Having a Jeep with 5 full size tires means that tire rotation should include the spare. While some Jeep owners choose to leave out the spare in rotation for varying reasons like different size/type tire or thinking it will save the spare from wear. We believe that if your Jeep has a matching spare you should run it through the rotation.
A 5 tire rotation will actually save wear since one tire sits out for the length of the rotation cycle. We usually rotate every 5000 miles and heres how we do it.
Simply put – see graphic for better view.
- Rear tires will move to the front.
- Spare moves to passenger rear
- Passenger front moves to driver rear
A Jeep with a solid rear axle is the easiest to get this job done quickly with a floor jack and a set of jack stands.
Safety First! Use jack stands.
Jack up the rear of the Jeep and support the rear axle on jack stands. Remove the spare and the rear wheels. Move the tires to the new locations.
Jack up the passenger side and place a jack stand under the front axle. Occasionally we will leave the vehicle supported only by the jack and are careful to not get under the Jeep in any way. Remove the tire and replace with the one from the passenger rear. Move the passenger front to the driver side rear and install.
Jack up the driver front and remove the tire. Install the driver rear. Move the driver front to the spare mount.
Install the spare in the passenger rear location.
Tighten the lug nuts and torque to proper specifications. Check and adjust tire air pressure.
After driving 50 miles recheck the torque.