Tyre rotation done at service?

[George22]

I’m reading a lot of social media posts where they talk about tyre rotation being done by the dealer. I’m not aware that my dealer does this at service intervals.
 

Do lots of you have this done at service times? 

Is it done automatically without the need to ask, I have changed my car every two years so may not have been needed ? 

[Cyker]

Mine have never done this.

The dealers of other members have, but I believe they had to explicitly request it.

There's a lot of debate as to whether it's worth it; I'm very much on the "No real point" side of the fence  

[Derek.w]

My tyres were rotated at 2 years without it having to request it!

[ernieb]

I’ve had two services with this car and both times the dealer asked to have the locking wheel nut and rotated the tyres.

[Mojo1010]

Imo it probably isn't necessary to rotate if everything is balanced and planning to keep the car longer term, just replace 2 tyres at a time.

Where when I rotated them it's due to changing all 4 tyres to different brands/changing tyre size/handing lease car back or selling on the car soon so not having to spend on putting 2 tyres on etc. 

[philip42h]

I don't think that I have ever had tyres rotated automatically at a dealer service ...

As above, if you want a single set of four tyres to last as long as possible it will be a good idea. If you plan to wear out and replace two tyres at a time, as I do, it is counter productive. I tend to use up the front tyres and swap when I get the new tyres put on the rear ...

[Marcusthehat]

Smacks to me of another imported idea from the U.S.

[Mike2222]

Apologies for stating the obvious, but no one has said it so far - it makes a massive difference whether you have a FWD Rav (or any other car) or an AWD Rav, and a lesser but not insignificant difference between hev AWD Rav or phev AWD Rav. The weather/seasonal conditions where you live also make a big difference. 

 

If up north, in a Fwd (more tyre wear on front set vs rear set), and you get a fair bit of ice/snow etc in colder months, or simply wet but <7°C for large portions of the year, then decisions about tyres are very important. If living in the south with a more consistent temp/milder climate for most of the year, and sticking solely to perfectly tarmacked roads, with an AWD rav, then this is less likely to be a significant safety issue. 

 

I not certain whether the hev or phev set up is likely to be better for tyre wear, as altho both are Fwd-biased, the phev is more likely to use the rear motor for a greater percentage of driving and the ICE only drives the front axle (directly) so the hev will be more Fwd than AWD overall by comparison, however the front axle electric motor is a lot stronger one the phev and the phev is heavier, so the hev AWD might actually be the sweet spot I the range for tyre wear [educated guess] 

 

As for tyre rotation at dealer, I've only had 1 service so far and it wasn't mentioned, but I have always had to specifically ask for it at other dealers/with other cars, and in recent years it seems dealerships are charging for it, whereas used to do for free (because they had to take the wheels off anyway). I suspect increased costs of running a business eating into profits, so having to find additional things to charge for

[Mike2222]

Also, in theory rates of wear with electrically drive axles should be greater than on traditional ICE, because of the instant torque. This is certainly true of my other car (which is bev), and I will need to rotate them at next service to try to balance things out. I havent noticed a significant disparity on the Rav however, tho I haven't measure the tread depth I quite a while. 

 

Theoretically, from a purely financial perspective, unless you drive so few miles that your tyres might be at risk of 'aging' (I can't remember what the best advice is but something along the lines of >5yrs old can start to perish from UV damage and general rubber degradation - caveat: I am not trying to scaremonger, but I believe this is "best practice", and I am well aware that many people will have had tyres on vehicles for many years without experiencing problems/blowouts etc), then allowing axle sets to run down to the limit an simply buying new pairs as required, is unlikely to be much different to rotating regularly with a view to changing all 4 at the same time. However having mismatched tyres in terms of depth of tread or types of tyre (eg "summer"/regular vs all seasons vs winter etc) can be dangerous, both in terms of road grip as well as putting extra stress on the AWD system (although perhaps this may be less of a concern in an electric/sensor-based system like the Rav, vs a mechanical one) 

[Mike2222]

OK, so after all my theoretical wittering, I remembered I have a treat depth gauge and got off my **** - in my case (phev), after 11k miles and no tyre rotation, there's a minimum of 5.3mm on the fronts and 6.4mm on the back (OEM: Yokohama Avid GT) 

 

Tyres usually start with over 7mm of depth, exact amount depends on specific brands/model, so my estimation is 1-2mm/10k miles on the fronts and <1mm on back. So I might get another ~20k miles out of the fronts before needing to change on depth grounds, at which point the backs should have at least ~4mm left. If I rotate, I might get another 10k miles out of the set before needing to change, but likewise I would only get another 10k miles out of the rears before reaching my personal preference of ~3mm as a change limit. 

 

So in summary, it probably makes sod all difference 😂

[philip42h]

34 minutes ago, Mike2222 said:

So in summary, it probably makes sod all difference 😂

You saved me from having to add anything ... 🙂

For what it's worth (not much) I've had 4.3 and 4.4 AWDs - wear at the front wasn't that much faster than at the rear. The 4.5 (HEV) does seem to be a little more front biased which is, perhaps, to be expected ...

[TonyHSD]

Always better to rotate tyres F to R or X pattern if non directional.
The benefits are obvious, extended tyre life, best grip , and when times come for new set replacing all 4 corners. If you have lease, company car or any other sort of not real ownership but more like long term rent then don’t need to think or worry about it. 
No matter driving axles all 4 corners should have always the same tyres. 
Not a problem until the conditions unexpectedly worsened and you find yourself into a situation, hitting a deep water at speeds , going over slippery road at dark where view ahead is restricted etc. Each case is very personal.  

[Cyker]

Those of you who had the dealers swap the wheels around without you telling them to, how did you know? Did they tell you, or was it just very obvious (from e.g. different tyre makes, different wear, wheel damage/brake dust)?

Mine always ask for the locking wheel nut (And then get confused when I say I don't have one  ) but I'm pretty sure they don't do anything to the wheels 90% of the time.

 

[ernieb]

Generally obvious as the tyre pressures were all over the place and also that I’d checked the tyre depth prior to the service. 

[philip42h]

1 hour ago, ernieb said:

Generally obvious as the tyre pressures were all over the place and also that I’d checked the tyre depth prior to the service. 

Generally obvious as the tyre pressures and tread depths remain exactly as they were prior to the service.

😉

Also, they need the locking wheel nut to remove the wheels to examine the state of the brakes - at least I hope they do ...

[ernieb]

2 hours ago, philip42h said:

Generally obvious as the tyre pressures and tread depths remain exactly as they were prior to the service.

😉

Also, they need the locking wheel nut to remove the wheels to examine the state of the brakes - at least I hope they do ...

Actually the tyre depths moved around as they were not exactly the same. (Digital depth gauge)

[Derek.w]

7 hours ago, Cyker said:

Those of you who had the dealers swap the wheels around without you telling them to, how did you know? Did they tell you, or was it just very obvious (from e.g. different tyre makes, different wear, wheel damage/brake dust)?

Mine always ask for the locking wheel nut (And then get confused when I say I don't have one  ) but I'm pretty sure they don't do anything to the wheels 90% of the time.

 

You can tell by subbenly you have more wear on the rear tyres compered to the front.

Its also marked up for you as tyre wear ( tread remaining ) on the paperwork.