Tire rotation in the manual

Can anybody explain the need for 2 different images showing the exact same procedure?
Is it something I don’t understand in here?
The way I see it, they just complicate things unnecessarily.

 

nevermind, i got it, it's the spare !

 

Tire rotation??

Don't my tires rotate as I drive.

 

Only if you have 245/60R20 is the spare put into play.

 

Don't forget to rotate the lug nuts too!

 

I have always thought Toyota's recommended rotation pattern is odd and found it created uneven wear on large lugged all terrain tires. I use a modified X pattern instead, backs to front, fronts switch sides and go the back.

 

Several tire shops in Colorado and off-road shops have told me that off-road tires with big lugs starts to pull heavily to one side or the other if they are cross rotated. And this has nothing to do with your alignment.

 

I agree. I do a "Z" pattern. I've made it a point to change the direction of rotation on my last few sets with great results!

How long does this take? I have about 17 - 18K on my Yokohama MT's and have rotated them 3 times so far. I have no pull, and perfect wear.

 

No idea, but that’s what I’ve been quoted and that’s what I do.

 

I think they're just trying to sell more tires.

 

Dang, I now realize I've had my tires rotated twice and they didn't include the spare. 20" rims here.

 

F my life. I’ve always done the X rotation

 

Yep, I do similar on a 5 tire rotate. But the left front goes to spare, spare goes to right rear.

 

I'd read once that the purpose of back-to-front rotation on the same side is to prevent changing the tire's direction of rotation. While it seems intuitive that you'd get more even tread wear by doing a "Z" or "X" rotation, the theory as I understand it has been that this is bad for the radial belts, potentially making the tires less safe. And most cars I've had in recent years have recommended this back-to-front method.

However, in looking up current advice, it seems that some kind of cross pattern is usually recommended.

See https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...3p.ds&ef_id=YVOOeQAAAOJ3wTMO:20210928215153:s

And https://www.bridgestonetire.com/learn/maintenance/tire-rotation/

So, weird. The back-to-front-on-the-same-side method shown in the Toyota manual seems to be recommended only when the tires are directional -- ie have treads designed to work best in only one direction of rotation. So far as I know, that's not what any 4Runners have.

I have no clue what the truth actually is, but it is strange that Toyota (and I think other makers) are generally recommending something other than what the tire manufacturers recommend.

 

It could just be a generic pattern to cover their own asses if an owner were to switch to directional tires. I've noticed the same thing, though. I would go by the tire manufacturers recommendation before Toyota's.

 

When I finally get real tires I’m gonna cycle in the spare on rotation. With 11K miles and two rotations already, I’m thinking I’ve missed the boat on the OEM tires.

 

Unless something has changed, none of the 4Runner models have a matching spare. Even the Limited has some weird yellow painted spare, unless that has changed recently.

 

Dunno about the past but my 2020 Limited has a matching spare tire and wheel. Presumably this is why the manual recommends cycling the spare into the rotation on vehicles with the 20” rims.

The spare also has TPMS that shows on the dash. So when I look up my pressures I see the numbers for the spare in addition to each of the four. Another little feature that comes with the Limited.

 

They all have matching spare tires, just not necessarily matching spare wheels.

 

At the risk of stating the obvious: The lack of a matching spare wheel on the other models would explain why Toyota doesn't recommend cycling the spare into the rotation schedule. They only recommend it for 4Runners with 20" tires, cause the only 4Runner that has 20" tires is the only 4Runner that comes with a matching spare wheel (i.e. the Limited).

 

Wow, this is gonna turn into another oil change thread.

 

I rotate my tires every 1000 miles and anyone who does otherwise is a dumb dumb. Plus, when I do so I only use Toyota-branded lug wrenches, cause the ones from Walmart have less moly in them. Also, it's vitally important to use only high viscosity air. The air Toyota recommends for its tires is too thin, and they spec it just for gas mileage -- even though they know it will increase tread wear, forcing you to buy new tires sooner. Y'all have been warned.

 

That's pretty pimpin that the spare matches on the limiteds. they should advertise that better! maybe people will buy them with the ugly ass front facia and ground effects.........

 

I wonder if the fact that the limited is AWD is relevant here. Different diameter tires is bad on AWD vehicles (had someone tell me recently that if you blow a tire on a Subaru, you can’t just replace the blown one. You have to replace all four (assuming the tires aren’t near-new).

 

I think this applies to 4wd vehicles as well. The limited at least has a center diff to allow the front and rear axles to spin at different speeds.

 

You forgot about filling the tires with nitrogen!!

 

The whole thing about tread wear having to match on AWD or 4WD vehicles seems overblown to me. The front wheels are usually going to spin at a different rate than the rears anyway, so how much difference can it make if you add in slightly different tire diameters. That's why there's an unlocked center diff -- to accommodate such differences.

There should be even less of an issue on vehicles like the SR5 and ORP, since they're running in RWD except in very slippery conditions where, again, there's going to be a big difference in front and rear rotation speeds no matter how well the tires are matched.

Maybe an engineer on here can explain what I'm missing, but I def don't get it. Sure, slightly different diameters will in principle add stress to the drivetrain. But in practice it seems to me the drivetrain will notice such differences less than it notices all the stress that comes from the front wheels spinning at a different speed with every little nudge of the steering wheel.

 

I totally agree! The whole point of the differential is to allow the wheels to turn at different speeds. Having a slightly larger or smaller spare seems like it would be no different than driving around in a large circle.

 

I always thought the same thing. But I was told is that engaging the differential to spin the wheels at different speeds heats it up and then things go bad. Normally the pinion gear spins the ring gear (the big one), but the spider gears aren't turning when driving in a straight line. When those spider gears engage apparently that's when things start really heating up. I don't know if it's due to their small relative size or what... I'm not a mechanical engineer.

I still figure this would only apply to loss of traction situation where someone decides to keep throttling it but I'm not willing to test it. Nor do I have a temperature reading on my diff to see how much things start heating up when driving in a circle for 15 minutes straight, not that I do that haha.

 

High viscosity nitrogen, or plain ol' OTC?