Conax

I failed to rotate the tires on my new 1987 S-10 p/up for the life of the truck. With 200,000 plus miles, I had used three sets of tires. At replacement they looked remarkably similar to one another. I have never rotated a tire since.
With good maintenance on the suspension and chassis, I don't think tire rotation is very important. It is more important to always keep them inflated right.

I rotate them like crazy every time I leave the house :)

firemangeorge

S10 being a rear wheel drive maybe didn't matter that much.
Now an HHR where the front wheels do all the work of pulling/turning and the rears only job is to hold up the back of the car....you'd better rotate the tires.
AND, the OP has a SS so there is the potential for more wear on his depending on his driving habits.

Conax

Yeah, maybe moving them from front to back might help tire life. I never turn a tire though. No peeling out, no squealing brakes, I drive it like it was a Rolls.
I like to be smooth. All that kid's stuff is 30 years behind me, being older now.
I slow down over rough pavement. I won't go through puddles unless there's no way around. It's no wonder my tires last for years.
haha

Casa Del Gatos

Guessing you are not driving an SS.
Mine put the "kid's stuff" back in my mind, front and center!

Silverfox

I Hate to Admit it but I do not Rotate my tires and I was in the Tire business for 15years.
I hate anybody messing with my tires and wheels once I get them perfect.
Since I live near the Pacific Ocean we do not get extreme hot weather, 80 degrees in the summer is unusual.

So with that said ... I run Michelin Ice3 tires year around so I do not even have to Screw with snow tires in the winter and I am ready all the time.
These tires run perfect at 70MPH but I do not drive them over 60 as a rule because that is the maximum speed limit in all of this area.
The only down side is they wear slightly faster but that's the price I pay for the convenience. It's a personal decision.

The things I do instead of Rotation are,
Watch front tire wear patterns for any unusual signs of trouble.
Keep my tires properly balanced and inflated for the seasons at all times.
Had the Tire Dealer inflate new Michelins with Nitrogen.
Replace shocks before they start to fail.
Pay attention to unusual front end noises from part failure.
Slow down on rough roads and speed bumps.
Keep radical driving to a minimum especially on corners.

The only issue I have ever had was with 3 different New Chevy Venture Vans that had a rear axle alignment problem from the factory.
Rears ended up cupping at about 20,000 miles on all 3.
GM denied there was an issue but I finally found an EX GM mechanic that found and fixed the problem for $80 saying that they knew it but did not admit to it.

Silverfox

Conax

You're right about that. My car is a 2.2 auto econobox.
Runs great, for what I need. Which is trouble-freeness.

RJ_RS_SS_350

The new tire came in today, so they just now mounted and balanced it. They measured the tread wear again, it must be in their procedure to do it every visit. 2 of the tires had "worn" another 1 or 2/32", so that tells me it is not at all an accurate tool.

What components should I look at first, that, if worn, would cause the tire to wear out prematurely, but evenly across the tire? I'm thinking LCA rear bushings? I've already replaced the sway bar end links.

donbrew

Sway bar would have no effect on road use wear. The only thing I can think of is boosting off of stoplights or rally racing on a right turn track, maybe a sticky caliper on one side.

Casa Del Gatos

LOL! I was going to say "accelerator abuse"

Oldblue

Worn LCA bushings would be suspected