I just had my tires rotated and the tire shop did not do it as the manual states. They moved front to back and back to front but did not swtich sides. I asked why they did it that way and they said that you never switch sides w/ radial tires b/c if the front tires are worn and you switch them to the other side-back that it would cause my truck to pull and wander.

Does that make sense to anyone? It doesn't to me.
Any body have some input here?

 

I believe that that is correct, switch front to back, but not side to side. Your owners manual should have a diagram. Mine has training wheels, so my rotation pattern is different.

 

the manual states to take the front tires and place them on the opposite rear, and then to take the rear tires forward on the same side.

 

well, what does your experience tell you? have you noticed problems in the past doing it as all of the manuals you read stated? have you noticed an increase in tire wear or pulling and wandering? who knows, maybe its more noticable on some vehicle/tire size combos than others. as for me, when i used to rotate (mine wear great without and last alot of miles without the bother), i never had any problems from doing it how the manual suggests (then again i may have not had a problem rotating in another way too). maybe you will just have to wait and see or use good ol trial and error.

 

my experience is that with the oem michelins load range e I did not see any wearing on the tires. but now on my second set of D range tires I see a lot more wear. On the first set, I didn't catch it in time for it to matter, thus the new set which I'm trying to treat right. sooo the short answer is I don't really have experience in this matter.

 

my experience is that with the oem michelins load range e I did not see any wearing on the tires. but now on my second set of D range tires I see a lot more wear. On the first set, I didn't catch it in time for it to matter, thus the new set which I'm trying to treat right. sooo the short answer is I don't really have experience in this matter.

 

Quick guess here as to your tire wear. You upgraded tire sizes. You went with an all terrain as well. The compound on an all terrain is slightly softer than that of the michelins. You also reduced the load rating on them. Our trucks weigh about 7200 lbs give or take a couple 100. With the weight of the truck and the softer compound, you are going to wear the d range tires out quicker. The best mileage I've gotten so far out of a set of d range 33" all terrains as 35K. They lasted me a year. I was pretty hard on them. Probably left 10K miles worth of rubber on the ground.

 

right you are my freind, but not tooo big I went to 285/75R16 bf good ridge all terrains, and they wore out real fast, but were great all terrain tires. the current set is cooper all terrains (not thrilled with 'em) and the next set will be either firestone or michelin load range e. and I may possible go back down 1 size, but I doubt it.

 

When you have something done on your vehicle you should try to learn about it ahead of time. It helps to avoid problems. I went to a Michelin/Goodyear dealer about problems I was having with uneven wear with the R/T's that came new with the truck. We started to talk about tire rotation and he said I was dead wrong about how I rotate my tires and that it would cause failure and was the reason that the one tire that had worn well before the other 3. I said that my manual said to cross fronts to back and bring backs straight forward. He did not believe me so I showed him my manual. He spouted his 20+ years experience in the industry and that Dodge had a misprint. So I said ok lets see Michelins stuff. He said not a problem. He dug it out and low and behold it stated exactly the same tire rotation for radials as my truck manual. There was a relatively funny red look on his face as he conceded the fact.
Do not rely on someones years of experience if there is published evidence available. Happens in the airlines too. Well everywhere I worked we did it this way and then you have parts failures. They go to the book and the procedure is not how they have been doing it since the boys came back from Gettysburg. They started to do it by the book and no more failures. DAH!

 

That is "old school" to not cross radial tires. Follow what the manual says.

 

On a four wheel truck, move the rears straight to the front and cross the fronts to the rear. This will reverse rotation on the front tires on the rear and flatten the tread back out. I use to thing the old don't reverse the rotation too a long time ago till a front end shop proved it to me.

On a dually, you move the inside rear to the front, reverse the outside dual and put it on the inside rear, and reverse the front and put it on the outside rear. I do this and I have 80000 miles on the Michelins on my 99 now.

 

Front to back and back to front on the same side is not incorrect for some radial tires, directional passenger car radial tires for example. There are some light truck radial tires that are directional and should be rotated front to back and back to front on the same side, however the factory Michelin tires are not directional and you should follow the manual. The biggest concern I have is that if you are running Load Range D tires on your truck, you are running under rated tires from what the factory specifies and you are setting yourself up for big trouble if you are involved in an accident. I know lots of people are running Load Range 'D', I am just stating that it is your risk. I do believe that is why you are seeing more reapid wear. I can also tell you that even if you buy replacement Michelins that look exactly like you factory tires, you will not get the same wear. Factory tires are almost always manufactured with different tread compounds than aftermarket replacement tires, yes even tires that are labeled with the exact same name " Michelin LTX" for example. It's there way of staying in business.

 

If non-directional tires..follow the manual as it maximizes tire life. The never mixing sides is "old school" as said above. Radial construction DID have problems changing rotation (belt/ply seperation), but not for prolly 15 years.

 

latitud_rt, it's hard, if not impossible, to find a 33" or 35" tire in a load range e. Not only that, but if you do, they usually cost a pretty penny. We've been hauling our 10k lb gooseneck on D range tires for several years now and haven't had a problem. A d range tire is rated at I think 3800lbs capacity. So combined, that equals to 7600 lb capacity. Plenty for our trucks. And that's just the rears. Let's say there's a 1000 lbs(I know this is off but it's easy to do the math this way) on the back end of the truck with a full tank and empty box. So you've got 6600 lbs left to "safely" load in the bed. What's the tounge weight of most trailers? Probably right at that. Give or take 1000 lbs. And given the fact that I'm way off on my weight estimate for the bed, you've got enough margin to safely tow pretty much anything you want.

 

I am not saying it isn't being done, I know it is and I know price is an issue. All I am saying, as I have in many other posts:
If your door placard or tire supplement manual says this truck has Load Range 'E' tires from the factory, that is what the truck was tested with, and you are involved in any type of accident, the lawyers will investigate and if they find out you are runnind Load Range 'D' tires, they could make a case for improper equipment. Keep in mind the load limits on the sides of the tires are "suggested load ratings from the Tire and Rim association". Trust me, I have seen it happen and since the Ford and Firestone incidents, more and more lawyers are looking at tires for being at fault in any accident, be that a minor fender bender or an accident involving injury or death. Some sizes of Load Range 'D' tires actually stamped higher load capacities than a smaller size Load Range 'E' size, but the testing parameters for Load 'D' and Load 'E' are different and so is the construction of the tire. Not flaming just hoping to add additional knowledge to the subject.

Oh yeah, load capacity is not doubled by adding them together, the load capacity of each tire is determined by the load present at any given tire. In the case of a dually, the tire will have stamped dual vs single load.
Example:
LT265/75R16 'E' load range at 80 psi(max inflation) is rated as:
single - 3415 lbs
dual - 3085 lbs
LT265/75R16 'D' load range at 65 psi (max inflation):
single - 3000 lbs
dual - 2755 lbs

This means on a dually with load range 'D' you would have 5510 lbs rated over the axle at that tire position, not 11020 lbs. I hope this makes some kind of sense, It's hard to explain.