Rotation require Balancing?

[thewilson]

Hey everyone quick question to settle a little disagreement over here in real life.

One of us says that you can rotate tires and dont have/need to get them balanced afterwards.
and
One of us says that when you rotate your tires you have to get them balanced or your ride will be really rough.

Any help is appreciated. And I'll post the whole story once I get some objective opinions/answers on this

Thanks

[jh0n]

For my money, if a wheel is balanced, it doesnt know which corner its going on, or been on. I rotate religously. Diagonally front to back, then just front to back and so on. On a front wheel drive car its crazy not to rotate.

[thewilson]

Alright so once a wheel is balanced its balanced. What would throw it out of balance then? Is it recommended to get a balancing after rotation if not requried?

I'm unclear on the subject and wanted to find out.

[mlumz]

Once a wheel is balanced it can be thrown out of balance. It goes out of balance because of tread wear, etc. I prefer to rotate and balance each time to ensure proper tire safety and handling.
Here is my story. I was getting my tires rotated at the dealer and thought they were balancing them and then a week after I had it done I had some vibrations on the highway so I brought it back and they said I needed to have it rotated and balanced. Basically I was like WTF, I just paid you guys to rotate it.

Your best bet is to buy your tires at Costco or Sams Club which offers free tire rotation and balance.

[Doohickie]

Generally, it is not necessary to balance at every rotation unless you feel a vibration in the wheel. The Elantra, however, is one of those cars that seems to be very sensitive to front end vibrations. This could be due to out of balance tires, or rotors (yes, they can be out of balance too), or variations in the stiffness of tire sidewalls or whatever, but several people have noticed this.

I have a very slight vibration at 65-70 mph. I rotate every 6,000 miles. I take it to a local Hyundai dealer and get them both rotated and balanced. This dealer uses a Hunter machine that applies simulated road force which does a better job of detecting vibrations due to variations in sidewall. It doesn't kill me, though, because they only charge $29.95. (Once I get replace the OEM tires I'll just get it done for free where I bought them.)

[thewilson]

So they charge you 29.95 for a rotation and balance? I think i might go that route.

[only1db]

people recommend that radial tires not be put onto the other side of the vehicle once on a particular side.

because the metal bands inside may become loose if gone in the opposite direction...then i have heard others say it really doesnt matter...

for diretional tires...the correct way to rotate is to actually take the tire off and switch directions...so it can fit on the other side but still be going foward...then obvioulsy it would need to balanced...

and yes wheels can become "unbalanced" almost all hyundais have this quirk about them...that if the wheel is not damn near perfect you will feel it!

so if the wheel does not have a vibration...there is no need.