Mandatory tire rotation?

[Stephen Tashiro]

I was in a tire store this week and the staff was talking to a customer who came to replace his front tires. They told him that "DOT and state law" required that the store rotate his rear tires to the front of his vehicle and put the new tires on the rear. Interesting if true - I didn't see what kind of vehicle he was driving.

[Michael Mahan]

for commercial vehicles the tires can't be retreads on the front steering wheels
so if he was buying retreads then that would be true as they can't place retreads in the steering wheels , so the retread would have to go into the rears

BUT maybe it's a Tire Store salesman B S line IF it was just a car the tires were going on

any shop can refuse to do anything at any time & cite liability as a reason
I've heard a very similar line @ Sears as well , those guys will say anything to sell a set of four
the statement I hear is 'We can't legally sell & mount tires without a realignment & balancing ' another B S line to jack up the final sales invoice

Costco will sell with a balance included , I've had good luck with the Costco Tire store on prices & service
with comparing the total out the door prices with balance & road hazard they beat most other shops

[Chuck Wintle]

I was in a tire store the week and the staff was talking to a customer who came to replace his front tires. They told him that "DOT and state law" required that the store rotate his rear tires to the front of his vehicle and put the new tires on the rear. Interesting if true - I didn't see what kind of vehicle he was driving.

never heard of a mandatory tire rotation...maybe true but the guy is also a salesman.

[Lee Schierer]

I've heard of this before. It has to do with grip. Here is a link and quote from Tire Tech

Most vehicles are equipped with the same size tire at every wheel position. Ideally all of these tires should also be of the same type and design, have the same tread depth and be inflated to the pressures specified by the vehicle placard or owner's manual. This combination best retains the handling balance engineered into the vehicle by its manufacturer.

However due to a front-wheel drive vehicle’s front tires' responsibility for transmitting acceleration, steering and most of the braking forces, it's normal for them to wear faster than rear tires. Therefore if the tires aren't rotated on a regular basis, tires will typically wear out in pairs rather than in sets. And if the tires aren't rotated at all, it's likely that the rear tires will still have about 1/2 of their original tread depth remaining when the front tires are completely worn out.

Intuition suggests that since the front tires wore out first and because there is still about half of the tread remaining on the rear tires, the new tires should be installed on the front axle. This will provide more wet and wintry traction; and by the time the front tires have worn out for the second time, the rear tires will be worn out, too. However in this case, intuition isn't right...and following it can be downright dangerous.

When tires are replaced in pairs in situations like these, the new tires should always be installed on the rear axle and the partially worn tires moved to the front. New tires on the rear axle help the driver more easily maintain control on wet roads since deeper treaded tires are better at resisting hydroplaning.

Hydroplaning occurs when the tire cannot process enough water through its tread design to maintain effective contact with the road. In moderate to heavy rain, water can pool up in road ruts, depressions and pockets adjacent to pavement expansion joints. At higher speeds, the standing water often found in these pools challenges a tire's ability to resist hydroplaning.

Exactly when hydroplaning occurs is the result of a combination of elements including water depth, vehicle weight and speed, as well as tire size, air pressure, tread design and tread depth. A lightweight vehicle with wide, worn, underinflated tires in a heavy downpour will hydroplane at lower speeds than a heavyweight vehicle equipped with new, narrow, properly inflated tires in drizzling rain.

If the front tires have significantly less tread depth than the rear tires, the front tires will begin to hydroplane and lose traction on wet roads before the rear tires. While this will cause the vehicle to understeer (the vehicle wants to continue driving straight ahead), understeer is relatively easy to control because releasing the gas pedal will slow the vehicle and help the driver maintain control.

However, if the front tires have significantly more tread depth than the rear tires, the rear tires will begin to hydroplane and lose traction on wet roads before the fronts. This will cause the vehicle to oversteer (the vehicle will want to spin). Oversteer is far more difficult to control and in addition to the initial distress felt when the rear of the car starts sliding, quickly releasing the gas pedal in an attempt to slow down may actually make it more difficult for the driver to regain control, possibly causing a complete spinout.

[Jerome Stanek]

I had Midas tell me that they wouldn't rotate my tires because the front ones and rear had different tread wear. That is why I wanted to rotate them the tires are not worn that much and I rotate them with each oil change. I only took it to them because I had a coupon for an oil change and tire rotation for about the same as I buy my oil and filter. They wanted to replace a new air filter, wiper blades, sell new tires, and do a top head cleaning. I had just installed the wipers and air filter and they said it would only be $60 for them. They were real pushy about it and then they moved my seat and didn't reset the info center. They also let air out of my tires as I had check the pressure before I went.

[Michael Mahan]

I've heard of this before. It has to do with grip. Here is a link and quote from Tire Tech

Most vehicles are equipped with the same size tire . . . . . . . . . ECt

while I don't have an argument with that explanation & mostly agree with it , the Part where a salesman says it's State & DOT law that they can 'only' place the new rubber in the rears , I feel is where the B S starts getting deep

[Art Mann]

I would never ever do business with a store who employs a salesman who lies like that.

[Alan Bienlein]

Here is a video on it.

[Chris Parks]

New tyres should always go on to the drive axle, whether front or rear. It is the drive axle that will hydroplane first as it is called on to control both lateral (side) forces and also get the power to the road. I have never seen a new pair of tyres put on the rear axle of a front wheel drive car.

[Alan Bienlein]

I have because no matter where I go they will only put them on the rear of my escort.

[Jason Roehl]

Neat video, but if you look at the blue car at 2:05ish, the driver is making no effort to steer into the skid, but is keeping the front wheels straight, exacerbating the skid.

I don't know about others, but I probably run into far more situations where I could use the greater traction from a front wheel drive vehicle than I do risk hydroplaning. Most roads drain pretty well, especially in curves, which are almost always built with a slight bank to them, unlike the test track shown in the video.

[Jerry Thompson]

I drive a 1986 BMW 535i. It has 420k miles on it. I had a flat and the tire needed replaced. The Goodyear store said that it being a BMW I needed to buy a certain grad of tire. This tire was over $150.
I told them the car was not worth much more than that. They replied that BMW's were high performance cars and wanted me to be safe.
My lawn mower is 5 years old and would sell for more than the BMW.

[Brian Effinger]

I'd be suspicious of the salesman too. I doubt it is the law, but it is a good idea because of hydropaneing, as Lee said, and because of fish-tailing in the snow (I think you get snow in NM).

[Curt Fuller]

I was in a tire store this week and the staff was talking to a customer who came to replace his front tires. They told him that "DOT and state law" required that the store rotate his rear tires to the front of his vehicle and put the new tires on the rear. Interesting if true - I didn't see what kind of vehicle he was driving.

I can't remember the last time I bought just two tires, but after reading some of the other reasons and watching the video it makes sense. On a related note, I was in a tire store the other day and heard one of the people working there tell a customer that they could not repair a flat tire because of where the puncture was. They had a photo showing where they could and could not repair a tire. Near the outside of the tread and anywhere on the sidewall made the tire unrepairable. And they said that was now "the law". Similar to this http://www.rma.org/tire-safety/tire-repair/

[Shawn Pixley]

There are a lot of unscrupulous sales people out there. When I had my S2000, I'd get my oil changed at a ****** lube place. They always tried to up sell me on something.

"You should rotate your tires" reply, the front and rear tires are two different sizes and are directional. So, no
"You should flush and replace your auto transmission fluid" it's a stick, buddy

It goes on and on...

Eventually, they stopped asking