a tyre question

[gingz]

Hi Guys,

I bought a Puma with 20,000 Kms with the Goodyear Wranglers.

Now the question I have is about rotating the tyres.

The previous owner never rotated the tyres for I have four on the car with 20,000 Kms and a brand new one on the back.

I measured the tread the new one had tread depth of 14mm and the used has tread depth of 9mm.

It is still possible for me to bring the new tyre into a rotation or would I be better off buying another new tyre and installing two new tyres and then having a rotation with 6 tyres?

Cheers for the help

Gingz

[Tombie]

I wouldn't... Not now.

[Tombie]

Just FYI - I will never rotate Tyres across axles only front to back.

This renders the spare partially useless.

I just throw the spare out after 5 years and start again.

[FeatherWeightDriver]

The idea is not to have different rolling diameters across axles but also between axles. Basically you want all tyres in the rotation to have roughly the same tread.

Having a spare with markedly different tread depth to your running tyres is not ideal - been there :angry: My preference in your situation would be to run a 4 tyre rotation until you need to replace, and then get 5 new tyres and run a 5 tyre rotation.


Just FYI - I will never rotate Tyres across axles only front to back.


Hmm interesting - what's your reasoning on that particular rotation pattern? Not challenging, just curious :)

I currently use the last one in this picture:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/04/717.jpg

[Tombie]

I'm not a fan of running a Radial tyre one direction and then the other.

If I ever had need to swap sides I would remove from rim and flip the tyre first.

[Yorkshire_Jon]

I'm not a fan of running a Radial tyre one direction and then the other.

If I ever had need to swap sides I would remove from rim and flip the tyre first.

Out of interest Tombie, why?

Sent using Forum Runner

[vnx205]

Some tyres have directional tread.

In the early days of radial tyres, there were reports of tread separation when the direction of rotation was reversed.

I don't know if it is still considered to be an issue.

[Samblers]

Do a search on my previous recent posts and i asked exactly the same Q - except mine has the General Grabbers and the mileage was 60,000km

I rotated the un-used spare in and havent noticed any difference

Sam

[Tombie]

Out of interest Tombie, why?

Sent using Forum Runner

My opinion (& that of a few people I know) is that the belts are 'aged' by running in one direction.

Turning them around and running the opposite rotation can make the belts 'flex' in a manner they weren't bedded in on.

I look at it like running a 4wd stock for 10,000km and then lifting it.
The unis etc are all used to running at one static height and have bedded in.
When lifted it often induces a harmonic that wasn't there before, whereas if lifted from new this doesn't happen.

In the case of a tyre, I have rotated Tyres and had this similar trait before and will no longer do it.

Drive to Steer and vice versa is my limit.

Although I rarely, if ever, bother doing that either.

[roverrescue]

Im sure its just because Im tight... but I might just be able to now say "cos Mike does it this way!"

I buy two at a time. They go on front, fronts to rear, rears to spares or trailers.
Once you have it in sync only have to buy a pair of tyres every couple of years which makes more sense to me than buying 6 tyres all at once.
On the dirt up here the rears flog out much faster than the fronts. As they get down to "trailer tyre" stage its time to buy some new ones for the front. I guess also I like to keep a fair bit of tread on the landy... no point running them all down to 4mm of tread depth just because you can? traction at those low depths is abysmal.

I guess you need to be happy with the size/style of rubber and it needs to be available over a long period of time.

Each to there own. But for the original poster. If the rears are are at 9mm in not too long a time I would buy one new tyre, chuck it and the spare onto the front. Shuffle the fronts to the back and voila you now have two usuable spares (9mm tread).

S

S

[debruiser]

I have another question! First up a little background on where I come from.

I've had front wheel drive cars - front wheels get HAMMERED because they drive, steer and brake. ie. all the work and the rears just hold up the back end of the car! so rotations are important (IMO). I like to buy sets of 4 wheels. I always rotated front to back - no swapping sides.

I've also had rear wheel drive cars - rears get more hammering because of drive and heavy right foot.... :angel: so I rotate front to rear - no swapping sides. sets of 4 wheels again.

BUT on a Defender - they have constant 4wd! So wont the tyres wear more evenly anyway????? So rendering the rotations somewhat useless??? Or is my logic flawed?

[roverrescue]

If you do lots of kays on bitumen I cant really help you ;)
If you do lts of kays on fast dirt and secondary roads.
Short wheel base like discos will wear rears stupid quick
Proper wheel base like 130s will wear rears just quickly
The "wear" is a function of rear axle instability (right footed disease)
as well as stone throw from front tyres to rear tyres (my theory as to why short wheels base has this effect more than long wheel base - also why mud flaps at rear of fronts and front of rears help so much.

Soooooo to answer your question - if you drive bitumen I have no idea
if you drive dirt your rears will wear faster than fronts

S

[Loubrey]

Debruiser,

Unless your centre diff is locked your driveshafts and subsequently wheels are not turning anywhere near the same speed.

Can't remember the ratios, but open road travelling the front/ rear power split is something like 20/80 and it changes under braking, cornering etc. Cornering a Puma a bit fast on a wet road the TC has a lot of fun trying to compensate!

Hence roverrescue's experience on dirt road is close to that of a rear wheel drive...

Cheers,

Lou

[Tombie]

Loubrey

The disco/defender split is not torque bias of coupling bias..

When running in normal conditions its basically 50/50 in a straight line.

[Loubrey]

Cheers Tombie,

I'm no mechanical technician and that info was passed onto me over the years (incorrectly it would seem).

Honest questions then:

I appreciate there is no "intelligent" power allocation...

Would the centre diff maintain a near 50/50 split under normal driving conditions (unlocked and free)?
Would the weight shift (and subsequent wind resistance) not favor the rear axle to have the lions share of the power?

Thanks,

Lou

[roverrescue]

Perhaps Lou,
But as the centre differential is essentially an open spider gear diff, as the load increases on the rear output, power is distributed to where load is least thus tending towards equalisation. I guess there is no real way of finding out however!

S

[schuy1]

I never rotate side to side, Agree 100% with Tombie. Have seen it happen when people do that with bulges, seperations etc. Have never rotated tyres on the Defender! They seem to wear quite evenly,Unless there is an encounter with a rock or stump! :o Defender does maybe 40% bitumen rest gravel and bush work. Spare goes on when tyres replaced with 3 new and a new goes on as spare, Tombie appears to have no scottish blood in his veins! :D. Have not had the Disco long enough to see what happens with it.

Cheers Scott

[Tombie]

I never rotate side to side, Agree 100% with Tombie. Have seen it happen when people do that with bulges, seperations etc. Have never rotated tyres on the Defender! They seem to wear quite evenly,Unless there is an encounter with a rock or stump! :o Defender does maybe 40% bitumen rest gravel and bush work. Spare goes on when tyres replaced with 3 new and a new goes on as spare, Tombie appears to have no scottish blood in his veins! :D. Have not had the Disco long enough to see what happens with it.

Cheers Scott

Thanks Scott

I'm Scottish / Irish descent. :D

Cheers
Mike