I know your drive wheels are the ones that wear the most, but if you will need to replace them after a few years regardless of wear eventually or they'll dry rot away.

 

I hate useless gizmos like the TPMS, and hate the government agency that impose these gizmos on us, even more......

A driver that can't check the tire pressure on his car, once a month, shouldn't drive IMHO. PERIOD.

To hell with the TPMS system, me says.

Long live the simple tire pressure gauge. Don't need to read a 3 page instruction manual to use it

 

You are correct. Some vehicles come with directional wheels or tires which should only be rotated front to back. Some have different offsets Like the 80's Camaro and Firebird which could only be rotated side to side. Some Like the Corvette and Acura NSX Can never be rotated. Truth is; any different position you put your tires in helps to maintain an even wear pattern, but you also need to maintain proper air pressure and vehicle alignment otherwise rotating is useless.

 

I learned way back when, actually worked at a "Service Station" ('70-'75) you don't see those any more, rotating was real important for tire life.
That was when getting a 30,000 mile (pro-rated) tire was a plus, now that's just basic stuff, I don't even think you see that low a warranty any more.

 

Tire mileage warranties are just selling features anyway designed to try and make a tire seem better than the one you can afford. Mileage warranties are "suggested" by the manufacturer, the dealer is who decides what mileage warranty to put on it. In the 19 years I was in the biz, I saw different tires come and go, then come back five years later with a higher mileage warranty and a different name but $30 more a tire and actually cost less than five years before. Now some tires do actually come from the manufacturer with a mileage warranty but the process to actually receive credit for said tire is truly an act of God. If the consumer actually was able to see the true cost of a tire you'd be imbarrassed. The mark-up on most tires you see"in-stock" is well over 50%. In most cases the only difference from the "good ,better ,and best" is what you pay for it, the manufacturing process or "green tire" is exactly the same. The tires you buy from Wal-Mart, Sams, Costco. Big-O, NTB, Discount Tire, ETC.. are all the same with different names. I've seen this first hand, I've been in the manufacturing facilities, and I've had a chance to test tires before they even make it to market.

 

Dealer is giving me a hard time over warranty visit to update RCDLR to update manual relearn procedure. I put my factory wheels back on and rotated. I trie the relearn procedure from the manual multiple times, draining & refilling the tire, only to have the system time out after 2 minutes. The dealer says they will reset with their tech tool, and charge me $51.50. I argue that this is a warranty issue, as the relaern feature is a user servicable item that is not functioning properly. They argue that they use a tech tool, and don't do the manual method. I argue about what about the next time I rotate tires.Using their reste tool doesn't solve my problem. I also gave them copies of the TSG from this site, with instructions, but they still want to treat me like and idiot and charge me $51.50. I am writting to GM to warn of either a warranty problem, or service issue that they are treating as a proprietory problem. If I change tires, I have to go back to them each time?

 

wish i could say that with mine..... rotated every 6,000 miles i have 42,000 miles on them and they show wear, should replace them going to try to make it through winter.

 

Radial tires are rotated front to rear on the same side. If you criss-cross 'em, you change the direction of rotation and you'll rip up the treat. Old bias ply tires you could do the X rotation; but NOT with radials.

 

Suggest you put the rears on the front and new ones on the rear.

 

Being a Nam Vet, and a HHR crazy, I like the quote and the reference to the "blank check".