Rotate tires.

[kevinfranklin]

On 2/13/2018 at 5:24 PM, Nanotech Environmental said:

I rotate my own tires about every 10,000km and just move each wheel to the next hub in a clockwise manner - LF>RF>RR>LR>LF.

So my 2017 is at the dealer for my first service (oil, rotation, inspec, checks) and I asked them how they rotate.  There were 3 service reps at the desk area and all 3 said something different, but it turns out they keep the lefts on the left and rights on the right.........because, it keeps the tires rolling in the same direction, which keeps the belts from getting pressured/pushed in different directions, and keeps the tires from cupping and/or getting flat spots.  Since my front wheels rarely are the "drive" wheels, maybe this makes sense.  Any tire-wear experts out there?  

[duquephart]

40 minutes ago, kevinfranklin said:

So my 2017 is at the dealer for my first service (oil, rotation, inspec, checks) and I asked them how they rotate.  There were 3 service reps at the desk area and all 3 said something different, but it turns out they keep the lefts on the left and rights on the right.........because, it keeps the tires rolling in the same direction, which keeps the belts from getting pressured/pushed in different directions, and keeps the tires from cupping and/or getting flat spots.  Since my front wheels rarely are the "drive" wheels, maybe this makes sense.  Any tire-wear experts out there?  

 

Who knows best --- the manufacturer or 3 service reps who probably can't spell "cat" between them?

[14Rufus]

My owner's manual says rear to front, then cross fronts going to the rear, so that's what I do.  Tire Rack and others say the same.

 

On the wife's front wheel drive, its the same idea.  Drive tires stay on the same side and the other axle gets switched when it goes to the drive axle.

[garagerog]

1 hour ago, kevinfranklin said:

So my 2017 is at the dealer for my first service (oil, rotation, inspec, checks) and I asked them how they rotate.  There were 3 service reps at the desk area and all 3 said something different, but it turns out they keep the lefts on the left and rights on the right.........because, it keeps the tires rolling in the same direction, which keeps the belts from getting pressured/pushed in different directions, and keeps the tires from cupping and/or getting flat spots.  Since my front wheels rarely are the "drive" wheels, maybe this makes sense.  Any tire-wear experts out there?  

I would guess that dealer has that policy for simplicities sake to speed things along and because of some uni-directional tires like Goodyear's Triple Tred. More or less make it simple stupid. Back when radials first became common place that was the preferred method, not so much anymore. Back in the bias ply days when you thru the spare into the equation it was a little more complicated, I can just see the jaws drop if you asked for that now.

[Nanotech Environmental]

8 hours ago, kevinfranklin said:

So my 2017 is at the dealer for my first service (oil, rotation, inspec, checks) and I asked them how they rotate.  There were 3 service reps at the desk area and all 3 said something different, but it turns out they keep the lefts on the left and rights on the right.........because, it keeps the tires rolling in the same direction, which keeps the belts from getting pressured/pushed in different directions, and keeps the tires from cupping and/or getting flat spots.  Since my front wheels rarely are the "drive" wheels, maybe this makes sense.  Any tire-wear experts out there?  

I think if my truck had any unidirectional tires on it, I'd rotate like that. However, I have bi-directional tires on both my winter and summer rims. I've always bought bi-directionals.

In my experience, doing it this way actually does the most to prevent cupping/flat spots & odd wear, as the tire not only changes direction for about  1/2 its life, at different intervals, but gets a different set of forces & harmonics applied to it at each different hub. Any odd tread wear that may start happening at one corner gets cancelled out on the next hub & if not that one, for sure on the next after that.

The carcass of the tire is very much OK with that- it was designed for it.
It's worked quite well on my last 4 vehicles and about 600,000 total miles. It also probably helps as well that I don't buy shitty off-brand tires........ 

Granted, I'm not saying that this is what others should do. It's just what I do & I find it works fine for me.

[swathdiver]

11 hours ago, kevinfranklin said:

 Any tire-wear experts out there?

I used to be a tire guy.  You can get away with rotating the tires the way most places and your dealer does it but you can get more miles out of them by following the owner's manual.  This way will also wear them more even if they did get cupped.  Flat spots come from prolonged sitting or locking up the brakes.  Sometimes a healthy burnout can fix those tires!  If the belts are getting stressed it's time to replace the tires.  Down here in the south, Florida, tires are pretty well dry rotted after 4 years if our shell rock roads let them live that long.   

[sk]

 

On 2/16/2018 at 4:20 PM, duquephart said:

 

Who knows best --- the manufacturer or 3 service reps who probably can't spell "cat" between them?

Exactly. 

 

On 2/16/2018 at 4:50 PM, 14Rufus said:

My owner's manual says rear to front, then cross fronts going to the rear, so that's what I do.  Tire Rack and others say the same.

And so does every single tire manufacturer.  The only except are unidirectional tires (actually called "directional" but many places use either term).  You can tell if you have directional tires just by looking at the tread pattern.  The longitudinal grooves will usually "point" forward (hope that makes sense).