Do the wheels need to be balanced when rotating?
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Do the wheels need to be balanced when rotating?
My truck is coming up on 10K, and the manual recommends a tire rotation. The tires look fine, but I'll do it anyway.
Do you have to balance the wheels before you rotate them? If not, I'll do it at home. BTW, they're factory rims and tires.
Thanks!
Do you have to balance the wheels before you rotate them? If not, I'll do it at home. BTW, they're factory rims and tires.
Thanks!
Last edited by '04 4.0 XLT; Feb 14, 2005 at 08:03 AM.
Freshman User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
Balancing tires
Ratate and balance your tires, I do mine every five thousand miles. I found it easier to buy a lifetime deal for rotation and balancing. It makes your tires last longer, I have 25000 and they are good to go for another 15 anyway. It also spreads the wear around and let's them check for alignment problems. Of course, they try to sell you a wheel alignment. It goes with the visit I guess. Everytime I go in they say I need an alignment and I look at the tire and don't see any unusual wear, and the steering is fine, no drift or vibration. So do the rotation an balance, and skip the alignment unless the signs are obvious. That is my two cents worth.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 1,205
Likes: 0
In theory you should balance them every time. The reason is that a tire is never perfectly balanced and so it will wear a little uneven as you drive it, even if you can't feel it. That leads to it being more unbalanced and so on and so on. So if you balance it every time it will not wear so fast and reach a point that it can't be balanced. I rotate every 10k and balance every other rotation, but if I can feel a little shimmy it goes to the tire shop for a balance.
Dave
Dave
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 13,851
Likes: 111
From: SW Va
Well when to rotate/rebalance isn't an easy answer, as everyones equiptment, road conditions, drivng habits, load, ect, ect differ so much, but the standard to do, is rotate & balance every 5000 miles, or as has been suggested, sooner if needed. I too opted for a lifetime rotation/balance service, which in my area can be had for $39.95, a danged good deal. I have & USE this service on all my vehicles, including my 99 4.0L 4dr 4x2 Ranger, which now has 44K on the OEM Firestone 225/75/15 Wilderness HT's. I do plenty of towing a bass boat accross the Blue Ridge Mountains with this rig, so I play close attention to tire pressure, alignment & balance. These tires are easily going to make 60K by the looks of the tread, so for my equiptment, roads, type of driving, load & balance/rotation schedule, the 5K service intervial on the Ranger, seems just right.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 724
Likes: 0
From: Cypress, CA
I rotate tires every other oil change unless there is noticeable wear dictating otherwise. I can not recall a tire requiring a rebalance and do not do so unless one of the drivers mentions a problem ( and they do because we take care of the problem quickly). My recollection on the factory tires on the Rangers usually last about 50k. We replace them as needed with Kumho tires.
Russ
Russ
New User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
well I work for sears auto center as a technician and we recommend rotating every 5k. I personally rotate at 6k and just do a rotate, balance and oil change all at once. But I most definately recommend if you rotate your tires to get them balanced.
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 2,858
Likes: 3
From: Friendswood, Texas
Originally Posted by devildog33624
well I work for sears auto center as a technician and we recommend rotating every 5k. I personally rotate at 6k and just do a rotate, balance and oil change all at once. But I most definately recommend if you rotate your tires to get them balanced.
I rotate every two or three oil changes and do not rebalance unless the tires start to bounce. Never had any problem doing things this way but I don't put 30,000 miles a year on the vehicle either. If I were driving high miles every year I "might" reconsider and rebalance every 15,000 miles or so. I've never had to replace tires because I did not rebalnce them. Just my two cents.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mechelement
1983 - 2012 Ranger & B-Series
23
Sep 29, 2009 11:31 AM
Brahms
Excursion - King of SUVs
14
Dec 8, 2008 09:56 PM
