When is too much over-servicing never enough?

[brad]

I cross-rotate my tyres every 10,000km. I'm not sure if I'd be willing to pay for it but DIY allows me a chance to clean the wheels & brakes & apply some wax to the wheels.

[DV52]

I cross-rotate my tyres every 10,000km. I'm not sure if I'd be willing to pay for it but DIY allows me a chance to clean the wheels & brakes & apply some wax to the wheels.

Brad: Have you had any experience with the scallop issue on the back wheels and have you noticed increased road noise?
If the main motivation for tire rotation is more economical use of the four tires, do you have a view of the breakeven point where the accumulated additional cost at each maintenance exceeds the saving gained over the life of the tire?

[brad]

Brad: Have you had any experience with the scallop issue on the back wheels and have you noticed increased road noise?

If you put scalloped rear tyres directly to the front they won't be any noisier but you will notice the noise more because you are behind the noise not in front of it (Same reason the put First Class at the front of an aeroplane).

If you put the drive tyres to the other end (same side) and the lazy axle is put to the other side (L to R; R to L) then the noise will initially be even louder as the high spot has gone from being on the trailing edge to the leading edge but it should eventually wear off.

If the alignment has been done right, by adjusting the settings to suit the symptoms rather than blindly following the manufacturers specs, then you shouldn't be getting scalloping.

If the main motivation for tire rotation is more economical use of the four tires, do you have a view of the breakeven point where the accumulated additional cost at each maintenance exceeds the saving gained over the life of the tire?

No idea. I just do it because it has to be done no matter how good the alignment is and I like to buy my tyres as a set of 4.

You can get a 1200kg jack & some 4x stands for < $100 at SCA - less on special. If you are a bit limp-wristed it also gives you an excuse to buy a decent 18v cordless impact driver

[Transporter]

Brad: Have you had any experience with the scallop issue on the back wheels and have you noticed increased road noise?
If the main motivation for tire rotation is more economical use of the four tires, do you have a view of the breakeven point where the accumulated additional cost at each maintenance exceeds the saving gained over the life of the tire?

The question is, will you be paying less for the service without tyres rotation?
You probably find out that only the extra cost is the balancing the tyres. Which is most likely unnecessary on many cars, but if needed and not done, then out of balance wheel will have a negative impact on the steering components. The experienced drivers should (will) know when is the time to get the wheels balanced.

Sent from my GT-N8000

[Umai Naa!!]

The last VW dealership I was working for, they charged out a rotate and balance at 0.3 of an hour, with the labour rate for VW (multi-franchised dealership) at $130/hr +GST.

[lambertia]

With the fixed price servicing the cost shouldn't be an issue for three years. I think.

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[Diesel_vert]

For advice and recommendations on maintenance regarding tyres in active service, the operator should always defer to the vehicle manufacturer in the first instance and the tyre manufacturer in the second instance.

In principle, Volkswagen recommends regularly rotating the tyres, but do not specify an interval. As per above, this means the operator must then seek the advice of the tyre manufacturer - which is to say (in the absence of specific recommendations from the vehicle manufacturer) that most major tyre manufacturers recommend that a tyre rotation be performed every 5 000 to 10 000 km. As a guide, the faster the vehicle promotes irregular wear patterns on its tyres, the sooner the rotation interval should be, and vice versa.

This was not an issue when vehicle service intervals were short, but the advent of extended service intervals has turned it into an issue of convenience, where the operator now has to arrange for the vehicle to have its tyres rotated out of sync with the vehicle manufacturer's scheduled service intervals.

Despite that, tyre rotations are not part of the scheduled service for Volkswagen vehicles and most dealers will charge the work separately and in addition to the routine service work.

I offer my own opinion on the issue and recommend one of two actions:

1. To arrange for the vehicle to have its tyres rotated every 7 500 km for Volkswagen vehicles on a 15 000 km service interval.

The rationale being that for tyres to benefit from rotation, it must be performed regularly, with the aim of preventing the tyre from semi-permanently forming undesirable tread wear patterns. As the tread compound ages, the longer it is left on a particular axle position, the harder it is for the tyre to level out wear patterns using tyre rotations. In this instance, I recommend using the forward-cross rotation pattern for vehicles with a FWD layout, as this allows all tyres to be eventually fitted on each of four axle positions at one stage or another during their service life.

2. Do not rotate the tyres at all.

If regular tyre rotations cannot be arranged and the driver does not notice any unusual noises from the tyres, it may be better to leave the tyres in their respective axle positions.

However, if tread noise becomes a significant issue, it may be worth rotating the tyres using the front-to-rear rotation pattern, where the front and rear tyre positions are simply swapped (without any cross or side rotations). If not successful, either performing a forward-cross rotation, X rotation pattern, shaving the tread surface (as is practiced in motorsport - in extreme cases) or purchasing new tyres may be the only solution.



On the issue of tyre balancing, while it is not inconceivable that the wheel assembly may become unbalanced during its service life (for instance, the wheel balance weights may fall off from kerbing, a weak glue compound or improper fitting procedures), it is not common and should only need rebalancing if vibrations are felt from the steering wheel or the chassis itself at a specific speed or speed range.

[DV52]

I offer my own opinion on the issue and recommend one of two actions:

1. To arrange for the vehicle to have its tyres rotated every 7 500 km for Volkswagen vehicles on a 15 000 km service interval.

2. Do not rotate the tyres at all.

Diesel_Vert: A well reasoned and balanced synopsis of the countervailing issues! Many thanks

[brad]

With the fixed price servicing the cost shouldn't be an issue for three years. I think.

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rotate & balance isn't included in the fixed price service regime (or the non-fixed price service regime). Some dealers did do a rotate for free but their service pricing reflected this "free" service.