[swoermck]

Hi,

for around 8 years I was driving my 2000 WJ (Quadra Drive), on- and offroad, never had to use the spare tire :2thumbsup:

But reading through various threads here that an unused spare tire can kill the vari-loks, even if the spare has the same size ( but obviously different wear on the 4 tires in use) scares me!

One solution I read is doing the 5 tire rotation, but miles is obviously not the measurement to determine when to start rotation - so here my simple question:

what measure of tire wear do you consider adequate to bring the spare time into the game?

thanks,

Stefan

 

[narnwv]

it's right at 2/32nds of an inch difference is acceptable.

 

[madZJ]

Rotate at every oil change should be about right.

 

[kdsimmons19]

it's right at 2/32nds of an inch difference is acceptable.

listen to this guy.

 

[swoermck]

thanks to you all!

Another question coming into my mind: how do you rotate? Circle? or better never cross (left/right)?

Reason for asking: in the user guide of our Wrangler Rubicon (JK, 2008) they advise to rotate like this: put front tires to rear and cross them, while putting rear tires straight to front (without changing from left to right)?

Don't know if it is a wise decision to cross tires.. but as I read it in the user guide I aspect that there is a reason behind it.. or only valid for Wrangler as they have no vari-loks?

Stefan

 

[swoermck]

any ideas about best practice for 5 tire rotation?

My guess would be:

first rotation:
--------------
- exchange (new) spare tire with e.g left front tire (as less wear on the front, so hopefully almost equal and wouldn't harm the vari-loks)
- then exchange front tire with rear ones

second rotation:
-----------------
- exchange (used) spare tire with right front tire
- then again exchange front with rear

correct schema? Or will I run into trouble as I put the left front tire (from 1st rotation) to the right (2nd rotation)?

Generally speaking - don't feel very comfortable having different wear on the tires with 5 tire rotation - I already had to exchange my vari-loks front and rear with 220'000 km (136'000 miles) - effectiveness front and rear was down to appr. 50%

What do you think?

 

[fast540]

Yes

 

[ezflip]

Are you doing this starting from all new tires, or do the four on the jeep now have significant wear? If thats the case, I wouldn't even throw the spare into it and just pray that you dont need to use it. If starting from 5 new tires, put the spare on the right rear, move the rears to the front (straight) put the right front on the rear left and the front left as your spare. It doesn't really matter how you do it, as long as each tire hits every corner and you keep it consistent.

 

[MEinSoCal]

 

[cde02ltd]

We have owned our 2002 limited with quadradrive since new, and have never done the 5 tire rotation. The dealer said it was not necessary. Question on this, what happens if you have a flat? Since this system is so sensitive if you don't stop immediately, you have ruined the system. My point is you are not going to be able to stop immediately, and the system is toast. So what's the benefit of the five tire rotation? I am sure I will get lots of flack on this comment.

 

[Harriedtwo]

When I bought my 2000 JGC back in October, the tires were the same size (17") but each had a different tread depth. One had 10/32", two had 6/32", and the last one had 7/32" depth. The spare is a 17" tire. The ride was very squirrly and didn't feel safe at all. The difference in tread depth was also of concern since Jeep says no more than 2/32" difference in tread depth or the transfer case could be destroyed. This applies to all Quadadrives. I sold the tires and replaced them with tires which have the same aspect ratio as the original 17" tire. Now I can use the spare. When these tires wear out, I'll be able to keep all in rotation once I install the new ones. I have used the pattern #7 for rotating my tires on all my vehicles. (Of course, I never remember to rotate the truck (Dodge 2500) tires since its a PITA to drop the tire. I need to put it into the rotation.) Regardless of what the dealer says, include the spare in the rotation so it will get an equal amount of wear as the other tires. This way, if you need to use it, it won't cause any damage to your drive train. My thoughts for your consideration.

 

[ancientspear]

Where did 2/32" come from? Last time we covered this it was 3/32". Confused...

Either way, I've had good results working in a new 5th with 16,000 miles of wear on the original 4 (2/32nds of wear) by doubling up the rotation frequency and always keeping the new tire in use.

The idea of the 5 tire rotation pattern shown above is to keep even wear on both edges of the non-directional tires by having them switch from one side to the other as well as front/back. This way you have even traction wear for moving and braking on all four tires in use. Since I came from the 4WD 4 tire rotation (front/back) method, it meant I had to modify my 5 tire rotation pattern to ensure the new one caught up to the wear on the old guys while putting wear on the new tire on both sides. This starts with doubling up the rotation frequency and always keeping the new tire in the rear where most the power goes.

Also, if you're looking for the ideal spot to place the new tire, step on the skinny while on a slick surface. If your rear end goes in one direction more than the other, that's the one with slippage where the new tire's tread will most likely compensate for uneven power/weight distribution and stop the lateral movement. How do I know? I followed someone's advice on that and sure enough I no longer moved sideways at all while hammering the throttle on slick ice.

 

[swoermck]

Are you doing this starting from all new tires,

Exactly! Just ordered a set of 5 Goodyear Duratracs, supposed to arrive next week - and as I never did (and needed) 5 - tire rotation before, just want to make sure I'll do it correct from the start!

And MEinSoCal, thanks for the diagram, this makes things crystal clear - so for the Quadra Drive pattern no. 7 seems to the procedure to follow :thumbsup:

By the way: I guess the Duratracs are non-directonal tires?

 

[ZB_WJ]

We have owned our 2002 limited with quadradrive since new, and have never done the 5 tire rotation. The dealer said it was not necessary. Question on this, what happens if you have a flat? Since this system is so sensitive if you don't stop immediately, you have ruined the system. My point is you are not going to be able to stop immediately, and the system is toast. So what's the benefit of the five tire rotation? I am sure I will get lots of flack on this comment.

The benefit is if you get a flat, you have a spare that is within tread depth of all the other tires vs putting on a new tire that will never be the same size as a worn tire.

 

[ancientspear]

speaking from experience, grenading your TC and having odd diff behavior from driving back to civilization on a mismatched spare costs WAY MORE to have fixed than buying 5 new tires and following the appropriate rotation pattern

 

[Callandor]

I just bought 4 JK take off wheels with BFG mud terrains. One of the tires has about 4/32 more tread than the other 3. I should have been more thorough before buying it off the guy on CL...anyways my mistake. I have the quadradrive of course.

If I can't find a place to shave it and decide to run it, where is the best location so it wears down fast? Front right tire?

 

[ChrisHager]

I wouldn't run it if it has that much more tread than the others. What size is the 5th tire? Quadra-Drive needs 5 matching tires to function properly (brand, size, and tread depth). Jeep's allowable size difference is 3/32". More than that and you risk damage to the transfer case.

 

[WXman]

You guys realize you're talking about 1/16th of an inch, right? No way that's going to kill a transfer case or an axle. You could have identical tires on each ends of the axle and if one is a couple PSI lower than the other it'll make that kind of difference. Don't sweat it. A small difference in tread depth isn't going to blow anything up.

 

[DeChache]

You guys realize you're talking about 1/16th of an inch, right? No way that's going to kill a transfer case or an axle. You could have identical tires on each ends of the axle and if one is a couple PSI lower than the other it'll make that kind of difference. Don't sweat it. A small difference in tread depth isn't going to blow anything up.

More than about 1PSI between the sides and you can start to feel the QD start to chatter on mine. Its a completely different beast when all 4 tires match and have the same PSI than if even one is more than 1 PSI off. Never had another vehicle like it.

Its crazy how touchy these diffs are to differences.

 

[86cj74.2L]

More than about 1PSI between the sides and you can start to feel the QD start to chatter on mine. Its a completely different beast when all 4 tires match and have the same PSI than if even one is more than 1 PSI off. Never had another vehicle like it. Its crazy how touchy these diffs are to differences.

Tight turns will activate all three Geo pumps. Tire pressure and ware differences will do the same. The don't sweat it is most likely why a lot of vari-locs and 247's are dead. And also may be the reason MOPAR stopped using and went to a different actuator type in 2005. It may have been their way of fixing stupid.

A coworker of mine had a flat on his WJ. The spare he had didn't match the size tires he had currently on his rig. He smoked the front variloc. I never asked if the VariLoc in the transfer case still worked or not...........