Tire rotation

[nautiquecowboy]

Does anyone know how often you should rotate your tires on a motorhome I have a Thor axis with 14000 miles on it

[JamieGeek]

I don't think there is a rotation pattern for it due to the duallys in the rear.

[Djfred]

I read somewhere that the two front tires should be switched when you have duallys,not the rears.The shop that does my work says they should be rotated to the inside of the rear duals.So not really sure,would like to know myself.My Axis is at 13000 miles.

[Shawn62]

I have found there is differing guidance on tire rotations for RVs. The chassis manufacturer, tire manufacturer and service centers will give you different advice. Check out www.floridashorestruckcenter.com website under the TIPS heading for RV tire mayhem. Nice educational video there. Regardless of tire rotation be vigilant in keeping suspension components and front end alignment up to snuff.

[Miramar Owner]

I have never rotated my tires on any of the 3 motorhomes I've owned. It has been my experience they are replaced due to age before wear would be an issue if properly maintained.

[Mitch S]

the last diagram that I saw showed moving the outer rear tires to the front, the inner duals to the outside and the front to the inner rear.

[saerdna]

We bought a slight used 2015 Vegas 24.1. The inspector pointed out that the front tires were unevenly worn (after only 4K miles) and recommended a front-end alignment. That helped the handling a lot.

Then we rotated the tires - and that made an amazing difference. Our local tire shop recommended rotation every 5K miles, changing the front tires with duallys from one side (and next rotating with duallys from the other side).

If your tires are perfect, you might not notice the difference. If, like us, you had a vehicle that was out of alignment for a while, it might give a noticeable handling improvement.

Andy
2015 Vegas 24.1

[nautiquecowboy]

Thanks for everyone's advice going to the truck shop locally and see what they have to say also again thanks

[Captain.Kirk]

Question to group I have 24.1 any idea average life of tires?

[axis earl]

Originally Posted by Captain.Kirk

Question to group I have 24.1 any idea average life of tires?

Remember one thing. Most of our tires on our RVs don't see the miles like driving a regular family vehicle. They sit there, taking abuse from the sun and weather. Miles usually don't matter, years do. The number of years you have racked up before you should consider replacing will be a point of discussion but for pure safety, most say that around five years old, start saving your money for a new set, no matter how many miles are on them. This is why you frequently see travel trailers on the side of the road with blown tires. People ignore the age of the tires because the tread looks so new. I am obsessed with covering the tires on our Axis, even on a weekend trip. Lots of web sites on the subject to do your research.

[Captain.Kirk]

Thank you

[Shawn62]

Originally Posted by saerdna

We bought a slight used 2015 Vegas 24.1. The inspector pointed out that the front tires were unevenly worn (after only 4K miles) and recommended a front-end alignment. That helped the handling a lot.

Then we rotated the tires - and that made an amazing difference. Our local tire shop recommended rotation every 5K miles, changing the front tires with duallys from one side (and next rotating with duallys from the other side).

If your tires are perfect, you might not notice the difference. If, like us, you had a vehicle that was out of alignment for a while, it might give a noticeable handling improvement.

Andy
2015 Vegas 24.1

Andy,

How much did your shop charge to rotate your RV tires? If u don't mind me asking.

Shawn

[tenbear]

I have never rotated my tires. I look for cracking of the sidewalls and replace the tires every 5-7 years. The tread still looks new.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by Mitch S

the last diagram that I saw showed moving the outer rear tires to the front, the inner duals to the outside and the front to the inner rear.

Yep. 👍

[Thehobe1]

Rotation of tires on a vehicle is normally done to equalize the wear on tires. With radials, the rotation should be from back to front, keeping the rotated tires on the same side, keeping the tire rolling direction the same. On an RV, since there are normally 6 tires, rotation seems unnecessary because you cannot do this without mismatching the rear tires. I would just replace the front tires when needed as well as the rear tires when needed even if this means going to the tire installer twice. You can also sell used tires to avoid the "recycle" charge when there is still some wear, 5-10K miles and probably come out ahead or sell the front tires when the rear tires are 1/2 worn to optimize your steering and safety.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by Thehobe1

Rotation of tires on a vehicle is normally done to equalize the wear on tires. With radials, the rotation should be from back to front, keeping the rotated tires on the same side, keeping the tire rolling direction the same. On an RV, since there are normally 6 tires, rotation seems unnecessary because you cannot do this without mismatching the rear tires.

You’re incorrect. Radials do not have directional construction, so they can be run either direction.

You can go to Tire Rack’s website and lookup tire rotation to see the correct, 6-wheel rotation diagram.

[JamieGeek]

Here is TireRack.com's 6 tire rotation pattern:


From the Tire Rotation Instructions page.

[Thehobe1]

Originally Posted by ducnut

You’re incorrect. Radials do not have directional construction, so they can be run either direction.

You can go to Tire Rack’s website and lookup tire rotation to see the correct, 6-wheel rotation diagram.

OK. But again...why are you rotating the tires? I do it on a car for wear and for the front tire wear due to cornering wear. On an RV, you may have more wear on the rear tires due to weight distribution. I still like my idea of independent replacement of front and rear tires instead of rotation and of course aging as well.

[saerdna]

Originally Posted by Shawn62

Andy,

How much did your shop charge to rotate your RV tires? If u don't mind me asking.

Shawn

In my case it was ridiculously cheap - somewhere around $35 to rotate tires and inspect tires/brakes/shocks (which really can't have gone wrong given that we just broke 10K miles last summer).

[Willard164]

All good discussion... my Ford F-350 DRW required "flipping" the rears, and exchanging the fronts, mainly because the inner rear wheels were steel and the other alloy wheels were left unfinished by Ford on the insides.

JamieGeeks's diagram is a good model to follow.

Some will argue that mixing front tires with rear tires "may" result in the rear tires being a different mounted diameter, due to a different wear pattern as a steer tire. A dual tire axle want tires of EQUAL mounted diameter, or one tire takes more of the load. Crowned roads always raised havoc with DRW vehicles, Thus JamieGeek's right-hand diagram seems to make more sense. Keep the rears wearing the same... cross front L-to-R, and replace in sets of two or four... unless they rot from age/UV destruction beforehand.

Willard164
Eastern NC
2017 Thor Axis 24.1