I always seem to replace my tires in pairs. Whenever I've bought a 
vehicle it always has 2 good tires and 2 not so good, so I always seem 
to replace the 2 bad ones first whereas the others last a few more 
years. I cant see throwing 2 good tires away just to replace all 4. Thus
 I never do a 5-tire rotation. The most I ever do is front to back on 
the same side as I've been told never to change the direction of 
rotation. Oh and the spare is always crap so I usually replace it with 
the best take-off. I do agree though that when tires wear out its nigh 
impossible to find the same brand and model again.

--- On Sun, 3/6/11, John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET> wrote:

From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: 5 tire rotation 
 was: How to get spare tire out
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Sunday, March 6, 2011, 7:14 PM

� My experience with tires demands that I buy five of the same size and
type, every time I buy tires. Why? Well for the last 5 times that I have
bought tires - the tire type on the van was no longer in production.
When a tire would go bad for whatever reason, and have to be replaced -
I could not get a matching tire anywhere. So, in self defense, I started
buying my tires in sets of 5 and rotate religiously, bringing the spare
on board one the left rear, and bringing the right front to the spare
location.

Just me.

John

John Rodgers
Clayartist and
 Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 3/6/2011 12:48 PM, A PETER MARSH wrote:
> This the reason I am trying to buy FIVE
 tires for my renovation.
>
> Peter Marsh
> Naples
>
> On Mar 6, 2011, at 11:59 AM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
>
>> I am curious as to why folks would not include the spare in the rotation.� That is obvious for cars with compact spare tires,
 but with a regular, full size spare like we have with the Vanagon's 
.......... why?� I can see why some might not for cars that they just 
drive in town, where a spare might be expected only to serve to get from
 home to a tire shop.� Buying only four tires at a time is cheaper than 
buying five at a time.� But if one drives a vehicle on long distance 
trips, and especially if one ventures out to remote locations, having a 
capable spare is a necessity.
>>
>> Help me out here.� mcneely
>> ---- Edward Maglott<emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>�
 wrote:
>>> I haven't done it 5 tire style since about 1983.� Anybody else
>>> including the spare in their rotation?
>>> Edward