With many, if not most, tires now being made to run in one direction only, I'm curious as to what would happen if the wheels and tires were put on opposite sides instead of front to back?
What happens if your reverse "directional" tires?
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Construction wise, I don't think much would happen to the tire. There would probably be a compromise in traction though, possibly handling too. The 38's I run on my Jeep are uni-directional and I've seen folks with the same tire run 'em backwards, perhaps to look cool. Unfortunately, the "V" packs mud instead of evacuates it when run backwards. Silly, IMO, unless it's a spare, which is only mounted one way but could potentially be used on either side.
Eljefino: thanks for that article. It answers any questions I might have. What led me to ask this is I ride a Can Am Spyder, with two wheels up front. Its fairly common for these machines to have right front tire wear on the inside and they have no caster/camber adjustment; only toe in/out. After reading the article, if the wear happens to my machine, I'd probably swap the tires from right to left to get more wear out of both and thus be able to put two new ones on at the same time. I rarely get caught in the rain and my riding style and speed is very moderate, being a very senior citizen.
Hydroplaning resitance will suffer.
Nothing will happen. We do it all the time. They handle and perform just fine. If you have tread depth, you won't have hydroplaning issues either. The thought that water channels out the grooves (at any speed over a crawl) is pure bunk. It simply resides between the tread blocks.
Just an FYI, braking puts the highest loads on tires. This wears out the leading edge of the tread blocks. Sometimes leading to noisy tires.
Swapping tires Left to Right will help eliminate the asymmetrical wear due to braking effort. It works on directional tires as well as non directional tires.
Just an FYI, braking puts the highest loads on tires. This wears out the leading edge of the tread blocks. Sometimes leading to noisy tires.
Swapping tires Left to Right will help eliminate the asymmetrical wear due to braking effort. It works on directional tires as well as non directional tires.
In perfect conditions very little. In wet weather they would be unable to channel water the way they were meant to, I assume this would lead to loss of grip and risk of aquaplaining.
Are you being serious?
What are you qualifications to make a statement such as this?
I suggest you do a little bit more research on this subject.
I assume you also believe that all tyres have the same grip levels? Regardless of cost and design parameters.
Have you ever looked behind and seen a dry line behind you, the tyre doesn't hold the water, it gets pushed out the tread by the weight of the car.
What are you qualifications to make a statement such as this?
I suggest you do a little bit more research on this subject.
I assume you also believe that all tyres have the same grip levels? Regardless of cost and design parameters.
Have you ever looked behind and seen a dry line behind you, the tyre doesn't hold the water, it gets pushed out the tread by the weight of the car.
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If the tyres are directional then get them remounted.
I understand your frustration with tyre wear issues and not being able to put front left on the rear left etc.
But to try to save a few dollars on getting the tyres swapped so as to still be positioned correctly is misplaced.
And unfortunately there is no defence in law that allows you to say a bloke on the Internet said it was OK, so it must be true and he must be right.
And that goes for if the person that makes the statement work as a tyre fitter.
I understand your frustration with tyre wear issues and not being able to put front left on the rear left etc.
But to try to save a few dollars on getting the tyres swapped so as to still be positioned correctly is misplaced.
And unfortunately there is no defence in law that allows you to say a bloke on the Internet said it was OK, so it must be true and he must be right.
And that goes for if the person that makes the statement work as a tyre fitter.
Originally Posted By: Zaedock
Construction wise, I don't think much would happen to the tire. There would probably be a compromise in traction though, possibly handling too. The 38's I run on my Jeep are uni-directional and I've seen folks with the same tire run 'em backwards, perhaps to look cool. Unfortunately, the "V" packs mud instead of evacuates it when run backwards. Silly, IMO, unless it's a spare, which is only mounted one way but could potentially be used on either side.
I've seen people do it in order to back out - the fronts mounted backwards and the rears mounted correct.
Construction wise, I don't think much would happen to the tire. There would probably be a compromise in traction though, possibly handling too. The 38's I run on my Jeep are uni-directional and I've seen folks with the same tire run 'em backwards, perhaps to look cool. Unfortunately, the "V" packs mud instead of evacuates it when run backwards. Silly, IMO, unless it's a spare, which is only mounted one way but could potentially be used on either side.
I've seen people do it in order to back out - the fronts mounted backwards and the rears mounted correct.
This is all interesting to me and leads me to one obvious question. If there were no legitimate reason for directional tires to be mounted, well, directionally, why the heck would they be manufactured and sold as "directional?"
I am no tire expert. My last car used 14" tires. During the last few years I owned it the selection at tire retailers was consistently shrinking. I bought a set of Goodrich T/A touring tires at Sam's. I got a flat from some road debris. It looked, from the outside of the tire, like it was punctured in two places. They told me they could not fix it and no longer carried the tire I had. I did have road hazard coverage so they offered me a "deal." (NOT) Even after conversing with the manager, my "deal" was that they could replace it with the tire they had in that size now, but since it was "directional" they were only allowed to do it in pairs. Were they going to make me right at no charge? No! My offer was that I could buy the two new tires at a price based upon the percentage of tread on my current tires - $130 for two new tires. I did not take them up on the offer. They would not even let me leave the store without installing my spare for me. Ugh! when I got home I pulled the piece of metal from the tire and it was only punctured in one spot. I plugged the hole myself and went on my way. Do you think I am likely to buy tires at Sam's again? Right. Nor do I plan to ever buy directional tires if I can help it. I generally only rotate front to back, but having the option to swap sides is nice.
I am no tire expert. My last car used 14" tires. During the last few years I owned it the selection at tire retailers was consistently shrinking. I bought a set of Goodrich T/A touring tires at Sam's. I got a flat from some road debris. It looked, from the outside of the tire, like it was punctured in two places. They told me they could not fix it and no longer carried the tire I had. I did have road hazard coverage so they offered me a "deal." (NOT) Even after conversing with the manager, my "deal" was that they could replace it with the tire they had in that size now, but since it was "directional" they were only allowed to do it in pairs. Were they going to make me right at no charge? No! My offer was that I could buy the two new tires at a price based upon the percentage of tread on my current tires - $130 for two new tires. I did not take them up on the offer. They would not even let me leave the store without installing my spare for me. Ugh! when I got home I pulled the piece of metal from the tire and it was only punctured in one spot. I plugged the hole myself and went on my way. Do you think I am likely to buy tires at Sam's again? Right. Nor do I plan to ever buy directional tires if I can help it. I generally only rotate front to back, but having the option to swap sides is nice.
There is another tyre type the asymmetric tread pattern, were the left and right side of the tread is different.
Avon zv3 is like this, very grippy wet or dry, wife's car has them on the back and Hankooks with a standard non directional non asymmetric tread pattern, not as good in the wet as the Avons but are harder wearing, a Clio with a Diesel engine used a lot in urban roads is hard on front tyres due to the weight of the Diesel engine and lots of low speed manauvering.
I have had several sets of Toyo Proxes T1S and T1R over the years a very aggressive directional tread, were even good in the snow. Excellent in the wet and also good in the dry.
Avon zv3 is like this, very grippy wet or dry, wife's car has them on the back and Hankooks with a standard non directional non asymmetric tread pattern, not as good in the wet as the Avons but are harder wearing, a Clio with a Diesel engine used a lot in urban roads is hard on front tyres due to the weight of the Diesel engine and lots of low speed manauvering.
I have had several sets of Toyo Proxes T1S and T1R over the years a very aggressive directional tread, were even good in the snow. Excellent in the wet and also good in the dry.
I remember a website that said it can be up to 10% wet traction difference. It is probably fine on a like new tire with lots of thread left, but on a near bald tire, probably every little bit makes a difference.
I will probably run them backward in the summer dry weather, and forward in winter wet weather.
I will probably run them backward in the summer dry weather, and forward in winter wet weather.
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Consumer Reports had a tire test article a few years back in which it was mentioned that a tire with only half of its tread used up has lost well over half of its wet traction. Due to not being able to buy the same tires twice in a row on my 89 Accord I ended up with those Goodrich T/A's from Sam's. They were the quietest H-rated tires I had on the car, that I can recall, in 23 years. I had rotated them just before a round of flash flooding in this area. I understand now why tire sellers put new tires on the back rather than the front, as they used to do. I still had, I believe, at least another 5,000 miles of tread life, but the back end broke loose at highway speed and I spun out into the concrete divider. It was scary and I was very fortunate to have not been injured and not to have involved anyone else in the accident. Alas, the poor Honda was damaged beyond my willingness to repair. I was able to limp it home. It was an important lesson for me about tires. I won't be letting my tread get beyond about 2/3 gone before I replace my tires in the future.
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