Rotating the tires on your truck is probably one of the most important maintenance tasks, as well as one of the most overlooked. People pay a lot more for truck tires than they do for car tires, and then they neglect to have them rotated. No matter what you paid for the tires on your truck, you're going to get a lot more life out of the treadwear if you rotate them every 6,000 miles. You can save even more money and do it yourself with a few specialty tools.
Park the truck on a level and paved surface. Do not attempt to support the weight of a truck on jack stands on dirt or any other unstable surface.
Break the lug nuts loose on all four tires using the breaking bar and an appropriately sized socket for the lug nuts. Some trucks take up to 7/8 inch or 22 millimeter, so make sure you have the socket before you start the job.
Raise one axle at a time and place the jack stands under the frame or axles of the truck in a manner to elevate the entire truck as evenly as possible.
Remove the lug nuts and tires.
Rotate the tires in one of three standard methods and then repeat that same method every 6,000 miles. The most common method is to move the rear tires straight forward to the front axle and the front tires crisscrossed to the rear axle. Some people don't like to cross the belt of a truck tire and instead rotate the tires front axle to rear axle. Other people like to crisscross all four tires. The key ingredient in rotating your tires for treadwear longevity is to adopt one of these methods and be diligent about performing it throughout the life of the tires.
Once the tires are rotated and back on the truck, replace the lug nuts and tighten them snugly. Lower the truck and hand-torque the lug nuts to the proper torque specifications recommended for your truck.
