Thread: Tyre Rotation Diagonally - What's your Thoughts??

The only Chinese tyres I experienced were on a mate's D3. Punctured on stuff no tyre should puncture on. We jacked it up and had a look and they had exceptionally thin soft rubber. That was enough for me. Well known Chinese made brand of tyre too.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Seems strange to me. Tyres have torque applied in both directions, more consistently in the drive direction and more aggresively in the opposite direction when braking, so you would think that would mean then that you should rotate diagonally for a RWD for example?

I had a look to see what the tyre manufacturers recommend and of all of the manufacturers that I checked, they all recommended crossing tyres diagonally assuming they were all the same size and not directional. Pirelli recommended whatever the manufacturer of the vehicle says.

Car Frequently Asked Question | Michelin Tyres Australia
Why Rotate Your Car Tyres? Tyre Rotation Guide | Dunlop Tyres
How To Rotate Your Tyres For Best Wear | Goodyear Tyres
Tire Rotation: How and Why to Rotate Your Tires | Bridgestone Tires
Rotating Your Tyres - Cooper Tires Australia | Tyres Worth Owning
https://www.yokohamatire.com/tires-1...-and-balancing
https://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/main...erotation.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P42kRgRCm1g for Falken Tyres
https://www.hankooktire.com/global/t...rotation.html#
https://www.kumhotire.com/us/cont/co...enuCd=MN000183

and a couple of shops that showed

https://www.tyrepower.com.au/tyres/t.../tyre-rotation
https://www.jaxtyres.com.au/knowledg.../tyre-rotation
https://www.racq.com.au/cars-and-dri.../tyre-rotation
https://www.tyroola.com.au/guides/tyre-rotation/

Greetings again all,

Just following up on the inevitable questions and quotes, to put them in context.

Tyre rotation to some people means jacking up the car, removing the wheels and shifting them around. However, any movement like this from one side to another, or diagonally, will reverse the usual rotation direction of the tyre. All radial tyres become directional once worn in (use 500 km as a guide; it varies a little depending on type of driving, load, road surface, heat buildup, numbers of plies, type of belts and so forth).

To gain even wear, yes, regular rotation is recommended if the tyres wear unevenly. If they don't, leave them alone.

Front to rear and rear to front on the same side is the ideal way. Think matched pairs. I normally don't recommend bringing the spare into play, otherwise the rolling radius of the spare will be taller (since it will have done less travel than the road tyres), thus placing more strain on the mechanicals such as the differential, or the ball joints/tie rods/steering at the front, since the two tyres on that axle will be different heights, and this will then flow into the vehicle's stance on the road, as the vehicle is being 'pushed' more to one side of the road by crabbing slightly, and wheel alignment will also be affected. Those who want to bring the spare into play - well, think about having two spares (one at home, one in the spare wheel carrier for emergency use) and bring them into play as a pair; expensive option maybe, but a safe one.

If you really need to rotate the tyres diagonally, you *can* do it, but PLEASE ensure that it is done properly - by removing the tyre from the rim, reversing inside to outside, and re-fitting and re-balancing it if you want the tyre to move from the left side of the vehicle to the right or vice versa. Good tyre services will do this properly - and charge for it - but some operators, or home servicing mechanics and amateurs simply move the wheels around, and without thinking about it or knowing enough about it, have reversed the rolling direction of the tyre. The goal is to ensure that the tyres keep turning in the same direction. The *danger* is in reversing the rolling direction of the tyres, which is what causes the sidewall bulges, blowouts and potential delaminations I referred to in my earlier post.

I hope this clears up any questions, queries or doubtful points, and gives a way forward.
By the way, the behaviour and deformation of tyres under braking stress is a lot different to normal forward acceleration and forward driving, so the stresses are not even and do not balance themselves out, for anyone who brings up that point.

- Wayoutwest

[QUOTE=Slunnie;3050125]Seems strange to me. Tyres have torque applied in both directions, more consistently in the drive direction and more aggresively in the opposite direction when braking, so you would think that would mean then that you should rotate diagonally for a RWD for example?




Seems strange to me too.
I never rotate tyres, but not for those reasons. Rotating tyres (esp diagonally) increases wear, and reduces road holding, at least until the wear in the other way around, by which time it's time to rotate them again.