

Reply to
Spdloader

Sorry, what's the way that you rotate them?

1) FR to the RLO and the FL to the RRO and RRI LRI or 2) RR LR, RF LF (manuals recommendation)

(1) would result in the alum outers being switched inside out and would require remounting the inner steel ones on the back or switching their rotation direction. (2) would require remounting all or switching rotation direction.

Reply to
Brandon

Take off the fronts, and cross them to the back. They are still going in the same direction and it gives them a chance to straighten out the uneven wear from the front. Do the same with the rear outers, cross them to the front. I have heard running them in the opposite direction is not good for them, and I've heard that it won't hurt them too. I've never seen any evidence either way though, and I sold and serviced a lot of tires over the years, back when I was "in the business".

The rear inners, swap them from side to side since they're steel, and you don't want them showing. This actually makes very little difference in their wear, but I do it out of habit.

Or, you could unmount / remount them all, but that's pretty expensive, and after doing it a few times, you've spent enough money to buy new tires, so I don't do that. The idea is to get the best wear / longevity out of your tires. Don't forget proper inflation, and keeping the vehicle properly aligned. Get a complete thrust angle alignment. There are no alignment adjustments on the rear of most trucks, so a four wheel alignment on trucks is a waste of money.

Spdloader

Reply to
Spdloader

The Dodge scheme is that all the tires stay on the same side, so it goes front to rear inside, rear inside to rear outside and rear outside to front.

This means that two of the three get a different direction each time.

It doesn't work well for aluminum rims though because it would involved mounting and balancing each time.

My gripe is that I have a 6 year old spare that will dry rot before it ever gets on the ground because it is not included in the rotation scheme.

Greg

Reply to
Greg Surratt

Some tires are directional and some aren't. The directional ones can't be switched to the other side of the vehicle. The non-directional ones can. It depends on the manufacture of the tire.

-D

Reply to
Derrick Hudson

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