ok guys I'm going to try to rotate my tires tonight, any tips? Front to back and criss cross as long as the arrows on my tires are pointing in the right direction right? and how often should I get my wheels balanaced? is it wrong to rotate tires without rebalancing? thanks!

and great thanks to syntrix on the oil change stuff I might do that later, maybe we should make that thread a sticky?
oh and I also read the thread on transmission fluid change, and I noticed the torque settings, what kinda tools do I need to tighten bolts to that amount of torque? is it unsafe to "just tighten 1/4 past"?

 

My company 'Costco Wholesale' will do a rotation and balance for about $16 U.S.D. It's also free lifetime R/B and road hazard w/ new tires. It's suggested you do a rotation every 7500 miles.

 

If you let Costco rotate and balance your tires don't complain when you get what you pay for. Those places are the worst.

 

Ever had them done there? Even better ever worked there? The standards are higher than just about anyone in the industry, including the dealers. You don't get into the top 10 tire dealers in the country by doing a crap job. Especially with only 400 locations world wide.

 

isn't each Costco independantly owned? I had one that damaged rims on another car, and i had one where service was excellent.

 

All you can do (without dismounting and remounting tires) is swap the fronts with the rears, keeping each tire on the same side of the car. The tires are unidirectional, so you can't swap sides without remounting on the rim .

 

yep front to back only

 

I see... thanks guys
yea I'm thinking of getting my next set of tires from costco, I like their lifetime balance and rotation thing
I assume by life time, they mean they'll cover every 5000km? or is it every 3 months minimum between rotation that it'll be for free?

 

Not to thread jack, but are there any ultra-performance tires that are not unidirectional?

 

There are a few. One option is the Pirelli PZero Rosso Asimmetrico. I can't recommend them personally, just looked them up on TireRack.com.

 

Not owned, but independantly operated. I've had costco do tires on 6 or my cars, and the dealer scratched the rim on MY brand new 8 when it went in for a dsc problem and the 2 recalls.

 

Only place worse the Costco is BJ's which live up to their name when the install tires. This is one area where I would spend a little more and go to a good tire placee especially with the large expensive rims and balancing that we have on our cars.

 

does the manual state 7500 miles?? for rx-8 is there a time mentioned like once a year if you dont drive it a lot ( i drove 2800 in 5 months i guess i dont need to rotate yet when i get the oil changed this week what do you think... also i have never gotten a check engine light or flood and i am getting 15 mpg overall after 2800 miles should i get flashed or leave well enough alone.. please advise

 

My Sumitomo HTR+'s are not unidirectional. They will go either way. And they are ultra high performance all season radials in 245/40WR18.

Oh and I hope the Costco people know how to properly balance these wheels.

Check my thread
on how it specifies in the service manual to balance our wheels.