Tire rotation interval 2019 F3L ?

[SpyderDottie]

I just purchased a 2019 F3L. Happy as a clam with it. My riding buddy just bought an RT and the mech at the same dealership told her to swap the front tires every 3000 miles. Is this really something Im supposed to be doing?

[BajaRon]

The realistic rotation interval is basically NEVER. The tires are directional. Just swapping them side to side is going to defeat the water shedding properties of the tire. A very important component of safety. Cord separation can also result in poorly constructed tires (Kenda's for sure!)

To do a proper rotation. You have to dismount each tire, turn it around on the wheel and re-mount the tire, then re-mount the wheels. You will need to re-balance them as well. Every 3,000 miles! You'll have more than new tires will cost invested in your rotations by then. Cheaper to let them wear and just replace them when needed.

[Peter Aawen]

BRP actually DID recommend rotating the front tires by flipping them on their rims & swapping them across to the other side on earlier Spyders, not sure if they still do; but I thought that recommendation was for every 10,000 miles?!?

However, while there are some circumstances where rotating tires is warranted (your car maybe??) I believe that in the case of our Spyders/Rykers (if actually still applicable) this was largely an attempt to reduce the 'usually present' abnormal tire wear that occurs up front due their generally useless alignment specs (toe out?!) & often very poor actual alignment from the factory! So IF you've had your Spyder/Ryker aligned properly by someone who knows what they are doing, so that your Spyder/Ryker now doesn't have any handling/steering issues; AND you are either lucky enough to have got a reasonable set of OE Spec Kendas, OR you've swapped to 'real' tires up front, then you probably don't need to worry about doing that!

Besides, changing the 'usual rotation direction' of any tire after it's 'bedded in' can occasionally create issues with the bond between the various compound layers, &/or with the thread plies & steel belts inside the tires... this is especially the case with directional radial tires, where the tread pattern won't work so well running 'backwards' either; & on top of that, any abnormal wear pattern in your tire's tread created over anything much more than a MAXIMUM of saay about 1000 miles is going to be pretty much impossible to correct by changing the alignment &/or swapping/rotating tires anyway.... And even at as little as 1000 miles of 'poor wear', the adverse handling & steering that you'd likely get if you rotated the tires as per instructions & had your Spyder/Ryker aligned appropriately in an attempt to 'scrub the poor wear out' & get the tire back to a 'proper tread wear pattern' would likely be shorts staining scary at best, and bloody dangerous if not deadly otherwise!!

All that said, if you've had your alignment done properly and you've got a good set of tires up front, then rotating them as per the 'flip on the rim & swap sides' instructions probably won't hurt much (there's always some risk of damage whenever you remove/remount a tire on a rim! ) But it WILL hurt your wallet &/or take time & effort to do it properly - and unless you have non-directional tires fitted, it's DEFINITELY NOT just a case of taking the wheel off one side & putting it on the other!! ESPECIALLY if you are running the OE Spec Kendas - they are directional AND very lightly constructed (often poorly at that!) so that those 'issues with the bond between compound layers & plies, steel belts, etc' are already a significant risk, which means that if you DO run them on the other side &/or the other way, you are very likely to actually create those &/or even worse problems, still without fixing any abnormal wear issues!! .....All problems that would've been avoided if you'd just left them where they were to start with and addressed the REAL alignment & tire wear problems properly in the first place; instead of mucking around with an 'at best' dodgy attempt to eke better tire life out of your tires by rotating them from side to side at any milage!!

Your best bet?? IMHO, just get your alignment done properly by someone who knows what they're doing; wear the Kendas out as quickly as you can (if you can stand them that long!) and once you remove them, fit better quality tires; then forget about ever 'rotating the tires' again!

[SpyderAnn01]

Peter, they still recommend it at 3,000 miles which is ridiculous as ROn said, it is much more cost effective to wear them out and get new ones instead. But if you run car tires like the Federal Formoza, which are asymmetrical, you can simply swap them from side to side without dismounting and remounting them. I do that whenever I have my Spyder jacked up.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

..with Ron , Peter and ANN .... in my 10 years of various Spyder ownership and many many tires changes , I have found ( mostly with auto tires ) that if you have good front alignment, the tires will wear evenly .... at least all on mine did ..... mike

[Bfromla]

Peter, they still recommend it at 3,000 miles which is ridiculous as ROn said, it is much more cost effective to wear them out and get new ones instead. But if you run car tires like the Federal Formoza, which are asymmetrical, you can simply swap them from side to side without dismounting and remounting them. I do that whenever I have my Spyder jacked up.

& you rack up the miles

[AeroPilot]

I just purchased a 2019 F3L. Happy as a clam with it. My riding buddy just bought an RT and the mech at the same dealership told her to swap the front tires every 3000 miles. Is this really something Im supposed to be doing?

Years ago with the 2011 RT and the OEM Kendas I had the fronts remounted and rotated one time - (I dont remember the mileage) - like Peter said.

Since we now have the assymetrical Formozas on the F3, and Nankangs and Kumhos for the RT I just swapped the wheels on the front of the RT last week when I had it jacked up to clean.

Its a good chance to clean and polish the wheels and check the front brake pads while swapping the wheels side to side. But I only do that about once a year or 10,000 miles and notice a little more wear on the right outside tire due to loading on the curves... YMMV

[SpyderDottie]

Thank you all for the well rounded input. My hubs has a tire machine, and still was NOT looking forward to swapping tires once a month for me! After 3500 miles the tires look to be wearing evenly. I'll wear them out and ask for recommendations for better tires then!

[ARtraveler]

I have owned six spyders now and am going on 160,000 total miles. I have NEVER rotated the front tires. To much hassel, and I do not believe the benefits exceed the work involved.

I have always used OEM tires, have got 20K out of the fronts, and averaged 15K on all my rear tires (one exception--the 2014 "soft" rears on the RT), got 8,500 on those.

Fast forward moved to AR, went to darkside tires within a month, am running those now on the 2014. Bought a new 2019 in December...so have the OEM saga one more time. The person who bought the 2011 trade, got new darkside tires on that one.

No tire rotation in my future.

[jwulf74]

My tires rotate everytime I ride...

Sorry, had to.... couldn't resist..

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Thank you all for the well rounded input. My hubs has a tire machine, and still was NOT looking forward to swapping tires once a month for me! After 3500 miles the tires look to be wearing evenly. I'll wear them out and ask for recommendations for better tires then!

At 3500 miles UNLESS your alignment is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off .... non-even wear won't be noticeable for quite awhile, usually the outside edges will show wear first. If it does ( likely ) make note of it and when or before you get new tires be prepared to get it to someone who can do a LAZER alignment .... If at all possible get Auto tires, they are so much better than any Kenda. Prepare for the future well before you arrive at it ...... good luck .... Mike

[RowdyScamp]

All I can say is what's in the manual for my 2018 RT (yes, I know this is an F3 thread):
Rotate front tires when tread depth reaches 4mm (5/32 in). This will maximize tire life.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

All I can say is what's in the manual for my 2018 RT (yes, I know this is an F3 thread):
Rotate front tires when tread depth reaches 4mm (5/32 in). This will maximize tire life.

The manuals also say .... if you have problems - ANY PROBLEMS - immediately put it on a trailer and bring it to your dealer !!!!!! .... " where it will sit for three to eight weeks " before they look at it " ...... good luck ..... Mike

[Gwolf]

Every 3,000 miles is ridiculous. I would have to swap them every 3 months. They can wear out and get replaced if they are wearing unevenly. Got about 12,000 miles on the front OEM tires now and they are showing no signs of wear at all. Had to replace the rear @ 8,500.