Tire Rotation

[Qashqai]

Hi,

According to the owners manual, I need to have a tire rotation every 12.000 km. However, when I was looking at the service manual from the forum, I found out that Nissan advises to rotate tire at every 5000 km for 4 WD. Since my Rogue is an AWD, do you think 12000 km is still a good idea?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60569238@N03/5625372222/

[philipa_240sx]

Qashqai,

The recommended tire rotation interval is 12000km as per the Service & Maintenance Guide. (I actually rotate mine every 10,000km as it coincides with oil changes). There is no need to rotate them any sooner, even for AWD models. Keep in mind that an AWD Rogue is actually in FWD mode most of the time, IMHO the rotation rules for 4WD don't apply.

The generally accepted method for tire rotation on FWD vehicles is:

- Front to Rear
- Rears 'cross' sides and to the front.

This maximizes tire life by promoting even wear.

[daytrippr]

Tire rotation is one of those 'optional' recommendations by Nissan. When we bought our 08 Rogue I assumed that we would be getting better tires to replace the OEM Dunlops before our second winter so the cost of rotating them seemed pointless. As it turned out, we replaced them at 52K miles. They were actually very evenly worn and we could have easily squeezed out another 20K miles of use, but we switched to the Hankook H727s because of their much higher snow/ice ratings. And now, we get free rotations from Discount Tire. Personally, I think tire rotations is unnecessary...if they are wearing unevenly then get your alignment fixed!

[philipa_240sx]

Personally, I think tire rotations is unnecessary...if they are wearing unevenly then get your alignment fixed!

Even with perfect wheel alignment, tire wear is rarely even. FWD vehicles typically wear the fronts nearly 2x faster than the rears. The AWD Rogue might be slightly more even, but it still runs primarily as a FWD vehicle under the majority of driving conditions.

Tire rotation along with proper inflation pressure are the 2 biggest things that you can do to extend the life of your tires. With most vehicles driven under 10k mi. (16,000km) per year, the cost of a tire rotation once every year isn't that expensive. Especially once compared to the cost of 4 new tires.

[daytrippr]

Well said, Phillip

Since I get free rotations with my new (ish) Hankooks I am getting them rotated tomorrow ( 7,500 miles came pretty fast!)