Tire Rotation

[David Mauriello]

Does anyone have an idea why Subaru says to rotate tires from front to
back on the same side of the car? Most tire manufacturers recommend that
you move the rear tires to the front on the same side, but rotate the
front tires to the rear, on the opposite side. Seems to me this would be
a better way to even out tire wear.

Dave

 

[albob]

Does anyone have an idea why Subaru says to rotate tires from front to
back on the same side of the car? Most tire manufacturers recommend that
you move the rear tires to the front on the same side, but rotate the
front tires to the rear, on the opposite side. Seems to me this would be a
better way to even out tire wear.

Dave

the tires are 'directional' i.e. made to rotate in one direction. If you
look at the
sidewalls you will see a little arrow indicating the correct direction for
fitting. it you
moved front right to left rear, the tire would be going 'backwards' !!
alan

 

[Edward Hayes]

I too question the same side rotation and have observed feathering
when doing the same side. A review of Michelin, Goodyear and TireRack
suggested a rear cross or full cross for AWD and 4WD vehicles. I now
do a rear cross and am convinced that is the best for my 2000
Forester.

 

[John Rethorst]

the tires are 'directional' i.e. made to rotate in one direction. If you
look at the
sidewalls you will see a little arrow indicating the correct direction for
fitting. it you
moved front right to left rear, the tire would be going 'backwards' !!
alan

only if you flipped the tire so the outside (i.e. facing you as you look at the
car) stayed outside. Do you need to do this?

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

I too question the same side rotation and have observed feathering
when doing the same side. A review of Michelin, Goodyear and TireRack
suggested a rear cross or full cross for AWD and 4WD vehicles. I now
do a rear cross and am convinced that is the best for my 2000
Forester.

Good to hear it's OK cause I thought it sounded odd not to cross.
Certainly if you DO happene to have directional tires, it's probably not
wise to dis-, then re-mount them. I wouldn't do it.

Carl

 

[John Rethorst]

the tires are 'directional' i.e. made to rotate in one direction. If you
look at the
sidewalls you will see a little arrow indicating the correct direction for
fitting. it you
moved front right to left rear, the tire would be going 'backwards' !!
alan

only if you flipped the tire so the outside (i.e. facing you as you look at
the
car) stayed outside. Do you need to do this?[/QUOTE]

Of course, flipping the tire includes taking it off the wheel . . .

 

[Edward Hayes]

Most of our daily drivers(Foresters, Legacies, Outbacks) DO NOT have
directional tires but, I don't know about the STIs.

only if you flipped the tire so the outside (i.e. facing you as you
look at
the
car) stayed outside. Do you need to do this?

Of course, flipping the tire includes taking it off the wheel . . .
[/QUOTE]

 

[albob]

I'm in the U.K. , where all subarus have directional tires
(spelt - tyres here!),
so I just do front to rear
alan

Most of our daily drivers(Foresters, Legacies, Outbacks) DO NOT have
directional tires but, I don't know about the STIs.

 

[Body Roll]

the tires are 'directional' i.e. made to rotate in one direction. If you
look at the
sidewalls you will see a little arrow indicating the correct direction for
fitting. it you
moved front right to left rear, the tire would be going 'backwards' !!

I don';t think Crapenza 92 that came with my OBS is a directional tire.
But no mechanics ever check the owner's manual and they always swap
tires on the
same side.
So, most likely, to abate the owner-mechanic conflict or to simplify
the user manual
to cover other Potenza varieties that are directional (RE-070?)
they have this dumbed down pattern.

Not sure what would be achieved with the X pattern. both tires on the
same
axle should get about the same wear. If they don't the car is due for 4
wheel alignment
anyway. Isn't that about right?

 

[Rick Courtright]

Does anyone have an idea why Subaru says to rotate tires from front to
back on the same side of the car?

Hi,

Two possibilities:

1. The tires are directional. Check for arrows as other posters noted.

2. Old ideas die hard.

On the second, when radial tires first hit the market, it was
recommended NOT to change the rotating direction for fear the belts
could separate from the cords, based on the idea the belt/cord system
essentially "took a set" that would be upset. Radial tire building
technology advanced to the point where Michelin said "cross rotation is
ok" in the mid-'70s or so, and most other mfrs followed suit shortly
thereafter.

Still, 30 yrs later, you'll hear the belts will separate and blah, blah.
Personally, I prefer to cross-rotate, and, if there's a full sized spare
on a matching wheel (as opposed to the "black steel spare vs shiny alloy
road wheels" we often see), use a five tire pattern. So far I've noticed
nothing negative about this drill.

Now, it's well-established that tire inflation pressure has more to do
with radial tire failures than most any other influence, so I WON'T say
that an underinflated, cross-rotated tire MIGHT not fail sooner than one
rotated only front-rear and also similarly underinflated, but I haven't
found anyone willing to test that theory for me!

Rick

 

[nobody]

I too question the same side rotation and have observed feathering
when doing the same side. A review of Michelin, Goodyear and TireRack
suggested a rear cross or full cross for AWD and 4WD vehicles. I now
do a rear cross and am convinced that is the best for my 2000
Forester.

That's for "bidirectional" tread patterns only. Unidirectional treads
(TripleTred, Falken ZE502 and ZE512 for example) can only be rotated
same-side front-back unless you take the tires off the rims to do the
rotation.

 

[jMon54]

I do my own tire rotations. When I read Subaru recommended the simpler
method, I was relieved. It is way easier to do this every other oil
change, which I also do myself.

Jay M
'03 Baja
VA, USA

 

[CompUser]

news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
(e-mail address removed) says...

I too question the same side rotation and have observed feathering
when doing the same side.

You need an alignment if it's feathering :-/

 

[Edward Hayes]

I switched to a rear cross on my Forester because of what I call
feathering i.e. on a tread block the front of the block is wearing
faster than the rear of the tread block or visa versa. This after the
car was 2X times check for alignment and found to be aligned
correctly. Now if you have side to side wear that is uneven across the
tread then it probably is an alignment issue.

 

[Rick Courtright]

faster than the rear of the tread block or visa versa. This after the
car was 2X times check for alignment and found to be aligned
correctly. Now if you have side to side wear that is uneven across the

Hi, Ed

If I read the "symptom" correctly, you could still have a bit of a toe
issue even though the car's supposedly properly aligned. Most cars have
a "range" that's within spec, and it may be yours needs to be set up
near one end or another of that range. Many shops figure as long as the
needle's in "the green" as it were, life is good. But I've talked to
alignment guys in the past who've told me sometimes they have to
actually go a little outside the "published" spec to settle a tire wear
issue. Might be worth asking some questions...

Rick

 

[Edward Hayes]

Thanks Rick. Something to consider