My 2007.5 Ram has steel wheels and they can be switched around every which way. My new 2014 Ram has Alcoa aluminum wheels on the front and outside duals on the rear. The inside duals (and spare) have steel wheels. How can the tires be rotated in the usual manner w/o dismounting from the wheels?

 

I can't even figure out how to check the air on the inside tire without removing the outer tires.
Rims look nice but what a pain!!

 

At least they installed a "push to use" type valve stem cap on the inside wheels. I can only imagine trying to screw a cap on and off thru that hole in the outside wheel! I aired down the rears yesterday. They came with 70-75 psi. I usually carry light loads in the bed so I brought them down to 50 which is still more than I really need.

 

All my friends with duallies don't rotate the tires. They say it's not worth the effort.

 

I agree it's not worth the effort!!

 

Being a fundamentally lazy man, I try to get others to do as much for me as I can. Since the truck had Firestones on it when I bought it, I have taken advantage of Firestone's generous offer many times:

Free lifetime rotation at ANY Firestone dealer nationwide.

Every spring and every fall (whether it needs it or not), I dutifully bring the truck over to my local Firestone dealer and let them "inspect" the brakes, check the inflation and rotate the tires, and recommend that I replace the wiper blades.

Since my cost is $0.00 for this service, I find it fits nicely into my budget...

I've got almost 80,000 miles on these tires and anticipate I will have to replace them sometime later this year. While I don't usually endorse a specific brand of tire, I can endorse the ongoing value of this offer. As a result, the Transforce tire is on my radar for the next 100,000 miles!

 

I agree on not rotating tires on a DRW and I did not do it on my last truck. Not so much to extend tire wear, but the fronts tend to wear "rounded" and the rears "flat". When rotated, the rounded tires look strange on the rear along side the flat ones. Maybe I am a bit ****, but that's me. Anyway, keeping those Generals on the heavy front may have "punished" them too much. I had to replace 2 fronts due to tread separation. Being a structural engineer, I am aware of load carrying elements when continuously exposed to their design load, can eventually fail. Whether this was the case or not, who knows?

 

Hexnut....Alcoas are nice, but expensive to rotate. You'll need to dismount 4 and remount 4, then balance 4. Not cheap......and probably not worth it if some tire guy does not take the proper care when mounting & dismounting. Nothing like potentially having your wheels boogered up by a non-appreciative worker at some tire shop with his ipod blasting away in his ears...

My truck is equipped with the OEM General Ameri*Trac TR's in outline white letters. I rotate mine every oil change (10k to 12k miles) and my tires wear great. I'd expect, based on current tread depth measurements and mileage received, that they will easily go 65k to 75k miles.....if not more.

I rotate the inside rears straight to the front. The L/F is rotated to the right inside rear, the R/F is rotated to the left inside rear. Generally, within 5k to 6k miles after rotating, all uneven wear due to cupping is gone due to the tires going the opposite direction on the drive axle. The outside rears always remain outside rears.....one time I did swap the left outside rear to the right outside rear and vice versa.

For all of those saying it's not worth the effort......well, it's more than worth the effort for me. Longer service life, reduced tire noise, and a smoother ride without the need for constant re-balancing are a few of the benefits.

 

I cheat. When I buy new tires I get the lifetime rotate and balance. They also encourage you to bring it in every 5000 miles. Best money I ever spent....LOL I get my money's worth.

 

My 2002 had Eagle aluminum wheels and I just didn't rotate them. Tire life was not so good. I could have rotated the front with the outer duals but after some time on the front the inside of the aluminum wheel was destroyed by brake dust. Tried to clean one time and did not go well. Rotating the front and out duals would have left the extremely dirty front facing outwards and the shiny rears moved to the front facing the inside where they would then get destroyed by brake dust. So, I just left them. Shiny aluminum wheels are nice but a pain.


Now with my new 2013 4500 I have G rated tires, 19.5's and steel wheels with stainless simulators. Much easier to manage and with the cost of 19.5's I have them just rotate them at my oil change. No balance, just rotate and it costs me $30. Want these tires to last a long time. I liked the aluminum but glad I don't have them. Only option I considered when I had my '02 was buying another set of Eagle alloys for the inside. Then I could rotate them as needed but you would have to keep up on the cleanliness(brake dust control) of the wheels so you could just throw a quick polish on to get them back to nice 'n perty.


After a few dismount/remount tire rotations I'd say you could save the money in buying two more wheels for the inside. Time would be spent though on removing them to clean the inside dual to keep it shiny.

 

Just reading this, going over threads looking for some other information. I found everyone's enthusiasm for the BIG tire chain's "life time" free rotation claim of interest!

I recently made a tire purchase there, THEY did rotate 2 of the 4 tires, ignoring the left side completely. When I questioned what took place I got a lame excuse and had to demand the other 2 be rotated. I have doubts about their ability to do balancing or any other work for that matter. The "trust" factor in my book is zero!

My tip to all of you, don't trust, MARK your tires. A rotation, that's free, but doesn't actually happen, is worth every penny you didn't pay for it!