Is it safe to roatate my own tires?

Question

I have never done it before I know the pattern, but do I have to do anything special when putting the tires back on, like tourque them a certain amount or what, I am really not sure what to do, so any help would be greatly apprecieated, thanks.

Thanks!

Answer 1

It is safe, just check them after like 20 miles.

Torque them down tight with your stock lug nut wrench so you know you can take them off if you ever have a flat.

Answer 2

There's nothing really special, no.
But...
First, you might not be able to get your own tire off, because sometimes repair shops have been known to screw the lugnuts too tight with their heavy-duty power tools.
Second, when you fasten the lugnuts back on, you might think they're fully tightened, when really there's about a half an inch of space left on the bolt (because the tire isn't pushed in enough).

Also, how are you going to do it?

I had to put my car on 2 jacks to keep one side off the ground while I switched the tires. I recently heard somebody say if your car falls off the jack with the tire removed, then you might not be able to slip the jack back under the car, because it will be touching the ground. I imagine with 2 jacks, I was doubling my risk of this. I only did it once, and never again since then. I just pay the $14 or whatever for the shop to rotate them.

If you want to know if your tread is good enough, stick a penny into the tread. If you can see space between Lincoln's head and the tread, then they either need to be rotated or replaced. Do it on your drive wheels, since they're the most worn out, mostly.

Answer 3

yes you can rotate your own tires. but you need to use a torque wrench, contrary to what others are saying. You have to use a torque wrench to tighten the nuts equally, so that the brake rotors don't become warped prematurely. This is important. Tighten the nuts by hand. Then use the torque wrench to tighten them.
A cheap Taiwanese-made torque wrench with 1/2 inch drive costs $20 at a parts store. A quality Craftsman torque wrench costs $80-$100 at Sears. The torque wrench comes with directions. It's easy to use. I recommend re-torquing the lugnuts yourself after someone else (a tech) touches the wheels (brakes, tires, suspension, etc.). This is because I have found that they have over-tightened the nuts (probably by using an air impact wrench instead of using a torque wrench). If they overtightened them, then you will have a difficult time getting a wheel off if you get a flat tire. Sometimes it will seem impossible. I have had to use my electric impact wrench to get many of these lugnuts off when performing my own tire rotations. It drives me nuts because my rotors were ruined once due to a tech who obviously used an impact wrench to re-install my wheels after a free rotation. I got a shaking steering wheel while braking because of this. I alleviated the problem by rotating the wheels myself. by then, the damage was done, but the vibration and noise was lessened. I knew they were overtightened when I had a hard time getting the lugnuts off. When they're done right, lugnuts are pretty easy to take off. They have to be, so that they can be taken off with hand tools on the side of the road. by the way, the proper torque specs are found in the car's manual, in the section about flat tires. My small Volvo's torque spec is 62 ft-lbs. japanese cars in general have much lower torque specs (58-72 for my Subaru and 65-80 for my friend's Mits) than for old domestics (100 for 92 Olds, for example). Maybe that's why some people think they should tighten the nuts as hard as they can - because they learned from someone with an old domestic, or didn't learn about proper torquing.

Use a floor jack, two jack stands, wheel chocks (optional), impact wrench (optional, but sometimes necessary due to previous over-torquing by a tech), lugnut wrench, and a torque wrench. Set the parking brake, don't forget to release it afterwards. Don't forget to check if the tires are directional -check if there are arrows on the tires.

Answer 4

On disc brakes you should torque the lugnuts, but if you lack the wrench then just tighten them as tight as you can.

on radials it is OK to rotate back to front. But if you have some road noise you can go from right rear to left front and left rear to right front. This smooths out rough tires.

Don't worry about doing it wrong it is as easy as changing the tires, except you change all 4

Answer 5

You should x the tires to the drive wheels, and go straight forward to the 'passive' wheels.

As for the amount of torque...well, that varies from vehicle to vehicle. Japanese cars usually run in the 85-90 ft-lb torque, while American cars are usually around 100 ft-lbs. Newer Ford trucks range from 100-150 ft/lbs, so it is pretty hard to guess at it.

Answer 6

You can do this yourself no problem, just make sure you tighten the nuts as much as you can. They dont really have to be torqued to specifications. If you have alloy wheels retighten your lug nuts after about 10 miles.

Answer 7

i own a shop and all you need to remember is to get them back tight again,sort of feel how tight they are to take off,and go by this,that's about all there is to doing this job,make sure your jack will hold it good though,good luck,i hope this helps.

Answer 8

sure you can do it yourself.i do mine all the time and all i use is a 4 way wrench,and i dont have any trouble.in fact i just got through doing mine.

Answer 9

make sure the tire wear is lined up similar to the other tires' wear, so your tires wear out at the same time.

Answer 10

Go to Wal-Mart they only charge you $1.50 per tire so your total would be $6.00 + tax...


$6.00 is not worth me getting my hands dirty let them do it lol



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