"Funny" query related to four-tire rotation.

[matthewp]

When I took my Jeep into the Firestone shop on base (closest tire care center by 40 miles!), they told me they could NOT do a four tire rotation that crossed the tires from side (only same side front-to-rear) to side because "the radial belts inside the tires develops a memory of rotating that direction and to reverse the direction would cause a bubble in the belt which would result in a wobble (their service technician's words, not mine)." The technician said that the X pattern rotation is only for bias-ply tires.

I just checked 10 different reputable websites (including the DOT and Firestone themselves) and found nothing of the sorts. Has anyone else heard of this?

 

[southpier]

i thought that was standard practice (front to rear - same side) but it might be because of directional rotation tires?

 

[corax]

that tech is wrong about radials and "belt memory." Though on my 4runner I rotate front to back, but that's partly because I'm lazy. The other part is that on a RWD vehicle the rear tires wear pushing the car forward, the front tires wear try to slow it down - by only rotating front to back you counter this wear. Now the front brakes can slow you down much better than the engine can accelerate the car, so if you're gentle on the accelerator the fronts will "feather" quicker than the rears and you might want to cross the rear to the front and drop the fronts straight back

Just my $.02

 

[kerry]

I learned that difference between radials and bias ply tires about 30 yrs ago. Not sure how true it is. I always mark my tires with chalk for rotational direction when i take them off.

 

[jim65wagon]

I've always (and I've used radials exclusively) crossed the front ones to the back and rolled the rear tires straight to the front. This has worked wonderfully on several different vehicles, RWD, FWD and 4WD. The tires wear well, stay balanced easily and all have lasted 40-80,000 miles (depending on tire type, my Coopers on the truck have been running around 50,000 miles....the cars have all gone longer, your mileage may vary).

I've also argued with people who were smarter than me (well, maybe not really smarter, but they wore an automotive technicians uniform and were very adamant about their knowledge) on this very subject. It's one of the reasons I do all my own oil changes and tire rotations....I got tired of arguing....

I say cross them unless they are directional.

If you want another opinion, ask Redline!

 

[4x4x4doors]

I also learned that 30 years plus ago when Michelin first hit the US mainstream market.

I believe most owners manuals (except in the case of directionals) also call for the x pattern for 4 radial tires these days.

I x them and have for years now.

 

[matthewp]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've also used the method of crossing the fronts going to the rear and then sending the rear tires straight up (with the locker on my Libby I bring the front-right to the spare and put the spare on the rear-left to keep the spar in the rotation). I had never heard the straight-back/forward method and instinctively "called BS" on the belt-memory reasoning.

 

[ccarm]

Not sure on the "belt memory"...sounds like "horn fluid". I rotate my tires first in an x (rear passenger to driver front, etc..), then at the next change, go straight front to back. Tires will last between 50,000 and 90,000 miles this way, and it works for me.

 

[dwh]

No, it's not totally BS.

Back in the old days the owner's manuals for cars with radials used to show the front to back rotation. I think they stopped that in the mid to late '70s though.

 

[p71]

I learned that difference between radials and bias ply tires about 30 yrs ago. Not sure how true it is. I always mark my tires with chalk for rotational direction when i take them off.

Well I have only been driving for 20ish years... but I am going to file that under muffler bearings and brake fluid checks on a semi...

It might have been appropriate 30 years ago, but it is straight up wrong now.

In fact not rotating your tires in an X pattern can do all kinds of nasty things to your tread...

 

[brianjwilson]

You can't fix stupid! Did this guy also tell you that you MUST run the max PSI listed on the sidewall too?
You can look in almost any owners manual, and ask tire manufacturers and they will recommend some sort of X rotation, or some type of rotation that involves left side to right side. Simply rotating front to back will tend to wear the coast or drive side of the tread more on many tires.

There are a few directional tires out there still, but most can and should be rotated left to right, front to back etc.

 

[Desert Dan]

Maybe true in the past with radials but not now from what I have heard.
No problems with my tires doing cross rotations.


Check with the mfg to be sure.

 

[Hill Bill E.]

I think tire/rubber development has come a long way in the last 10-20 years.

I have seen and done both the "X" and the 'Front-Rear' (same side) rotations.

When radials got popular on trucks, it was recommended to keep them in the same 'rotation direction' (front-rear same side) becuase of the belts.

I haven't seen where it' made much of a difference on any of mine.

Since I run oversize tires, and always buy 5 and rotate the spare in so it wears the same as the other 4, it's impossible to keep the same 'rotational direction'


FWIW: I'm getting new shoes for the XJ in the next couple weeks, I'll ask the guys at the tire shop thier thoughts. They aren't your run of the mill 'big box discount tire store' , doing mostly big rig and truck tires. Good guys who know thier stuff.

 

[4x4x4doors]

Just to muddy the waters a wee bit more (sometimes referred to as stirring the pot):

I have in recent years been told that if you don't rotate regularly, that it might be advantageous to go with the "same direction" if you have kept them in the same direction for more than 20K miles or so. This was told to me in the case of a front drive car where the tires hadn't been rotated and just the front two were being replaced with the rears being reused.

:coffeedrink:

 

[Hilldweller]

From Tire Rack's website ---- reviewed by their lawyers, etc.

I do a 5 tire rotation (G):