Can you provide more details to help us understand why you have an advantage over the pros?
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This ONLY refers to non directional tiresā¦
Because tires tend to feather on the edgesāsometimes, and when a tire feathers or starts cupping (heal to toe wear), then if not cross rotated it will continual to keep getting worse, make noise, even vibrate, when crossing the tire it will start the wear pattern in reverse, (like a seesaw effect) one of many examples is the old BS Revoās that were known to cup and people hated them because of it once they got some miles on them, but if crossed every rotate, they would wear fairly even and stayed quite for the full life of the tire, and those customers bought more of themā¦
I also talked to and learned from our tire adjusters that knew why tires wore like they didā¦
Even most mechanics and tire people in general go by the vehicle manufactures recommendations for rotations in stead of being able to read tire wear and correct it rather it be an alignment wear or a improper rotation wear issueā¦
I do not go by the vehicle manufacture on tire maintenance (mostly), they DONāT specialize in tires, but over years and years working for the largest automotive tire manufacture in the world, I learned a few thingsā¦ I have sold and maintained thousands of tires, I have taken tires known for making noise after they started cupping/feathering and making noise and by cross rotating them or making sure the mechanic cross rotated them every rotationā¦
My Tacoma tires are already feathering, rest assured they will be crossed as all my tires have been, I donāt buy directional tires for that purposeā¦
But on the Tacoma forum, they are doing 5 tire rotations and or crossing themā¦
And for anybody that thinks the vehicle manufactures are correct on everything maintenance wise, then why do most of yāall recommend changing the transmission fluid when the manufacture clearly says it is a lifetime fluid??? Or change the engine oil before the recommended 10,000 mile recommendation??
Potential DIYāer advantages compared to pro mechanics:
- Only has to know how to diagnose & repair one or two specific cars.
- Owns and has experience using the specific tools needed for those two cars.
- Owns and studies the factory service manual for their two cars.
- Knows the part numbers and prices for the best part choice, and is experienced using the common repair parts.
Fair enough. I appreciate the detailed response.
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Oh, I see what youāre doing, George
First, you said DIYer had an advantage over a professional mechanic
Then one of the the pros called you out on that
And you quickly changed it to POTENTIAL advantages
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I used the word āpotentialā to mean that not every advantage applies to every diyāer. All of them pertain to me however. And I expect to many diyāers.
Iām not sure why this topic even comes up. Seems like a waste of forum space. The title page of the Car Talk website says it is for everyone, including diyāer knuckleheads. I have no problem with pro mechanics saying the best way to solve a problem, in reply to a question here, is to take the car to a dealership or inde shop. But I expect the OP already knows that.
In the way of improving the forum experience, and acknowledging the pro mechanics here, the folks that are pro-mechanics could be given a special icon in their postings. But how would the forum moderators know who are pro mechanics and who arenāt? A car-knowledgeable 14 year old kid sitting on bench waiting for the school bus could claim to be a pro mechanic. There would have to be a way to prove the purported pro mechanic actually is a pro mechanic. Displaying their name & shop address maybe. Are you interested in this?
No need for any special icon.
Itās pretty clear whose contributions are respected and valued (aka āprosā):
- due to their experience in the auto repair field,
- due to their experiences in related fields,
- and due to them routinely making valuable contributions towards helping to solve a problem.
Itās also clear who does not fit into the above categories.
I do a lot more listening here than contributing, even though I used to be a very experienced mechanic years ago.
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Curious why you choose to just read the posts rather than post your own ideas? Folks asking questions about their car problems here would appreciate the opinions of another seasoned pro , and we knucklehead diyāers could probably learn some new tricks as well.
Iām pretty sure that the pros all have online access to Alldata, or Chiltonās, or possibly even the vehicle manufacturerās online repair info.
There are Pros that specialize in one or just a hand full of vehicles, building custom whateverās, or race teamsā¦
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