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My 2013 rx 450 is due for the 65k maintenance. I looked in the manual and noticed tire rotation is every 5k miles pretty much. Do they just see which tires need to be in front vs back or do they really rotate that often?
I got my tires from Costco so it's free to rotate and balance there. If I had Costco do it (versus pay for Lexus service center to do it), would Costco know where each tire needs to be rotated to?
As long as you do not have staggered wheels (meaning that the rear wheels and tires are slightly larger than the front wheels and tires), the typical tire rotation is an X pattern. If your tire rotations at Costco are free, do it there.
[QUOTE=JerseyJim;10523604]My 2015 RX-350 AWD owner's manual calls for front to back rotation for 4 tires.
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This is dandy but you have negative camber rear wheels set up. Also, Front wheels, by the virtue of turning, wear different from the rear ones. Rears basically wear more on the inside.
So by doing that type of rotation, you do not allow rear tires to wear evenly, as for even wear, they must be used so that OUTER edge is worn more. To compensate for thousands of miles in negative camber use.
The only way you can accomplish this is by doing X rotation.
I do have directional tires on the vehicle. I'm not sure about the negative camber on the rear wheels, but in 25K miles, the wear on the tires looks fairly even to me.
My 2015 RX-350 AWD owner's manual calls for front to back rotation for 4 tires.
but isn't this assumption you have directional tires and if you have non directional you wouldn't follow this pattern but rather the rewrad or x pattern?
I cross-rotate the tires (the X pattern) on my wife's 2015 RX350 FWD. No handling issues at all and it probably extends the life of the tires by 3,000 to 5,000 miles.
It's worth noting that above a certain difference Costco generally won't rotate tyres back to front. Same reason that if you go in for front tyres only they''ll rotate them to the rear, and put the older ones in front.
Not sure if all Costcos stick to that, but I believe it's their policy.
^^ Yet another reason to always rotate your tires yourself. And doing it myself allows me to get a good look at the calipers and brake pads (and grease the caliper pins if I choose to do so).
Almost all tires places install the new tires on the rear as that is the recommendation of the tire manufacturers association. The theory is that the new tires on the rear with better tread reduce your chance of spinning out in the rain etc. It happened to me on the HS250h at Costco last year. I drove home and rotated the tires so the new ones were in front. https://www.ustires.org/replacing-tires
Replacing Fewer than Four Tires
USTMA recommends replacing all four tires at the same time for optimal performance. If this is not feasible, you should follow these guidelines for replacing fewer than four tires:
Whether your replace only one or two tires, be sure that they are the same size, load index and speed rating recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. If replacing only two, install them on the rear axle. The newer tires will have better grip, particularly on wet roads, which is important to avoid hydroplaning situations. The greater traction capability on the rear axle can better prevent a possible oversteer condition and loss of vehicle stability.
Replacing a single tire can negatively affect vehicle suspension, transmission and tire treadwear. If unavoidable, pair the single replacement tire with the tire that has the deepest tread depth and install both on the rear axle.
None of that applies if you have a vehicle with staggered wheels (which typically have larger tires on the rear axle). The tires on my wife's 2006 Jaguar XK8 must stay on the same axle, so I can only rotate them from side to side.
Tire rotation question
