I cannot rotate

Arklight

Before my MOT I asked the garage to rotate my tyres. It's a new to me car with some fancy wotnottery that beeps at you when the tyre pressure is too low.

He umms and aahs about sensors and points to a thing dangling near his desk and says - "Does it have these inside the tyres?"

How the hell do I know what it has inside the tyres?

When I went to pick up he said he couldn't rotate the tyres because of the tyre pressure management sensors in the tyres meaning he can't switch them around, so the front ones are wearing out faster still.

What on earth? I presume I am allowed to actually change the tyres at some point, so why can't the garage rotate them?

On the Almera I could change tyres around freely and what with the spare I had 5 different brands all going around eking out every last bit of tread.

martinthebandit

When the front ones need changing, change them, and when the back ones need doing, change them.

There will be no difference in how many tyres you need to buy over the lifetime of the vehicle if you keep it for any length of time.

jk0

My tyres rotate when I drive the car.

Scrapit

Arklight wrote: »

Before my MOT I asked the garage to rotate my tyres. It's a new to me car with some fancy wotnottery that beeps at you when the tyre pressure is too low.

He umms and aahs about sensors and points to a thing dangling near his desk and says - "Does it have these inside the tyres?"

How the hell do I know what it has inside the tyres?

When I went to pick up he said he couldn't rotate the tyres because of the tyre pressure management sensors in the tyres meaning he can't switch them around, so the front ones are wearing out faster still.

What on earth? I presume I am allowed to actually change the tyres at some point, so why can't the garage rotate them?

On the Almera I could change tyres around freely and what with the spare I had 5 different brands all going around eking out every last bit of tread.

They ain't wearing out faster still. They are wearing at 1 rate. The rest are wearing at another. Have you read the handbook, that will explain wether or not you can rotate, regardless of what tire fitters tell you. But either way replace the tires when they need it.

stator

What he probably meant was: It's too much of a hassle to do it for free on an MOT which I am losing money anyway.

tacpot12

The logical explanation is that the tyre pressure sensor is coded, and if you rotate the tyres, the display that shows you which tyre is low on pressure will indicate the incorrect tyre, since it will see the tyre with the code that it thinks is "Front Left" as being somewhere else on the car. You might go to put air in that tyre and find that it is not low, and continue to drive on a dangerously under-inflated tyre.

Your dealer should be able to confirm if this is correct. If so, you should never rotate your tires. Just accept that you will not be able to even out the tyre wear and will probably end up replacing tyres two at a time rather than all four at a time. It's a small compromise to get the very real benefits of real-time tyre pressure monitoring.

marlot

Arklight wrote: »

Before my MOT I asked the garage to rotate my tyres. It's a new to me car with some fancy wotnottery that beeps at you when the tyre pressure is too low...

Some cars have sensors. Some don't.

For the cars with sensors, some can be moved around and will automatically tell the ECU their new location on the car. Others need to be told manually.

For many cars it doesn't matter, but many 4x4s work much better with the tyre depth matched.

As you didn't bother to tell us what car it is, no-one can tell you what you have fitted.

sheslookinhot

Arklight wrote: »

all going around eking out every last bit of tread.

sound like true money saving expert.................or..............

Arklight

But what is the difference between moving a tyre to a different wheel and fitting a brand new tyre?

Mr.Generous

Makes a difference whether its front wheel drive or RWD or 4WD as to where you have the best tyres from a safety point of view. Personally I replace tyres just before the wear indicator is hit, a few 100 miles more with substantially less grip isn't worth the risk to me, but each to his own. Once new tyres are on I can accelerate out of a wet roundabout without wheelspin. near the limit I can't. I guess in a wet braking emergency I would have the opportunity to discover the true cost.

Arklight

To be fair the Almera didn't really have wet braking emergencies and the only way you were going to get any wheelspin was if it was lifted up in the air.