Leaf Tire Rotation

[Soviet]

How often should you rotate the tires on the Bridgestone Ecopias? How often have you been rotating them?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Randy]

I believe the LEAF maintenance guide recommends rotations every 7,500 miles...

 

[TonyWilliams]

I think I would rotate them "on demand", since the outside tread tends to get bald quickly on the front tires. Also, I recommend the max 44 psi tire pressure to help keep wear and tear off the outside of the tire.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Every 5,000 miles. My brother was a tire sgore manager and that is what he did with HIS cars

 

[TomT]

The bottom line is you theoretically never need to rotate them if they are wearing evenly. Rotation is only to equalize wear so if the wear is already equal, rotating accomplishes nothing. From a practical standpoint, every 7,500 miles is fine unless there are extenuating circumstances. The Leaf is no different in that regard than any other car except for the fact the the Ecopia tires on it seem to be crappier than what come as OEM on most other cars...

How often should you rotate the tires on the Bridgestone Ecopias? How often have you been rotating them?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

it is not possible to evenly wear tires front to back. front tires will always wear faster. if you want more miles between tire replacements you need to rotate. done correctly you can usually get 5,000-10,000 more miles.

OEM Prius tires were FAMOUS for not lasting the 50,000 miles they were rated for many barely getting half that with the average replacement being probably between 30-35,000 miles but i replaced mine on my 2006 at 54,000 miles.

to do this, you MUST inflate beyond the recommended "auto" manufacturer. using the maximum tire pressure on the tire is fine as tires are tested to within 50% more than that anyway. if you notice wear on the outside faster than the thread, lower the pressure 2-3 PSI. i ran mine at 42/40 (max 44)

now if you live in an area where roads get wet, you will want the better tread on the back. during the dry season, better tread on the front.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

now if you live in an area where roads get wet, you will want the better tread on the back. during the dry season, better tread on the front.

You would think that if a set of tires was expected to last, say, 50,000 miles, it would be sufficient to rotate them once at 25,000 miles. If you did that though you'd have much less tread in the back than the front after the rotation, which some say is dangerous. By rotating them more frequently you avoid getting two pairs too far apart in wear.

On a side note, taking a car for tire rotation is about the same level of inconvenience as taking it for an oil change at which time they can do the rotation as well, somewhat deflating the "no oil changes required" advantage of the Leaf.

 

[Nubo]

Rotated mine at 4000. It's easy enough to do and I prefer to do it myself to set the proper torque value (use a torque wrench). This is one application where proper torque matters and shops often get it wrong. I have tried various pressures and have settled on 44 psi as it improves the handling and is within the tires' rated pressure.

 

[garsh]

it is not possible to evenly wear tires front to back. front tires will always wear faster.

On front-wheel-drive cars.

You would think that if a set of tires was expected to last, say, 50,000 miles, it would be sufficient to rotate them once at 25,000 miles.

But as they say, YMMV due to driving style. If you drive harder and they wear out faster, the tire companies will only honor treadlife warranties if all four tires are worn evenly. Although I don't believe this ever applies to OEM tires.

 

[garsh]

I'm planning to rotate my tires soon.

Can someone who's already done this tell me if it requires the TPMS system in the car to be reset afterwards? I read that some vehicles need this done after rotations, but I'm not sure about the Leaf.

 

[KillaWhat]

I'm planning to rotate my tires soon.

Can someone who's already done this tell me if it requires the TPMS system in the car to be reset afterwards? I read that some vehicles need this done after rotations, but I'm not sure about the Leaf.

That's an interesting point I had not thought about.
Not so much for the Leaf, but my other car provides a display of tire pressure for each tire.
I'm sure the "what tire am I?" coding is coming from the TPMS unit (rather than receiver position on the car), and would have to be set / reset.
Probably dip switches on the TPMS units?
Anybody know?

 

[TomT]

The TPMS transmits a unique digitally coded signal from each wheel. Reset is done either via a tool that inserts on the valve stem (the easy way), or via a sequence that involves setting tire pressures and driving (the hard way). Most any shop will have the tool. The procedure for the Leaf is in the Service Manual but since the Leaf does not indicate which tire is low or individual tire pressures, it really is not necessary to do the procedure unless you replace a TPMS.

I'm sure the "what tire am I?" coding is coming from the TPMS unit (rather than receiver position on the car), and would have to be set / reset.
Probably dip switches on the TPMS units?
Anybody know?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

good question and although i have replaced two tires (TPMS located the one correctly...as if i needed any help) the 2nd one caught a 3" by 3/4" bolt and acted as a plug. if not for the thunking sound of the bolt head hitting the asphalt driving down the road, i would not have known there was a problem (Damn quiet car!! you can hear EVERYTHING!!) because it did not leak air and i ended up driving on it for a good 5 miles to the tire repair shop.

now i have rotated tires several times before the first incident and pretty sure when the front left tire blew it had previously been on the rear left so guessing that maybe the tire puts out a signal and the TPMS takes cares of determining location

 

[KillaWhat]

I don't think the Leaf's TPMS knows which tire is low.
At least I have not seen any way to bring it up on a display.
I think they are using the "It's the flat one" localization method.

 

[Deleted member 3147]

Phil (Ingineer) claims that the Leafscan will display the tire pressures. I assume that he will provide some procedure for associating a given TPMS transmitter with its tire location.

Until it comes out, I see no reason to worry about TPMS when rotating tires.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I just had my TPMS reset because I swapped wheels from old LEAF to new LEAF. It took them 10 minutes at the dealer, no charge. Another dealer wanted $100.

 

[thankyouOB]

Leaf does not show which tire is low.
I had a slow leak in the rear and rotated, I had a slow leak in the front.
the readout was the same: check tire symbol.

 

[DarkStar]

From what I can tell, when the TPMS system is originally set up, the vehicle knows which tire is at which location, however since the Leaf doesn't display which tire is low, shops don't reprogram the new locations into the vehicle.

So, yes the Leaf knows which tire is low however since it doesn't display that information the dealer doesn't bother updating after every rotation.

 

[TomT]

Yep, it is too bad that they squandered the capability to show both which tire is low and to display tire pressures for all four tires since they already spent the money for TMPS sensors that are capable of that and all it would have required to add those functions is a tad bit more code...

From what I can tell, when the TPMS system is originally set up, the vehicle knows which tire is at which location, however since the Leaf doesn't display which tire is low, shops don't reprogram the new locations into the vehicle. So, yes the Leaf knows which tire is low however since it doesn't display that information the dealer doesn't bother updating after every rotation.

 

[derkraut]

I just had my TPMS reset because I swapped wheels from old LEAF to new LEAF. It took them 10 minutes at the dealer, no charge. Another dealer wanted $100.

Tony: A dealer wanted $100 to reset TPMS? Did he also ask you to bend over?? :x