Hi. My wife and I just purchased a 2008 Prius two days ago, very excited, and we love it so far. Now my friend has had a 2004 Prius and was told to never rotate the tires because of the uneven wear issue's I've read about elsewhere. Anyway the deal is the first set of tires that came on his 04 was Goodyear. He said he got 46,000 miles out of them and had no uneven wear, then he decided to get a longer lasting set, so he put some BF Goodwrench on which continued up until the present at 98,000 miles. The BF's are lasting longer but they are wearing in a peculiar way, in that they are getting this scalloping affect on the outer edge, kind of like tiny waves. You can't feel it while driving but you can hear it, at certain speeds. He figured the harder rubber, on the increased tread life BF tire, is making it wear uneven. Anyway this guy he works with has a Prius too and told him every tire except the Goodyear's that came on it will wear unevenly.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alabama @ Sep 29 2007, 06:44 PM) [snapback]519263[/snapback]</div> It is BF Goodrich tires. Mr Goodwrench is the trademark General Motors uses to promote its dealers' network service technicians. The scalloping effect is a result of unbalanced tires.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alabama @ Sep 30 2007, 04:03 PM) [snapback]519529[/snapback]</div> I care. When I read something like that from someone with only a couple of posts, right away I suspect a troll. We get a lot of people on this board that stop by just to stir up trouble or to bash the Prius. Obviously you aren't one of them, but it took a second read of your post to decide that. As for the tires, no, other tires will work fine, and yes, you should rotate your tires. It's right there in the owners manual and part of the recommended maintenance. Poor alignment or balance will cause uneven wear, as well as not rotating them. We got rid of the OEM Goodyears as soon as we could. They are pretty poor tires, especially in slippery conditions. Tom
So it sounds like my friend is the only one to hear about that little rumor... Alrighty then thats what I was wondering. Later.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Sep 30 2007, 04:59 PM) [snapback]519567[/snapback]</div> What part of my malicious sounding post got your attention? Was it when I said "Hi" or was it the part where I switched the Goodwrech name around in a clear attempt to preform some form of troll trickery. Man give me a break and settle your paranoia down a notch.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alabama @ Oct 1 2007, 12:10 AM) [snapback]519669[/snapback]</div> I did give you a break. I clearly stated that you were not a troll, only that the Goodwrech (sic) mistake was exactly what we see with trolls. Tom
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alabama @ Sep 29 2007, 08:44 PM) [snapback]519263[/snapback]</div> Your friend sounds like he is messing with you. Rotating tires is to combat uneven wear, everyone knows that. Toyota dealerships recommend rotating the tires every time you have the oil changed in the Prius due to the heavier load on the rear tires. Go with what Toyota says. Also note that you don't want to have an alignment done on a Prius anywhere except at a dealership, as the Prius does have a different preferred alignment than what you will get at most places. And yes, this alignment will cause slightly different wear patterns on the front side driver's tire. And yes, you would want to rotate this tire so that it will wear evenly.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gippah @ Oct 1 2007, 08:19 AM) [snapback]519780[/snapback]</div> Very interesting, and yea I agree the whole story sounds crazy. My friend just wanted me to ask this board and see if anyone else had seen that. Preciate it.
Out of balance, improper inflation, and worn struts can cause this. I rotate every 5K and check the air about 2 times per month.
It's safer, and costs less, to rotate tires only as needed to keep the less-worn tires at the rear. More frequent rotation can also make it harder to detect wear caused by misalignment, and thus makes it harder to notice the misalignment.
I would find out why they are wearing unevenly. If it is an 'alignment' issue, fix the problem, THEN check/adjust the alignment. As a rule, cars do not go out of alignment, parts wear, fail, or bend..causing uneven wear on the tires. Doing an alignment on a car with worn out or broken or damaged parts is just masking the problem. Check the front end parts, shock/struts (whatever is on your car) and tire pressure. And, contrary to popular belief, make sure your better tires are on the rear. Frequent rotation will keep the tires wearing evenly. I am in the camp to not rotate and replace the front 2, install the new 2 on the rear. Usually though, I just replace all 4. My rule of thumb, if I have tires with free rotation (say from Costco), I do it. I will not pay for a rotation, as it will quickly add up to a cost of a tire or 2 after a few rotations.
