Tire rotation on K3500....Whew!!!!

[NorCalDMAX]

Ok, did my first tire rotation on my K3500 4x4. When I called my local tire place they said it would be $125 so I said "I will do it for that".

Well it was not bad at all. Very fast. Not much effort. Felt like I was playing musical chairs with the wheels... :D

The hardest thing was having to wash the wheels that will be exposed that were not when on the truck before. Man...makes me wonder about having Alcoa's.

Brakes looked incredible at almost 20K miles. Over 80% still there. All seals looked good.

Took me exactly 1hr 7 minutes...(I did this to see how much they would have made at shop...OUCH!)

1 complaint I do have...What in the heck was GM thinking when they came up with those silly plastic caps that screw onto the studs. Some never engage, some were lose...Very very weird and not well thought out.

I say if you have an hour Rotate the tires..it is really easy and allows a good inspection.

One other thing..Make sure you get a Torque wrench that can torque to 175..Mine went to 150 and so I torqued them to that for now, but I am stopping by the tool shop tomorrow for the right ratchet and will re torque then.

[INDI-GO]

Thanks for the tip on the torque wench.

I was going to Sears in the am to get one that was 150#.

Oh, did you have all 4 (6) wheels off the ground at the same time, and were you using impact?

[ 03-11-2002: Message edited by: INDI-GO ]</p>

[NorCalDMAX]

Yes sir..Had that Big Boy up on jackstands on all 4 corners left floor jack in the front.

Another tip...Loosen all the lugnuts when on the ground, even with some standing on the brakes it is very difficult to get them loose.

I used the impact to take off lugnuts after I loosened them with a 1/2 breaker bar and put them back on. Again, the process was very simple. The time consuming thing was washing the wheels and trying to get those silly caps back on.... :D

Have fun. What's neat is since you are doing it you can go buy a new wrench with the money you would have given the shop instead of ending up with nothing..."I LIKE TOOLS"

[RWHP]

My local Chevy dealer performed the rotation with my last oil change, the price was unbelievable $11.00 for the job. Sorry but for $11.00 they will be rotating my tires for ever.

[NorCalDMAX]

RWHP,
Man if they would have done mine for that I would have never even considered doing it myself. But for that Price I would have to believe they did something wrong... ;)

Man how much did your oil change cost you $3.50?

What oil did they use?... :D

I say all this cuz I am JEALOUS.... tongue.gif

[Maverick]

My dealer charged me $19.95 for my last rotaion on my 3500. I thought that was a good buy.

[ 03-12-2002: Message edited by: Maverick ]</p>

[DetroitBob]

Gentlemen, the only potential problem with someone else rotating the tires is they don't usually use a torque wrench. Impact wrench installation is usually to high. Improper torque, especially on disc brakes, is the possibility of warping a rotor. You will notice this when the steering wheel is pulled from your hand when braking. Proper torque is very important. I pack a torque wrench with me on any extended trip i.e. out of town.

BTW Maverick, do you live in Wasilla or Anchorage??

[ 03-12-2002: Message edited by: DetroitBob ]</p>

[NorCalDMAX]

You know all you guys got me thinking about the cost of this. So I called around further today just for fun..not that this is a big deal. I was very surprised as the prices are all over the place. Ranged from $48.00 through $77...Now what is really funny(or sad as it may be) the place I originally called was the $77 dollar place...so I was at $125 now down to $77.
I did ask if they knew what to torque the wheels too...they said...That they do not torque the lug nuts, they run them up as DetroitBob says with a Impact gun..

Now when I had my other dually's I never rotated tires as I had Alcoa's, and the insides were not polished well so rotating was not plausible. As the tires in the front went bad, I bought new ones, But I swore that this time I would rotate my tires and try and get more than 20-25K per a front set. So far I am at 20K and have well over half the tread left.

Anyway, Glad I did it. Check everything underneath that those tire shops guys do not and assured myself that the brakes were sound since I tow.

Regards

[56Nomad]

INDI-GO,

I called three of our best tire shops here in town.
they all said that max torque for the dually rears is 140 ft lbs.

I needed a new torque wrench anyway, so I bought
the Sears one that goes to 150 ft lbs. My old one
was pretty beat up and you can't beat the price
and quaility on the Craftsman.

So, long and short of it is that I plan on bringing
my lug nuts on the rear to 150, plus a little
"squeeze"

[01_Duramax_Dually]

56Nomad,
Wow interesting information
The Helms book says 175, The heavy truck divison here also confirms 175 as well. They show 175 for all 1 ton chassis cabs.

I used 150 when I torqued mine when I had Alcoa aluminum wheels. Were your tire shops quoting that?

Just want to be sure.

[56Nomad]

01_Duramax_Dually,

I asked specifically if they were using this
140 ft lb number on steel dually wheels...yes.

I don't think I'll be losing any wheels with
bringing the lug nuts on the rear to 150, plus a little
"squeeze"

[Redhawk]

Let me add a little something about those black plastic lug nut covers. I started getting a shimmy one day so I pulled over on the shoulder. I checked the front end as best I could and found nothing wrong that I could see. Did it again right away, so I stopped and yanked as hard as I could on the tires/wheels still nothing I could find. I drove it to the dealer, who found a broken stud and a couple of loose nuts on the left front. You can't see a loose lug nut under those black covers, and the truck is too heavy for me to move the wheel to check for a loose wheel. I was properly scared at what might have happened and really angry at the dealer who had rotated my tires for me about two week before. I now have alum. wheels on order.

[mdrag]

I can see a tire rotation in the near future - hopefully at the same time the Hotshot's are available :D .

I should check the manual before asking, but feeling lazy tonight - what is the recommended pattern for the tire rotation? I remember reading a post on this some time ago but don't remember the answer...

[01_Duramax_Dually]

MDRAG,
Well,
Driver front to pass rear outside.
Outside passenger rear to inside.....and so on..Just like an X, however they had another option if you wanted to include the spare in that rotation..I did not.

Have fun...OH Yeah I forgot, you have that super duper throw down shop...Nevermind... :D

Jeff

[mdrag]

'01_Duramax_Dooley,

Thanks - that'll work for me. My spare is already in the rotation. I had a leaking vavle stem on the PS front and swithced out the spare until I got it fixed - then left the spare on. :D

[HotShot]

GM specifies 175 ft.lb., no more no less. Over or under torquing them could lead to problems as bad as wheel loss.

To get an accurate torque your wrench should have the specified setting near the middle of its scale not near the top or bottom. A torque wrench that goes to 250 lbs would serve you well.

The wheels should be checked 100 and 1000 miles after the wheels are put back on. They do like to work loose. I know of a few dually trucks that have had wheels come loose or come off, they all carry torque wrenches or put tags on the lug nuts.

Here in Alberta the tire shops have to torque the wheels on, unfortunetly they can use "Torque Sticks". They are special impact sockets that limit the torque of the impact gun from over torquing the nut but the ones that fit our lug nuts are way to low. Ferd specified a higher setting for their Stuper Duty because of wheels coming loose and the Torque Sticks are to low for them also.

[Redhawk]

I get my dually wheels rotated every time I get an oil change at local dealer. They do it cheap enough so that it's not worth my while to do it myself.

In the meantime, I've read that there is some controversy about rotating dual rear tires and mixing them with the front tires. Anyone heard about this? The rational was that it is not good to separate dual unit tires or to change tire rotation. Just swap the front tires side to side and maybe use the spare at that time. They said that if all the tires are mixed, front to back, and tire rotation is changed the tires wll distort just a little causing weakening of the tires and small leaks around the rims. The suggestion was to leave the rears alone and just swap the fronts. Tire mileage is said to be about the same.

I've never heard this before, but there it is.

[BobNelson]

When in for any service, my dealer will rotate for $11. Good deal.

Here in the NW, we have Les Schwab Tire Centers. I have my farm account with them.. As long as I give them some lead time, Freeeeeebeee for a rotation.. Usually, if you stick to one quality tire shop, they will take care of return customers.. It's called great customer service. And,.... they use a torque wrench....every time, every vehicle.

One advantage to doing it your self, it puts you up close and personal with your investment.