Tire rotation

[NZSpyderRyder]

Rotation

Tires (tyres) are really only rotated front to back on automobiles nowadays, since the advent of front wheel drive the front tires (tyres) wear a lot more quickly on the front, so swapping them to the rear at around 4mm evens out tyre wear. I used to run a tyre management programme for Continental in Europe and it was my job to ensure our customers were getting maximum wear out of a set of tyres.

 

[Pennyrick]

Not getting an alignment and just rotating the tires was not my question. I fully understand about the directional tires and needing removed from the rims to rotate. I have an appt to have the alignment done , providing mother nature cooperates for the trip.

I was just curious as to whether or not there is a benefit to rotating the tires so they wear even . I know there's a saying...if it isn't broke why fix it but routine tire rotation on a car is suggested. If the alignment is done correctly and maintained then it stands to reason that they should be fine. My thought was that with the uneven wear I'm experiencing that the balance could now be off and cause additional problems ? If I have the tires rotated and balanced I think that with the alignment the ride should be better and also the tires should last longer.I don't want to just burn money needlessly but $40 now could postpone spending a couple hundred sooner than needed ?Maybe I should just have the tires rebalanced along with the alignment ?

I agree with those who say don't dismount, remount and rotate. Rotation from side to side is no longer recommended for automobiles and IMO you should stay away from this on a Spyder. I did the front rotation on my first RT at 12,000 miles when I replaced the rear tire. Could never get the front end balanced after that. The directional tires had just worn themselves into a groove that we totally disrupted when we switched them out and remounted them. After fighting the Spyder for over a month with multiple attempts at balancing and re-balancing, I finally just replaced the front tires even though there was plenty of tread remaining.

We had a thread running on this topic a couple of year's ago and the consensus back then was to just leave them alone.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Rotation from side to side is no longer recommended for automobiles and IMO you should stay away from this on a Spyder.

Not what I found. A few months ago I was looking to buy a Spyder from TX. My SWA pilot was down there for on an overnight so the guy brought the bike over so my brother could look at it. He noticed the tires were on backwards. So I did some Googling because I too was under the impression that radials should not have their rotation reversed. The owner's question was whether to have the dealer just swap the tires, or push him to replace them. He had not noticed the foul up previously. This is what I found.

If the tires have directional arrows on them, which the Spyder front tires do, DO NOT reverse the rotation of them. If the tires do not have arrows on them, modern radial tires can be reversed with no problem being created. The no reverse rotation used to be case in early years of radial tires, but has not been so in the past several years. Tire designs and materials have changed over time. If you check the rotation diagrams for cars and pickups you will find both schemes shown, cross rotation and front/back rotation. Some mfrs recommend one way, others the other.

 

[exwinger]

No Rotation

Ok , going with the crowd on not doing the tire rotation. I'm confident in the laser alignment and that it will stop the tire wearing problem . Thanks for all the replies . Now I'll have money for a couple more tanks of gas...LOL...... Maybe to Spyderfest.

 

[Pennyrick]

Not what I found. A few months ago I was looking to buy a Spyder from TX. My SWA pilot was down there for on an overnight so the guy brought the bike over so my brother could look at it. He noticed the tires were on backwards. So I did some Googling because I too was under the impression that radials should not have their rotation reversed. The owner's question was whether to have the dealer just swap the tires, or push him to replace them. He had not noticed the foul up previously. This is what I found.

If the tires have directional arrows on them, which the Spyder front tires do, DO NOT reverse the rotation of them. If the tires do not have arrows on them, modern radial tires can be reversed with no problem being created. The no reverse rotation used to be case in early years of radial tires, but has not been so in the past several years. Tire designs and materials have changed over time. If you check the rotation diagrams for cars and pickups you will find both schemes shown, cross rotation and front/back rotation. Some mfrs recommend one way, others the other.

I don't believe anyone mentioned that radial tires cannot be reversed. That has been the case for as long as I can remember.

As you point out If the tires have directional arrows on them, which the Spyder front tires do, DO NOT reverse the rotation of them. That is what we have been talking about in this thread.

My last two vehicles (a 2012 and a 2014) specifically point out that tires are to be rotated back to front and front to back with no cross over. I'll go with that advice.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

My last two vehicles (a 2012 and a 2014) specifically point out that tires are to be rotated back to front and front to back with no cross over. I'll go with that advice.

Do they have arrows on them? If not, then what they say is, interestingly enough, counter to what Michelin http://www.michelinman.com/tires-101/tire-care/tire-maintenance/tire-rotation.page, and Bridgestone http://www.tiresafety.com/maint/maint_content.asp, both show.

 

[Pennyrick]

Do they have arrows on them? If not, then what they say is, interestingly enough, counter to what Michelin http://www.michelinman.com/tires-101/tire-care/tire-maintenance/tire-rotation.page, and Bridgestone http://www.tiresafety.com/maint/maint_content.asp, both show.

Here is the page from the manual for the 2014 Nissan Murano. They clearly show that the 20" Toyo tires that have no directional arrows on them should only be rotated back to front and vice versa. This is exactly the same information that we had with the 20" Michelins on our 2012 Toyota Venza.