Bandit2941

When I was rotating my tires yesterday I figured I'd take some pictures and make a how to for some of you guys that haven't done it before.

Tools Needed:

1/2" drive breaker bar
1/2" drive torque wrench
1/2" drive 3/4" deep socket
2 floor jacks OR 1 floor jack and a jackstand (its easier with 2 jacks)

Start by loosening all the lug nuts when the car is still on the ground with the breaker bar.



Next, jack up one corner of the car (I started with the left front tire).




When the car is up, finish taking off the lugnuts by hand, and remove the tire and wheel.



I noticed that the inside of my front wheels were really grimey from brake dust and figured now would be the perfect time to clean them, since you can see the black grime through the spokes in the wheel. Check out how nasty they were.



I used soap, water and an old wash mitt but that didn't quite do the trick. I went inside and grabbed a scotch brite pad, that seemed to work pretty good at lifting the crap off the back of the wheels.



While I was at it, I went over the fronts really good with a wash mitt. Got the brake grime out of the crevices and stuff. I didn't use the scotch brite since I didn't need it and I was afraid of scratching the wheel.



Now that your old left front tire and rim are nice and clean, its time to jack up the left rear of the car.



Remove the left rear wheel and replace it with the one you took off from the left front, putting all the lugnuts on finger tight (I use the socket with my hand). The tire you just took off the left rear now goes to the right front. Let the jack down on the left rear and go to the right front. Jack the right front of the car up, and you should now have the front end off the ground on both sides. Replace the left front with the tire you removed from the left rear. Drop the jack on the right front, jack up the right rear. Replace the right rear tire with the one you just removed from the right front. Then put the tire you just took off of the right rear onto the left front and you can drop both jacks.

Now, set your torque wrench to 100 lb ft of torque as per the owners manual. On my torque wrench, it looks like this:



Tighten each lug nut until the wrench clicks and you're done. Usually what I do is get each lugnut somewhat close (maybe 50 or 75 lbs) then go in for the final tightening in one continuous motion. This ensures that the torque ends up being what it's supposed to be. Also, when tightening the lug nuts, be sure to use the star pattern. In other words, tighten one lug nut, then do the one across from it, then do the one across from that etc, so that if you were to connect each lugnut in the order you tightened them it would make a star (I hope I'm being clear enough about this).


Here's a comparison of a front and a rear tire (front on the right, obviously) after 9300 miles:

CobaltBurst

its cheaper IMO not to rotate your tires and just keep replacing the fronts

nice how to...

Also you SS owners with the gunmetal looking wheels becareful when inserting the socket b/c its easy to scratch the paint even on the inside of the lug hole.

patathSS

Are you sure it is 3/4"? I thought it was 19mm. Good write up. Those rims look awesome.

Bandit2941

For all intents and purposes, 3/4" = 19 mm.

19 mm = 0.748"

So the 3/4" socket I used was probably .002" too big

sscobalt06

You could just use an impact instead of the breaker bar too.

mqqn

hi Bandit -

Very nice write-up! thanks!

I wrap the socket with black electric tape to further prevent scratches around the holes on the wheel.

Also, I would add that I step the lug torque down in three steps - 50ftl/bs, 75 ft/lbs and then finish with 100 ft/lbs.

I do like to rotate the tires even on front wheel drive cars.

best regards -

mqqn

ggarcia86

dont forget to use the proper (star) torque pattern, i use it when i take the wheels off too.

Bandit2941

Yeah - an air impact would work just fine but I wanted to be careful about not scratching my pretty lug nuts

I forgot to mention in the how to about the proper sequence for tightening them up, I'll edit it now.

css9450

I doubt anyone who's unsure of how to rotate their tires owns a torque wrench, let alone an air impact.

Nice pics though.

Tomtwtwtw

The only thing I'd add is that I belive the SS/SC's summer tires are unidirectional, so you'd only rotate front to back, and not side to side as you would with the all-season tires. Otherwise great info.

Asstyme

Hrmmm....I hope not because I just rotated mine side to side like the manual says

Bandit2941

I think the manual would say if the tire is directional. Just look at the tire, if its directional there will be an arrow somewhere or other marking that shows which way is forward.

automobiliben

I just rotated my tires and did them front to back on the same side. Then came in and read this thread saying the tires on the SS-SC were non-directional which I couldn't believe. So sure enough I went out and checked the tires and they say radial right on them (I am 99.99% sure that radial means non directional). So looks like next time I will be rotating them front left to back right and vice versa. Any ideas, rotating them on the same side won't hurt anything will it?...I doubt.

ggarcia86

yeah its deff safe to rotate front to back, and radial doesnt mean non directional but i think it means non biased ply. just check for an arrow that points the direction of rotation.

Blackout06LS

Nice write-up. What was the ET for the whole process? I'm glad I'm able to do mine at work. Hehe 10 minutes.

I use a 19mm and a 100lb torquestik.

ted5986

i was hoping someone would bring that up...not only should you not switch from left to right with a directional tire...but any radial tire. afterrotating a radial tire one direction for a length of time then switching it rotate in the oposite direction, yo upset the belt and you may get a bumpy ride..not to mention an oddly worn tire.

hatrickstu

iTrader: (1)

actually i was surprised to find out that the stock pirellis for the ss/sc are not unidirectional, just go look at the tread pattern, and the sidewall

on another note, it is a much more intelligent choice to jack the car up and leave it on jackstands while working on the car rather than have a jack or two holding it up

Blackout06LS

Rotate tires every 6000 miles and just front to back is the most common way. Since most people are not religious about it. You get complants about a bumpy ride so front to back eliminated a lot of the complaints just like that.

aweSOMeBalt

Ok n00b question here, rotating the stock tires on the SS front to back doesnt require tire balancing?? Because the tread on my front tires is getting verrrrry low and I dont want to have to pay to have them rotated.

galeblanc

Thanks for this write-up. I was looking for the exact socket to use. I'll have to get a 19mm deep socket because I was trying it with the short one and it worked for a few lugs but then there was one that I started scrapping. It's ok because I can replace it with a spare I have (when I put my lock lugs).

Thanks for the write-up. I also will clean them. That's a good idea!

pnoi604

Ok I would like to know the same thing and also I have been getting confused whether to rotate just front to back or also left to right.

Tomtwtwtw

Unless you have unidirectional tread, you usually move the backs straight to the front, and the fronts switch sides on the way to the back.

LSCobaltlover05

Anyone know what to do on the LS Balts. Do your just switch front to back, or cross them? Thanks.

NS06G5

check your tire sidewall, if you see anykind of arrow or direction indicator, rotate front to back. If you don't find anykind of direction indicator, then you can do the front right to rear left, but like said above, it will/may cause a bumpy ride.

On all the trucks&cars I've ever owned, I've always rotated front to back regardless of the tire type.

zillaguy07

As far as balancing is concerned, you wont need a rebalance when you do a rotation, unless you had a balance problem before hand. If you have an off-balance tire, you wil feel a vibraton in either the steering wheel (front tire off balance) or in the seat/floor (rear tire off balance).

In a perfect world, once a tire is balanced, it doesnt matter where it is installed on the car, except for the cases of directional tires.