4- vs 5-tyre Rotation

ABFoz

ABFoz

Forum Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2018
Messages
955
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
Car Year
2005
Car Model
Forester XS
Transmission
4EAT
Hi everyone,


I am close to replacing the tyres on my 16s and would like to know if anyone on the forum does 5-tyre rotations. It is not on the manual but when I used to have 4x4s I always had at least 5 wheels of the same design and rotated them accordingly but with our Subarus, I am having a hard time looking for a spare wheel of the same design. At the moment, the only design I can get 5 pieces of is the stock BE BH Outback H6 wheel. I am not sure if the design suits the SG Forester.

I have the SH5 16" alloys, by the way. If I am going to do a 4-tyre rotation, I can always get any Forester/Outback 16" as a spare.

Based on your experiences, is a 5-tyre rotation on a Subaru overkill?

In my manual, it does not mention the 1.6mm maximum diameter difference across all tyres anymore but how sensitive is the AWD system really on tread wear differences? I was told by others that the transfer duty clutch solenoid can be affected by such differences. This would be very helpful if I am going to stick with the 4-tyre rotation but with a full-size spare which can or may be on a different wheel design.

Thanks,
 
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I was thinking of doing a five wheel rotation, but had been concerned that this would mean that there would be slightly different wear on the left v right wheels as a result.

So I bought another rim and am going to be doing six wheel rotations, to ensure that wear is as even as possible on each side.

Dunno if it would be a problem to rotate with five wheels, but I have read/heard that it's best to replace all four tyres at once with Subaru AWD, to keep things as even as possible. whether that's relevant or not, again I dunno.

Bridgestone offer free rotations every 5000kms, not sure if other manufacturers do, but I imagine it would be pretty standard nowadays.

edit: I'm running the bog standard steelies, so finding another rim was pretty easy. So easy in fact that I've put them on my trailer as well (where the second spare will spend most of its life, potentially giving me 4 spares for the car when touring)
 
I rotate all 5 tyres on my SH.

I fitted 5X 215.70.16 AT tyres and decided to rotate all 5 so the spare wears down at the same rate as the other tyres. This means if I get a flat and I'm a long way from a repairer I can run the spare for a long distance without causing any problems.

I bought them from K Mart Tyre and Auto and I get free wheel alignments, balance and rotations every 6 months free of charge. I'm not sure how they do the rotation but I did hear them say they put the left front back as the spare because it does the most work on roundabouts and U turns.
 
Thing is if you have 5 you must rotate them as used them all because if not one will just be brand new and with time will not match other tires.
 
If you do a 4 wheel rotation on your auto you could use the spare on the rear and switch to FWD via use of the fuse.

I also do 6 wheel rotations and wouldn't run uneven tread depth tyres on a Subie.
 
Ben Up North said:
edit: I'm running the bog standard steelies, so finding another rim was pretty easy. So easy in fact that I've put them on my trailer as well (where the second spare will spend most of its life, potentially giving me 4 spares for the car when touring)
Click to expand...


Yes, I think the steelies would be much easier to sort out.



Beachworm said:
I rotate all 5 tyres on my SH.

I fitted 5X 215.70.16 AT tyres and decided to rotate all 5 so the spare wears down at the same rate as the other tyres. This means if I get a flat and I'm a long way from a repairer I can run the spare for a long distance without causing any problems.

I bought them from K Mart Tyre and Auto and I get free wheel alignments, balance and rotations every 6 months free of charge. I'm not sure how they do the rotation but I did hear them say they put the left front back as the spare because it does the most work on roundabouts and U turns.
Click to expand...


Do you have the same alloy design as your spare? Thanks.



Kevin said:
If you do a 4 wheel rotation on your auto you could use the spare on the rear and switch to FWD via use of the fuse.

I also do 6 wheel rotations and wouldn't run uneven tread depth tyres on a Subie.
Click to expand...


Thanks. I am doing a 4-wheel rotation now. Though, I am not particularly keen on running FWD after having a tyre blowout in the trail.
 
My Forester came with 4 alloys and a steel spare. I sold them all and got 5 steel 16 inch wheels as I believe steels are better for off road. Although they are heavier, a big hammer can fix some damage. If you damage an alloy on rocks when tyres are at low pressure you can't use it for the rest of the trip.
 
I too replaced my OEM 16" wheels with 6 x 15" Speedy Sorroco II wheels which are alloy and have never had a problem even with all the rough treatment.
 
Beachworm said:
My Forester came with 4 alloys and a steel spare. I sold them all and got 5 steel 16 inch wheels as I believe steels are better for off road. Although they are heavier, a big hammer can fix some damage. If you damage an alloy on rocks when tyres are at low pressure you can't use it for the rest of the trip.
Click to expand...


Yes. If I find it really hard to get an extra wheel similar to what I have now, I may just go with the steelies as it seems like they're abundant.


I agree with you on the the repairability of the steelies. Thanks.
 
I don't do much off-bitumen driving, so steels vs alloy is not an issue for me. My spare is still the original Geolander from new. I have another spare in the shed - bought it for a longish dirt trip some years ago. In any case my spares are 215/60-16, while I have 225/60-16 on the car. If I had to put a spare on, I would go slow because of the different diameters.

Anyway, move the rears to the front, same side, move the fronts to the rear, swap sides.
 
Beachworm said:
My Forester came with 4 alloys and a steel spare. I sold them all and got 5 steel 16 inch wheels as I believe steels are better for off road. Although they are heavier, a big hammer can fix some damage. If you damage an alloy on rocks when tyres are at low pressure you can't use it for the rest of the trip.
Click to expand...


Hypothetically. But I have not heard of severely damaged stock Subaru alloys or quality aftermarket alloys.

The difference in weight can be massive and the on road gains accordingly huge. I used 18lb Enkei Racing wheels on the Outback vs 30lb for my full size spare, which was steel.

The powertrain will love the lighter wheels, especially if wearing heavy tires.
 
I do a 5 wheel rotation every 10,000ks
 
Just did my first 6 wheel rotation. apparently they should be done every 5000km or six months, whichever comes first according to Bridgestone.
Seeing as it's free, I'm happy with that.
 
Update: I have just purchased an extra 16x6.5" SH wheel and will go with the 5-tyre rotation. I can do the rotation myself but it comes free with the purchase of new tyres, as well. I will be getting a set anytime within the next 5000 kms and will be in the 215/65 R16 size.
 
Not tempted to go for six to ensure even tread on both sides?
 
I will try this method first and do the rotation every 5000 kms, making sure that the differences are well below 1.6 mm. I would put the spare in the car so a least I get to put something that is within the tolerance when needed.

I was surely tempted, though, when I saw your post about the 6-tyre rotation but I will practice 5-tyre one as my front-left wears much more quickly than the front-right, at the moment. When I lived in the countryside, the vehicles I used have more even wear in the front but even though I am in the northern fringe now, it's roundabouts galore. Cheers.
 
Regarding the 6 tyre rotation - does anyone have a link to the methodology? I've just put on 5 new tyres and I've got an opportunity to buy an additional rim and best to do it now before my first rotation. Thanks :)
 
I do:
Fronts diagonal to rear.
Rear to spares
Spares to front.
Repeat evey 5,000k or thereabouts.

I guess I should really note which side the rears come off, so when I put them on the front I can put them the same sides(or should that be the opposite?) to when they were on the rear, but I don't think that's much of an issue.
 
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