This topic could be applied to almost any vehicle , however since I have 2 cx-5s and they both have temporary spares - it is relevant to the CX-5. If you take your vehicle in for the recommended rotation ( which happens to coincide with oil services ) then you may not be interested in this- and leave it to your mechanic .........
. I however only take my vehicle in when a lift ( hoist ) is required to do the service I need., and In this case --its ...YES and NO ! . .
I have ramps and a floor jack , as well jack stands. The owners manual for 22-25 CX-05s is 7500mi non-severe or 5000 for severe conditions for tire rotation . I think this is optimal but a bit excessive , of course depending on your driving habits and conditions - i.e mostly freeway / daily short trips etc. - and is best if you inspect them regularly as well.. This said , There is no spare being rotated in ( like the old days of having 5 full sized tires ) and the existing four tires on the vehicle are rotated as follows..... rears cross to fronts---- fronts both straight back to rears . I believe this works well for my driving.. Therefore if you wish to do this service at home , how would one do it ? If you try to work out the logistics of doing it as recommended , it gets dicey trying to set up jack stands or relying on a floor jack and / or combination of stands to get the two tires per action changed . Before you read on and get my answer,, think about how you would do this without a lift by yourself ??
I prefer to do this at home for one main reason.... because of the Torque specs on the lug-nuts . Its that simple or ridiculous . Yet Ive worked in many shops and have seen mainly pneumatic air tools used and its done quickly and by " feel " if nobody's watching.-
The OE spec torque range on these vehicles is (80--108) ft-lbf ( check you owners manual ) so I split the difference since Im not towing or carrying heavy loads - I pin each lug nut a 94 ft-lbf. This is achieved using a calibrated torque wrench on each nut when retightening. at this final stage of rotation. I believe this is crucial and often inaccurately performed.
Some shops use " torque-sticks " which also give a range and are snapped onto the pneumatic wrench and they whip thru the star configuration tightening pattern very fast . Each " stick has a different range of lb-lft of torque. If you look into this....,pneumatic tools are discouraged by most manufacturers because the can apply a lot of torque very quickly-/ causing stripping or overtightening , and with the torque sticks its unlikely any two lug nuts are coming up the same. ITs twisting metal and age will also create inaccuracy with this tool - kinda like a torsion bar which is used in suspension applications. So this takes me back to the DIY and getting my tires rotated not only correctly , but with each lug nut spot on exactly the same lb-lft on 4 tires x 5 lug nuts . Now it may not sound like a simple procedure --but it requires it patience and the use of a hand held torque wrench. , and the ability to rotate the tires without a full vehicle lift safely. Yeah- Think about it ----=Everything in your CX-5 including passengers has weight , which is ALL transferred through the lug nuts which attach to the wheels - Thats 5 x 4= 20 lug nuts which support your entire payload ( GVWR-which on a 23 CX5 is up to a total maximum- payload of 4724 lbs ) - so with 20 lug nuts- you could have up to 236.2 lbs of static weight on each nut- more when driving! Does it sound important now ? What if they are all differently torqued ? - Yes some will say that once past the minimum spec range ( 80 ) more tightening does not actually change how the wheel performs - true but if you get into heavy to near maximum payloads at higher speeds , then you may consider the higher end of this torque spectrum (108).
SO the only easy and safe solution i know of w/o a lift is .....use the spare and rotate it in on the first tire you remove and chase the rotation pattern thru each tire with a floor jack ( or other single tire jack ) - until you end up at the original spare you installed , and remove it mounting the tire you are rotating there last ---Then the spare gets, removed and you should check it for correct psi ---then back into the storage space. Nice and easy !
Use a high quality calibrated torque wrench (digital or mechanical) to secure each lug nut to your desired pressure. As I said I go 94 ft-lbf between the 80-108 ft-lbf range - So heres the last reason I also do this at home ...and my guess is the green monster will chime in --- when tightening each lug nut , one does so thru multiple cycles as not to torque it down all at once- the rim seating onto the hub precisely as it should is accomplished by tapered flared guides forged into each sleeve0 which make it somewhat foolproof -- I often make 4-6 cycles until the pressure correctly repeats at 94 ft-lbf on each lug nut carefully on the last few passes ----but heres the kicker - you need counter resistance to accurately achieve this pressure , and on a lift they do it by sheer quick force with no tires on the ground -( or the parking brake is on / or in gear )---- at home I lower the floor jack after a mid- torque stage at about the third or 4th cycle so the tire is able to be finished tightening so its flush against the mounting surface ---and this is tricky as if you drop the vehicle to much with to little existing pressure on the lug nuts, and to much weight on the tire , it will skew the tire and cause an incorrect seating against the hub to complete you mounting cycle. . Then you must re-lift the tire after achieving the correct torque on each lug nut , and spin it assuring it spins straight and without issue/ also apply counterpressure to assure its flush and tight ----Well my CX-5 friends - I hope I didnt tweak your heads on this seemingly basic service ---but Ive found there is a LOT of room for error on this one- and its critical this is done with accuracy.
-Any suggestions or comments which might help this process - would be greatly appreciated -- Remember the tires are ,,,where the vehicle meets the road and never to be taken lightly ----drive safe and enjoy your Mazda- and ALWAYS refer to your owners manual and any other reputable official Mazda sources for safe and correct service procedures !! This procedure is what I have found works for well me , and is not what Mazda recommends. Use good judgement and make service decisions based on the information you trust and determine to be the safest and most prudent.

 

Pretty good thread first post. lots of to think about information.

The one thing I guess I don't and never thought about was the resistance on the none drive axle. I can hold the tire to prevent it rotating while torque the upper lase few steps up to 100 lbs. So, I guess this is where some of you would need to get an assistant for a ten-minute help me task to push on the brakes for the wheel torquing while the chassis is suspended.?


For DIY that want the absolute safest way and do not want to invest in a Quick Jack. These for motorhomes are by far the best investment you can make to work safely under your car or most trucks.




I also used these while storing a car off its wheels for over a year with no problems.

 

As you are DIYing oil changes, I would ask if you have a Discount Tire or America's Tire near you. They will rotate your tires for free no matter if you have purchased there, or not. I use them for all my cars. I would suggest rotation every 5k miles with the OEM tires (The Toyo A36 in particular, which is the 19" tire they use) as they are very soft and wear quickly (you will be lucky to get much over 35k out of them in most cases unless you only drive on the highway). If you don't rotate (especially if yours is not AWD) you will find the fronts wear very quickly and you will have uneven wear. I am likely going with 7,500 rotation now that I am on new tires which have a much longer wear warranty.