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Tire Rotation on All time 4 Wheel Drive SUV's - READ ONLY

19 messages,  Last post on Jul 17, 2002 at 9:07 PM

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What is this discussion about? Subaru Forester, Land Rover Freelander, Wheels, SUV

Messages Page 1 of 2

#1 of 19 Tire rotation schedule by marky1020

Jun 05, 2002 (12:29 pm)

Recently I was at a Land Rover dealer and asked what the tire rotation schedule on a Freelander was. I was told there is no nchedule and the manufuctur recommends you do not rotate the tires at all because its an all time 4 wheel drive vechile and the tire wear is the same on all 4 tires at all times.
 
I then went to a Subaru dealer and asked the same quesition for a Forester. I was told the recommened tire roation schedule is every 7,500. Since both vechiles are 4 wheel drive, which one of these two statements makes the most sense? I'm confused. Can someone please help? thanks

#2 of 19 by bretfraz

Jun 05, 2002 (5:53 pm)

Seems to me that both rotation schedules are correct. I don't have owners manuals of either vehicle in front of me nor am I going to waste time tracking down this info on the internet. But both vehicles you mentioned are different from one another and that goes for their AWD systems as well.
 
I'd have to believe that both mfr's are telling their respective owners the correct info. I have no reason to believe either comment is incorrect.

#3 of 19 by sgrd0q

Jun 06, 2002 (12:24 pm)

Actually, it is not so much a 4 wheel drive issue. I believe it has more to do with the front/rear weight distribution. By the way BMW, too, does not recommend any tire rotation, on at least some models (mine was like that).

#4 of 19 Also... by ponm

Jun 06, 2002 (3:48 pm)

Tire wear also has to do with brakes. Considering most of the braking load is placed on the front brakes, the front tires will generally wear faster.
 
-scott

#5 of 19 tire rotation by pattiandjbird

Jun 11, 2002 (4:31 am)

I was told by Firestone that the tires should be rotated 4 times a year and that they should be "cross rotated". But in my Forester manual, it says to rotate front to back and vice versa. My tires are all "cupped" eventhough I rotated per Subaru's suggestion. They only have 25k miles on them and are becoming noisey at highway speeds. When I asked the service mgr, he said "they all get cupped". Firestone says it's because I didn't rotate them enough, ( I did every other oil chg). Now I have to put up with the hummmmmmm.
 
Wondering if I should look at Michelins for my next tires. I was happy with them on another vehicle.

#6 of 19 Tire rotations by paisan

Jun 11, 2002 (4:46 am)

On AWD you should rotate them every 5K-6K miles. And on subarus F<->R is the proper roation. Cupped in the center? If they are wearing in the centers your pressures were too high. If they wear on the edges the pressure was too low.
 
-mike

#7 of 19 cause of cupping by suvshopper4

Jun 11, 2002 (8:59 am)

Can't tires cupping be caused by alignment or strut problems?
 
By 'cupping', I mean when a series of many regular cups or divots (for want of a better word) appears at the edge of the tire tread area. (I'm not sure if that's what others here mean.)

#8 of 19 oh I see by paisan

Jun 11, 2002 (9:03 am)

That is camber problem. I have that on my XT6 right now. I have positive camber and when I auto-x it digs out deep cups, some of my race tires went down to the cords that way last season.
 
Positive camber is bad.
 
-mike

#9 of 19 more cupped on edges by pattiandjbird

Jun 11, 2002 (7:15 pm)

Firestone said they were more cupped on the outside, but I am anal about checking tire pressure and they were rotated every other oil chg which would be 6k miles. Firestone said cupping is caused by the suspension not holding the tire on the pavement too. But they checked out the suspension and said it was ok. I really think most auto makers don't put great tires on cars when they're new either. Most people don't pay attention to what kind of tires they're getting on a new car...but since the recall of those Firestones on the Explorer they might.

#10 of 19 cupping is not nice at all by swschrad

Jun 13, 2002 (11:50 pm)

and everything I've read says it's front-end wear someplace causing the tire to chop into the pavement where the cups form. if you want to delve deeply into all causes, I suspect an off-balance wheel and/or tire with a loose wheel bearing might wobble enough to get it started.
 
"they all get cupped" could also mean the suspension is designed for a lot of bite, and if the tires are aggressive at that point on their tread, then there is indication of some bad choices in design. could also be load dependent... the classic VW bug was rough on tires... the car sat on the outsides of the treads with just a driver, and on the insides of the treads with a load in it. that is also a bad choice in design.
 
be interesting to see if some subie owners who have put different tires on got rid of the issue, or if it took the miracle of an extremely with-it alignment man to puzzle out the exact issue.

Messages Page 1 of 2

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