Cross rotating tires

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I've always cross-rotated my tires (front to rear) and every 12 - 15 months use a tread depth gauge to confirm how they're wearing. Occasionally a special rotation is needed to offset a tire that wears differently than the others despite your best efforts to keep them wearing the same.
 
What car is that?
my manual says to cross rotate.

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Has anyone had issues after cross rotating standard non directional tires?


I do it the way my manual suggests for my vehicle and they don't advise cross-rotating.

I don't know what you drive nor why you don't follow the manual as well.

All the best.

Bob R
 
I don't know what Papa Bear drives, but as I recall, my two Toyotas advised keeping the tires on the same side of the vehicle. My own opinion on why they do this is to take the variable of directional tread patterns out of the equation. They don't want a tech (or an owner) to inadvertently flip a directional tire (as would happen during a cross rotation) and render it less effective at water evacuation. As directional tires are becoming more common in passenger car sizes (Goodyear TripleTred, General Altimax HP, Michelin HydroEdge, etc), the potential is there for almost any vehicle to come in the shop with some it seems.

That's my guess.

Most owner's manuals recommend the modified cross rotation.
 
All of mine recommend cross rotation, and that's what I do every 10,000 km.

My Nissan, I upgraded to a matched wheel/tyre, so I can now do 5 tyre rotation. One less lift, and won't have a ten year old spare with 400km on it.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
What car is that?
my manual says to cross rotate.

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Has anyone had issues after cross rotating standard non directional tires?


I do it the way my manual suggests for my vehicle and they don't advise cross-rotating.

I don't know what you drive nor why you don't follow the manual as well.

All the best.

Bob R



The one in my sig line.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear


I do it the way my manual suggests for my vehicle and they don't advise cross-rotating.

I don't know what you drive nor why you don't follow the manual as well.

All the best.
Papa Bear said:
The one in my sig line.


2007 Uplander .. QSAD dino and NAPA silver filter


Page 488 of the 2007 uplander manual seems to recommend cross rotating
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http://www.vadengmpp.com/owners-manual/chevrolet/2007-Chevrolet-Uplander.pdf

uplanderrotate.JPG
 
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Yep, what's in the Uplander manual is what is usually recommended for FWD vehicles. Move the front tires (the drive tires) straight back and cross the rear tires forward.
 
Yes, fronts to rear and cross the rears to the front ... not an "X".

I believe the OP was asking about an "X" rotation ......

The original post didn't state what vehicle was being addressed or exactly what was meant by "cross rotating" so it was hard to know what he was thinking.

That's why I said to go with what the manual recommended.
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
Hello, I cross rotate and have for ever (first car 1978) without problem.

I wonder about people's fear of plies and belts breaking apart. Is any of it true?

"Jack up the back and switch 'em. Front-to-rear swap on each side. Done". Kira



No, it is not true. It was barely true back in the early days of steel belted radial tires, but technology has rendered the issue moot.
 
OK, 2 thoughts:

1) The reason for rotating tires is to even out tire wear.

On FWD vehicles, the fronts wear 2 1/2 times faster than the rears. On RWD cars, the fronts tend to wear the shoulders and the drives tend to wear the centers.

But what rotating tires will not do is fix problems caused by misalignment. So if you have wear on the inside 9or the outside) shoulder, you have to fix the alignment.

2) The most important rotation is the front to rear. The fronts and the rears do different things and they generate different types of wear.

Cross rotating is a bit better as the tire will see eventually see every wheel position and that tends to smooth out heel and toe wear. .
 
Originally Posted By: Lubener
Has anyone had issues after cross rotating standard non directional tires?

Define "issues".

The Tire and Rim Association has a detailed set of recommendations for tire rotation. Tire Rack provides a nice summary of the various options with and without directional tires and/or different size tires front and back:

Tire Rotation Instructions

I personally do front to back same side rotation only. I also rotate them infrequently since tires are relatively cheap while lug nuts, brake discs, and the other components often damaged by rotation are safety related and often expensive to fix.

It also gives me a better idea of the wear patterns so I can keep track of alignment.

Concerns about cross rotation go back to the early days of radials in the USA. I had considerable experience with Goodyear's early radials in the late 60s to early 70s. Hard drivers would find that cross rotating led to a cupping wear pattern on all four tires and the infrequent belt separation. What was happening was that as the tire heated and cooled the cords would take a "set" somewhat along the lines of the "flat spotting" issue in nylon cord bias ply tires ridden hard and then parked.

Then when you switched the direction of rotation, the tires would no longer function as designed.

Since all of the tire manufacturers recommend cross rotation of non-directional tires I assume that the industry solved the problem.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Yes, fronts to rear and cross the rears to the front ... not an "X".

I believe the OP was asking about an "X" rotation ......

The original post didn't state what vehicle was being addressed or exactly what was meant by "cross rotating" so it was hard to know what he was thinking.

That's why I said to go with what the manual recommended.


Originally Posted By: Lubener
Has anyone had issues after cross rotating standard non directional tires?


actually he said cross rotate, X rotation is not used very often, the standard cross rotation is
Drive wheels straight to other axle, non-drive wheels crossing to drive axle. with most AWD the front axle is considered the drive axle.

I was just abit confused when you said

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear

I do it the way my manual suggests for my vehicle and they don't advise cross-rotating.

I don't know what you drive nor why you don't follow the manual as well.
Bob R


But your manual does say to cross-rotate
 
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Originally Posted By: Rand

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear

I do it the way my manual suggests for my vehicle and they don't advise cross-rotating.

I don't know what you drive nor why you don't follow the manual as well.
Bob R


But your manual does say to cross-rotate



Strictly speaking, the Uplander manual, like most manuals, recommends a modified cross rotation pattern. A true cross rotation swaps the LF with the RR and the RF with the LR. With this pattern, each tire sees only two positions...either left OR right on the front and either left OR right on the rear.

A modified cross rotation pattern puts the tire through every position. The LF would move to the LR. Then on the next rotation, it'd move to the RF. Then on the next rotation, it'd move to the RR. Then on the next rotation, it'd be back at the right front.

I think the OP's intent was not to ask about a true cross rotation pattern, but to simply ask if anyone's had issues switching tires from one side to the other, which reverses their direction of travel. This is why written communication is often difficult; written words have meaning, and sometimes someone asks something different than what they intend to ask simply due to their word choice.
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
A wise man said: "Don't write so you can be understood .. write so you cannot be mis-understood".

Has the OP's question been fully asked, understood and answered yet?


ad nauseam

Do not include the compact spare tire in your rotation
smile.gif
 
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