Rotating tyres

Phil.x

How much would it cost at a tyre shop to rotate front to back? Also would the need to be rebalanced etc.

My car jack is crap and looks like it's tilting too much to one side when taking the load, I don't trust it.

Car99

Stop inti one of the hundreds of tyre shops in your area and ask them.

the_pen_turner

surely you are only swapping wheels not tyres.

buy a better jack . it will probably work out cheaper in the long run.
how would you change a flat if you had to.

the best way I found to do it without 2 jacks is to put on the spare on first , then put that wheel on the opposite then work around doing opposites , then swap out spare again

Del2005

Phil.x wrote: »

How much would it cost at a tyre shop to rotate front to back? Also would the need to be rebalanced etc.

My car jack is crap and looks like it's tilting too much to one side when taking the load, I don't trust it.

Whatever about rotating your tyres I'd be trying to figure out why your jack is unstable. Because eventually you'll need to use it for real and if it's not safe you are going to be in serious trouble. Are you on a flat solid surface?

jimbis

Use the money you'd pay a tyre place and buy yourself a trolley jack from Halfords or lidl/aldi. Their jacks are more than enough for a diy mechanic, but as said above if you jacking on a slope it can be the reason for your jack looking unstable.
As for balancing, you shouldn't need it done but an unbalanced wheel on the rear wouldn't be too noticeable and now it's going on the front so just take it for a motorway spin and see for yourself.

hellyeah

Phil.x wrote: »

How much would it cost at a tyre shop to rotate front to back? Also would the need to be rebalanced etc.

My car jack is crap and looks like it's tilting too much to one side when taking the load, I don't trust it.

Got this done couple of weeks back. Tyre centre dublin T.A.B.
Front to back plus balanced €20. In and out in 20mins.
Should get another 20k out of them.
Used to rotate them myself but found i had to always get them
balanced anyway so not worth the hassle jacking up car etc.

grogi

Phil.x wrote: »

How much would it cost at a tyre shop to rotate front to back? Also would the need to be rebalanced etc..

Around €25 in a shop that charges €10 for fitting, €40 in a shop charging €15.

hellyeah

hellyeah wrote: »

Got this done couple of weeks back. Tyre centre dublin T.A.B.
Front to back plus balanced €20. In and out in 20mins.
Should get another 20k out of them.
Used to rotate them myself but found i had to always get them
balanced anyway so not worth the hassle jacking up car etc.

Honest question,
When you get new tyres they balance the wheel off the car.
why would moving the wheel to another side make a difference ?
Unless you had lost a weight of course

the_pen_turner

As the tyre wears is could become unbalanced. The stick on weights could come off. The wheel could get a knock and bend it slightly.

NickNickleby

Years ago I remember seeing a schematic which showed how to rotate the tyres so that they all (including the spare) wore pretty evenly. However, nowadays I notice that my tyres have arrows on them indication direction of rotation. So that means when changed over they must stay on the same side of the car. I suppose when you think about it, I'm actually describing rotating the WHEELS.

Presumably to achieve the desired even wear while maintaining the proper direction of rotation, the tyres should be flipped around on the rims when changing sides. Which would definitely suggest re-balancing as well.

My approach is to check the air pressure occasionally. Works a treat . (actually it doesn't and I'm currently considering an approach to the problem of uneven wear). Might even be steering geometry. But most likely its going too hard into roundabouts.

colm_mcm

Personally I think rotating tyres is a waste of time. Each corner of the car will wear the tyre slightly differently, moving them accelerates wear. Of course all 4 tyres will wear out at the same time, I don't think having to pay out for 4 tyres at the same time is necessarily a good thing.

Pkiernan

I buy new tyres in sets of 2s.
New ones always go on the rear and move the existing up front.

TheRiverman

"Well I don't care how many girls you've dated,
you ain't lived 'til you've had your tyres rotated
by a red headed woman".
Bruce Springsteen.

Phil.x

Del2005 wrote: »

Whatever about rotating your tyres I'd be trying to figure out why your jack is unstable. Because eventually you'll need to use it for real and if it's not safe you are going to be in serious trouble. Are you on a flat solid surface?

I've an 8th get Honda civic with no spare wheel only gunk and a pump.
I don't know why, but the jack always tilts to the rear of the car either side when it starts to take the load, yes it's on flat ground.

dense

grogi wrote: »

Around €25 in a shop that charges €10 for fitting, €40 in a shop charging €15.

Shop?

Are we gone all American now????

ouxbbkqtswdfaw

The best investment I ever made is a good air compressor. It will pump the punctured tyre enough to get you to a garage. I never had to put on the spare since I got one. Get one, you won't regret it!

dense

BrownFinger wrote: »

Honest question,
When you get new tyres they balance the wheel off the car.
why would moving the wheel to another side make a difference ?
Unless you had lost a weight of course

I think there's an awful lot of hot air about balancing wheels. Most people get them balanced then stick a completely unbalanced wheel trim on the wheel that's almost guaranteed to be off centre.

And no one notices any difference.
You have a wheel balanced that the wheel trim has now immediately unbalanced.

Isambard

just to make it clear, you can't rotate tyres the way we used to, you can only swap front and back, due to tyres being rotational nowadays. you may well need to ge tthem re-balanced as many tyre centres don't bother balancing the rears (in my experience) if they can get away with it.

darragh o meara

Phil.x wrote: »

I've an 8th get Honda civic with no spare wheel only gunk and a pump.
I don't know why, but the jack always tilts to the rear of the car either side when it starts to take the load, yes it's on flat ground.

Any cars I've had in the past few years all had shi te jacks. I recently had my sisters car slip off the jack at the side of the road and embed itself into the sill of her car causing a hole. Sent her in to get one of the small trolley jacks from Aldi/Halfords.

dense

ajsort9m4dxgvf wrote: »

The best investment I ever made is a good air compressor. It will pump the punctured tyre enough to get you to a garage. I never had to put on the spare since I got one. Get one, you won't regret it!

Believe it or not the upright bicycle pump from Aldi lidl are excellent for pumping car tyres if you're in a pinch.

TheRiverman

dense wrote: »

Believe it or not the upright bicycle pump from Aldi lidl are excellent for pumping car tyres if you're in a pinch.

Yes,it's what I use all the time to pump car,trailer,bicycle,wheel barrow etc.Also good for the arms,heart and lungs using it:)

DaveyDave

I actually use a bike pump on my sister's car, it's a decent quality bike pump with a pressure gauge. Cost €40 and goes up to about 140psi so 30 odd psi isn't too much trouble. It's less effort than getting the bike to 120psi+. I might look a bit strange though :P

I'd be weary trusting a Lidl/Aldi pump though, I had one a little while ago and the pressure gauge was way off and it didn't get a proper seal on the valve. Their stuff is hit or miss though, properly worked fine for everyone else

tossy

DaveyDave wrote: »

I'd be weary trusting a Lidl/Aldi pump though, I had one a little while ago and the pressure gauge was way off and it didn't get a proper seal on the valve. Their stuff is hit or miss though, properly worked fine for everyone else

I don't trust the gauge on any pump, i have michelin pressure gauge in the car that i use when pumping the tyres, i've a LIDL compressor in the boot that i find very good. It can get a tyre from flat to 32PSI quicker than the more expensive branded one we have in the work van.