And then there's me, who will just get 5 new tires every time they're needed (which is what, every like... 5 years?). I won't have to worry about dry rot, or have to do the extra work of rotating 5 tires lol. Meanwhile, will have the peace of mind of having a spare if I need it.

As I touched base earlier, rotating 5 tires also means you get an OCD-tickling single tire that isn't worn the same amount as all the rest of the set you're driving on, which can impact alignment and vehicle drag on rigs with not-so-shabby bearings and joints. This generates extra resistance and puts more wear and tear on your drivetrain and bearing systems, which means the 20% you save on tires will just go towards other repairs in the future.

 

we had this discussion a few yrs ago on another forum. a guy reported that someone got 4 new tires, drove like 20000 miles and found there were 2 sizes! one one left,one on right. never noticed a thing. its like driving in a slow circle. the diff just rotates a little more than when in a straight line.
theres a lot of made up disaster stuff on this subject that just aint so!!

 

The diff isn't the only part of the vehicle that sees the extra wear and tear. Now you have one wheel bearing spinning more than the other wayyyyyyy more often than just on short turns, and with a higher load than the other one. You won't "notice" it, but one of your bearings will go out sooner than the other one.

What just ain't so is how "everything's gonna be fine" when you have oblong tires. You rotate them for consistency, not to have one bigger than the rest.

 

as you speed up they all spin faster! it aint no big deal.
you can drive at 50 or 70 huh?

 

As you speed up, one's gonna keep going faster than all the rest, leading to more heat and more grinding on that one more so than the rest. It doesn't matter if you're going 30 or 70, you're putting more load on one bearing this way.

I spent a few years replacing wheels on roller skates. Same concept. The wheel that takes the most beating also has the worst bearing.

I'm gonna keep my peace and say I'll keep using my four tires and replace bearings less often. It's easier for me to replace a tire then a bearing. You rotate them 5 tires. Neither way is right or wrong, so arguing with each other is beating a dead horse. It's just OCD vs careless in this debate.