rotate tires

When rotating the tires on my Chevy pickup, what else should I do? Do I have to have it balanced if it is driving fine? Where do I shift the tires to? :machinegu

If your gonna rotate em you may as well get em balanced whether they are riding fine or not. If I remeber correctly, you should move the front tires to the back but opposite side. I.E. front left tire should go to the rear right side.

Tire Rotation:
Tire rotation can be beneficial in several ways. When done at the recommended times, it can preserve balanced handling and traction of the tires and even out tire wear. It can even provide performance advantages. When should tires be rotated ? We recommend that high performance tires be rotated every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, even if they don't show signs of wear. Tire rotation can often be done with oil change intervals while the vehicle is off the ground anyway. Tire rotation helps even out tire wear by allowing each tire to serve in as many of the vehicle's wheel positions as possible. Remember, tire rotation can't correct wear problems due to worn mechanical parts or incorrect inflation pressures. It's also important to check your owner's manual for specific details on what method of tire rotation the vehicle's manufacturer recommends.

While every vehicle is equipped with four tires, usually the tires on the front need to accomplish very different tasks than the rear tires. And the tasks encountered on a front wheel drive car are considerably different than those of a rear wheel drive car. Tire wear experienced on a performance vehicle will usually be more severe than those on a family sedan. Each wheel position can cause different wear rates and different type of tire wear.

While no one likes their tires to wear out, it is actually an advantage when all of the tires on a vehicle wear at the same rate throughout their life. As tire wear reduces tread depth, it allows the tires to respond to the driver's input more quickly and increases dry road performance. Since tire rotation will help all of the vehicle’s tires wear at the same rate, it will keep the tires performing equally on all four corners.

When your tires wear out together you can get a new set of tires, without being forced to buy pairs. If you replace tires in sets you will maintain the original handling balance. And our suppliers are constantly introducing new tires, each of which improves upon their past product's performance. If you replace your tires in sets, it allows you to experience today's technology, instead of being forced to match yesterdays.

On front wheel drive cars, rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (fig. A) or the alternative X pattern (fig. B)
On rear wheel or four wheel drive vehicles, rotate the tires in a rearward cross pattern (fig. C) or the alternative X pattern (fig. B)
If you car has directional wheels or tires, rotate them as shown in fig D.
If you car has non-directional tires that are a different size from front to rear, rotate them as shown in fig. E.
https://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate3.gif

https://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate5.gif

https://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate1.gif

https://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate2.gif

https://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tiretech/rotate4.gif

tires (http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=EP2&url=/tires/index.jsp )