EnzoRX

Hi all,

I am getting adventurous...I want to rotate my own tires on the RX300. Yeah, I know you can search out some tire shops and get it done for free...but I want to play weekend mechanic now...

I plan on buying a 2.25 ton floor jack from Sears and 2 jack stands (on sale right now as a set for $29.99...just in time for Father's Day!) Is this enough? Or do I need to get 4 jack stands to have the vehicle totally off the ground?

I am borrowing a friends torque wrench until I can invest in one of my own. I believe the proper torque setting is 87 ft/lbs for the wheel lug nuts (per the Owners Manual). I plan to do the rear tires straight to the front and then criss-cross the front tires to the rear. Any other helpful tips and suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, all.

gsenthil

Why dont you follow the 5way rotation given in the manual so the spare gets rotated too?Or do you believe in NOT using the spare for regular purposes ever?

EnzoRX

gsenthil,

I just didn't pursue including the spare tire as part of the rotation over time...and over time you just put it off and put it to the back of your mind. I did not include the spare tire in the rotation cuz the dealer did not include that as a part of their tire rotation for the past 25,000 miles worth of oil change/tire rotation services.

The spare tire still looks brand new (as it's been sitting there since I bought the RX300 new). I thought it would be kinda late in the game to start including the spare in the rotation. I was thinking of just using the sprare tire in emergency situations now...since it would have to catch up 25,000 miles as with the other 4 tires if I included it in the tire rotation now.

myfirstrx

does your spare have a wheel that matches the others on the rx? I had to use mine once and I think it just had a plain black wheel on it, same tire size, but not the same wheel as the "real" wheels.

gsenthil

Enzo- I agree with your reasoning. I had wisened up to this because I had read about tire changes before I went for my first service and hence I make sure since the first service I have all 5 rotated.

All 5 tires have identical wheels- no blackies!

ederny

Don't forget to inspect brake pads and remove any dirt and corrosion from the mating surfaces of the wheel and hub. Good Luck.

Francis

I don’t need any tool to do that. I only use 2 jacks (one from my RX and one from the other car). I lift the front side with 2 jacks (for safety) and take the wheel out and replace it with spare tire and drop the jacks. Then lift the rear side with same jacks and take out the wheel and replace it with the front wheel and drop the jack. Then left the front side again and replace the spare tire with the rear one. Good luck.

Lexterious

The manual for my RX330 shows that I'm supposed to rotate the spare into the left (or was it the right?) side only. Just one of the sides anyways. All other cars I've drive suggest that the spare gets rotated around and around with all the tires.

If I used the spare on just one side, won't I get uneven tire wear on one side (over time, the other side will wear out sooner)?

What's wrong with rotating the spare through all the sides? I know that in the dark ages when radials just came out, they weren't supposed to be rotated to another side because, once driven, they should only be driven one way. But I thought they fixed that problem long ago.

gsenthil

The 5 way tire rotation specified in my 01 300 manual circles the spare (and all tires) thro all positions. Please reconfirm that its different for your 330 (for which I find no reason to be). I wil post the directions tomorrow after checking my manual

JRB

Can only assume that the tires are unidirectional, as is the spare which would limit its use to the side where it would be rolling forward, in the direction of the arrows on its side. Don't know this for sure though as we do not have our RX yet, but this is the only logical explanation that I can think of.

Daddy-O

My Sears Auto Center rotates my tires for free on spec.
They want my business and are willing to give me the free service.

EnzoRX

Here is the tire rotation right out of the 2001 RX300 Owners Manual. Check it out. I believe the spare tire just gets rotated as part of the entire roation of all 5 tires. This is something I should have done in the first place...

Lexterious

Yep.

For a Canadian 2004 AWD RX330, the rotation scheme has it that the right-hand tires are rotated with the spare.

And the left-hand side is to be swapped front-to-back.

There is no crossing over.

I have the manual in front of me. Page 573. Also, each picture and diagram seems to have a unique "serial number", just like the ones you scanned. The diagram depicting the one-sided rotation has a serial number of "63RY005".

The text describing the rotation simply states "...The wheel assemblies must be rotated as illustrated above". Maybe there is a generic template for manuals and different "branches" (e.g. Toyota Canada) paste in different pictures depending on the tires they chose to equip their cars with.

My scanner is down. Otherwise I'd post an image.

I'm still befuddled with this. My tires are Michelin Energy LX4 225x65-R17s. They have no clear unidirectional markings. 10+ years ago, I did have a set of unidirectional Bridgestone RE-71 Potenzas and they were clearly marked with arrows showing which direction they were supposed to turn. While the Michelins do not have markings, they are NOT symmetrical. Both left and right side tires are mounted to present the same pattern to the front of the car (it's hard to describe). So maybe this does have something to do with the Michelins only being intended to roll one way. If this was the case, maybe clearer indication/warning should be put somewhere to prevent places like Sears from simply rotating them around and around.

EnzoRX

Lexterious,

I actually don't have a scanner. I went to the Lexus website and registered under the "Owners" link and you can access you OM online. I just cut and pasted it from the Lexus website.

But that's an odd way of rotating the tires. But maybe you are correct in stating that this is the way your Michelins need to be rotated. At least your spare is included in the rotation.

I hope to buy an RX330 someday...I am trying to convince the wife that we need to trade in our Silversport for one. Wish me luck!

Lexterious

I'm registered at the Canadian website (www.lexus.ca) and they only have a skimpy version of the manual on-line, not the whole thing; certainly no pictures or diagrams.

I hope you get the RX330. It's a very good vehicle.