Class C tire rotation

[Firesiders]

I have a 2012 class C motorhome and was wondering about tire rotation. I had a salesman at Camping World tell me that he didn't think that you needed to rotate the tires, that did not seem right. Please let me know if the tires need rotated. I currently have approx. 8000 miles on the unit. If so any ideas of where to take it to have them done. (other than Camping World) I'm having trouble locating a service center that can handle this large of a vehicle. I live in Dodge County Wisconsin.

[j-d]

I believe in reversing the rotational direction on regular rotations. If a set of tires had NEVER been rotated in 40,000 miles or so, I might not do it, but I believe there's a benefit. The tread blocks get a "tooth" to them that reversal will smooth back off. Then it forms in that rotation direction. That's part of the reason old tires may seem noisier. They are, because of that pattern.
I was lucky to spend nearly an hour with a couple tire professionals. They showed me a lot and told me a lot. One thing was that if front tires are edge-worn, a move to the rear duals should include putting the worn edge next to the other dual tire. In our case, fronts were edge-worn on the inside ribs, so they had to be "flipped" which also reversed rotation, to get them into that position on the rear.
All that said, my understanding is that Ford doesn't recommend rotating the rear tires on a routine basis. But I like rotating the fronts, especially if a spare can be worked into a three-tire pattern.

[Community Alumni]

In 40,000+ miles on the original tires, I rotated them twice giving each tire time on the front axle. This was due to the steering tires scrubbing the tread on the outside. If it wasn't for this issue, I would leave the tires alone. I did maintain tire rotation direction each time. The posted chart seems to violate that recommended rule. The fleet tire service that did our company trucks did not rotate tires unless there was a mitigating circumstance. Going forward, I am going to avoid rotation altogether. If past experience is any indicator, the front tires will run less miles and the rear will go longer. The next trip to the tire store will be 1/3rd the cost. I did consider putting rib or steering tires on the front and traction tires on the rear as was my work truck. That arrangement proved itself out during winter and wet weather. Handling on the highway was improved as well. Your mileage may vary, as they say. I went from the Continental Vanco to the Michelin LTX MS/2. After 2,000 miles I can say that it is a step up in ride, handling, traction and quietness. Too early to tell on the longevity.

[EsoxLucius]

Chuck the Tire Man has a recommended procedure for rotating tires on vehicles with rear duallys. It's not very involved, yet ensures long tire life. He would be glad to share his 35 years of experience, give him a call.

[GrumpyandGrandm]

According to Michelin unless you see an un-even wear pattern rotation is normally not needed for MH tires with the caveat to follow what the chassis manufacturer recommends. So follow the Ford owner's manual.

[Francesca_Knowl]

Assuming it's a dually and all tires are the same size, these are recommended rotation patterns. (Note that some choices depend on whether you already have any visible signs of uneven wear.)

[rvten]

By the time the front tires on my MH wear. They will be do for change by date anyway. Reason many of us do not rotate tires.

[j-d]

As noted, the fronts on a C wear more than the rear, and I think a spare should also be run on the road periodically. So maybe annually, I would take Spare to Left Front, Left Front to Right Front, Right Front to Spare. Otherwise come replacement time you have an Old New Spare.

[artguys]

LOOK...check any major parking area(as in a Walmart) and those vehicles that have not had a tire rotation, the right front tire will have excess wear on the outside crown...this is the major weakness of the radial tire design.

Ask any tire professional for confirmation on this and they should conclude,,,but ask them why and none can give you a reason why. I can.

[artguys]

Rotation is necessary...Right front tire will always have excessive wear on the outside of the crown..simply move the fronts to the rear rotating them in the same direction...all current manufactures claim cross rotations are ok...but all tires pick up a rotational set,even radials, and therefore I would do a same rotation of the tire pattern...meaning keep them rolling the same direction.

[rvten]

I never rotate the MH tires.

[Bobbo]

This is my opinion only.

You rotate tires to keep tread wear even. An RV isn't driven enough to wear the tread. They have to be replaced due to aging, and the tread still looks brand new.

So, no visible tread wear, no need to rotate.

[CloudDriver]

Most RV tires are replaced due to age, rather than having the tread worn out, so tire rotation isn't as important as on a car.

I never rotate the rear tires on our E450 chassis, but do rotate the front tires and the spare. This gives me a chance to inspect the front brake pads for wear, the tread for unusual wear patterns, the front wheel bearings for looseness/roughness and check the steering linkage for looseness. I do the job in the driveway using a 6 ton bottle jack and have a torque wrench to properly tighten the lug nuts to spec.

In my experience with tire shops, the air wrenches used to tighten lug nuts produce uneven torque on the lug nuts and often over torque, which could lead to failure of the lug bolts. After replacing all tires a few months back due to the Michelin recall, I loosened and properly torqued all the lug nuts when I got the RV home. I found that most of the nuts were way too tight.

[tpi]

How does the wear pattern look? I usually rotate tires as needed depending on wear. Most of my vehicles one rotation during the tire's life. On my class C I haven't seen uneven wear and probably won't rotate. For me a consideration is tire age vs. mileage. It is unlikely I'll wear the tires out before they get old enough to be replaced due to age.

[1492]

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