When rotating radial tires, does the way you rotate them change?

Question

I have a few cars I would like to rotate the tires on, but I wanted to check and see if something I heard about was true. I heard that radial tires need to stay rolling in the same direction because of something inside the tire that will cause it too wear faster if it changes directions. I don't know the details I just want to know how to rotate my radial tires.

Answer 1

Here you go, from the the folks who know best - the tire manufacturers:

http://www.tiresafety.com/maint/maint_content.asp

You'll notice they mention that straight rotations were a product of the early days of radial tires. We've come a long way in 40 years and straight rotations are no longer valid.

I've done thousands of tire rotations. Unless the car has directional tread tires, you always end up cross-rotating. The entire tire industry, all the manufacturers recommend it. That is the way to go, irregardless of what others here have posted. I cross rotate my own tires and the wear I get proves this is the right way to go. It keeps uneven wear conditions like heel-and-toe wear from forming.

ASE Certified Automotive Service Advisor working in the tire industry

Answer 2

Best Way To Rotate Tires

Answer 3

Front to rear is the best way to rotate and even though tires of today will not come apart like earlier radials if you changed direction it is still best to allow the tread wear pattern to stay in the same direction... be aware that there are many directional tires on the market and they will indicate so on the side of the tire...

Answer 4

You can criss-cross radials, but it doesn't serve much purpose. Simply swapping front to back is just as effective, plus if your camber is different left to right, criss crossing will result in strange tire wear.

Some tires have directional tread blocks, this would be designated on the sidewall with a funny looking arrow with the word "rotation" next to it. If that is there, make sure it's pointing the right way.

Answer 5

Well, I just got back from DISCOUNT TIRE! I am SO FRIGGING MAD I can hardly contain myself... I ordered 2 new radial tires for the front of my 2012 Infiniti M37 because after 46K miles they needed to be replaced. The local store here in Marble Falls TEXAS ordered them yesterday and I went in today at 0830 to have them installed on the FRONT! They rang up the amount $400+ and proceeded to bring the car into the bay, lifted up the car and took a POWER Driver to the lug nuts first! Every nut was then HAMMERED out of the socket! I asked what the hell was going on and why they were doing this. The explanation was "Because of heat they expanded and have to do this removal type" Heat! really, I drove 14 miles to the dam store and it is 73 deg outside not 100 Deg! Every lug nut is now chewed up! Then they removed the rear tires.........I did not ask them to do this they took it upon themselves to go ahead and do it, they balanced the rear tires and when I noticed that they removed the rear tires I WENT BALLISTIC! I told them to put the old rear tires back on the rear and the NEW tires on the front and get me the hell out of this store! At that point the store manager came to me and tried to calm me down offering me a free set of tires and lug nuts for me being so UPSET! I told him NO, he could NOT BUY my opinion and that I have NEVER been to a tire store that did not do as the customer wishes. Then they decided that the NEW tires would go n the BACK and the older tires from the back would go to the FRONT! I explained to the 3 people now around me from the store about how safety is first and you ALLWAYS install new tires on the front and keep the best tires for the rear when you only buy 2 tires at a time! I made if very clear that I wanted the new ones on the front and old tires on the back were to remain there. When I got to the car they had the NEW tires on the BACK! AGAIN I went MAJOR Balistic! At this point I came unglued and they offered again to give me 2 free tires and again I said I cannot be bought! They then said it was the store policy to install the new tires on the rear and move the back to the front!
To say I am a little pissed with DISCOUNT TIRE is probably a understatement at this pint. I offered then to purchase 2 new front tires to resolve the issue and satisfy myself. They offered to replace all my lug nuts by ordering new ones and I agreed to that.
NOW, Will I ever recomend DISCOUNT TIRE to anyone! N E V E R! Not a chance in hell.... and I will only go back to get the replacement lug nuts and am DONE with this chain!

So, if you are thinking of going to DISCOUNT TIRE, think again!
Respectfully....

Answer 6

The tire makers say that direction doesn't matter. That's crap, based on experience. Always rotate from front to back on the same side, keeping the tire's direction of rotation the same, or the steel belts in the tire will shift, causing a bubble, vibration, or worse yet, a blow out.

Answer 7

Front to back, that's it. No crossing to the other side. That crossover thing was for bias-ply tires years ago. In fact, many tires today are directional, meaning they have a directional tread pattern for water dispersal or some other reason, and they must always rotate the same direction, so anything other than front to back would not work anyway. You need to make sure of this, because they have arrows embossed on the sidewall that show which way they need to rotate.

Answer 8

yes only rotate them front to rear on the same side, criss crossing rotation will cause the belts inside the tire to separate poss ably causing a blowout. this information i received from the Goodyear tire manufacture while working on semi trucks but as he stated it applies to all radial tires.

Answer 9

unless they are directional tires you rotate them like any other tire, left front to right rear etc., directional tires are a high performance tire and there will be an arrow on them pointing to the way they should turn.

Answer 10

Criss cross, straight back.........dang Im confused,,,was gonna rotate my wife's 2002 Jaguar tires (4 wheel) straight back. Now I may rethink this and end up crossing them. Try to look up what the tire manufacturer recommends.