ok so i have 31 on my 91 4runner and i don't know if i should rotate them every oil change like you do with street tires.
Thanks for all the help i have received from this forum

 

YES! they wear faster than street tires so you should rotate them every 5k miles or so to keep them in top shape.

 

i rotate mine at least that often. but yeah you should rotate them, as it will help with even wear and longevity.

 

yeah, even more often... i do left front to right rear, right front to left rear, and rears straight up.. to reduce high/low spots and cupping from front tires... (i think this may be a standard way anyay)

 

I rotate my tires the same way as WJ aand everytime I change my oil. I wouldd never think of the 5 tire rotate. Why would you put your spare down? where would you work that into the equation?

 

Just dont switch right to left if you have directional tread.

 

Once you go significantly larger on the tire size than stock, you need the same size spare. So I have always just bought a set of 5 wheels and tires for my rig. And I have just rotated the spare to a front and a rear tire to the spare-- logic being that a tire that had just been running on the rear has the best wear pattern. Other than that I rotate in an "X" pattern with the tires going to the opposite side and opposite corner. I have wanted to run the spare so it is not wasted since I have typically gone with alternate m/t's and all terrains and sometimes different sizes. If you are religious about rotations then they will all wear out at about the same time. I usually sell the tires to local guys before they get too worn--Plus they usually get difficult to static balance long before they actually wear out.

 

Thst does make sense. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Speaking of a spare I need to buy a new/used 33x10.50 and a rim for my truck before hitting up any really hard trails.

 

Are Goodyear MTRs directional?

 

Nope! (I have em too)

 

Good, cuz I've been cross rotating mine

 

Funny... I've always heard that with radial tires you can't switch sides when you rotate. The spare gets rotated in one side of the vehicle only and stays in that rotation. Then the rotation is F-B-S-F-B-S. and on the other side F-B-F-B.

Reason being the lugs wear uneven on a radial tire and when you switch sides they wear really quickly until the lugs are uneven the right way again or something like that...

Bias tires are safe to switch sides.

 

Actually I just searched and I have that backwards...

Radials can be switched but bias tires are supposed to stay on the same side.

 

i rotate about once a month here at work

 

i am do for a rotation

the BFG ATs are not directional correct
(excuse my noobness but only had 3 hours of sleep last ngiht

 

I was told by an old tire man that the steel belt in the tires gets bent by motion of the vehicle & when you turn them around it's like bending a piece of wire over & back several times...the wire breaks.

I don't know if it's true; I'm no tire expert, but I always keep radials going the same direction the entire life of the tire after he told me that. The reason we had the conversation was because I had a blow out on the highway & he asked me if I had rotated the tires; when I said I had he was shaking his head up & down in a knowing way with a sly grin & went on to explain how he knew. It made sense & I've never had another catastrophic blowout. Flats yes, but no blowouts.

Like I said, don't take it as gospel...just something I was told years ago. YMMV

 

Sure I rotate the tires. Including the spare to keep all equal height.

As Lysmachia stated, nope MTR's aren't directional, run in any position.

 

Typically, if you don't rotate the tires on your 4Runner, the REARS will wear quicker, right?

 

While the 4Runner is rear wheel drive, I still think the fronts would wear quicker because of the fact that they have to steer and have to take more of the forces when braking...

 

nah, even tho the steering does wear em down, the rears wear down much faster because the power from the engine is being put to them and they don't re direct when cornering, the diff helps em go at different speeds, but they still dont turn. Sometimes accelerating when turning on sand or wetness, they spin just a little too, maybe without you knowing, but no rears definately wear faster