Tire rotation

[SmartDigger]

Do you need to rotate the tires

[Dunerunner]

Originally Posted by SmartDigger

Do you need to rotate the tires

Since the front and rear tires are different sizes (from the factory) I would say no. If modified so they are the same size I would say no. The car is light weight and I am thinking it should produce some high tire milage.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by SmartDigger

Do you need to rotate the tires

Extend the life of your tires by 2X if you rotate them every 6,000 miles. In other words, if you never rotated your tires they would last half as long as if you DID rotate them. Once they become scalloped in the front, the *rolling* tire will scallop due to not being scuffed clean by friction like a drive tire would be. And once the tire is scalloped badly, it is more difficult, if not impossible to *clean them up* by putting them on a drive wheel so you just have to replace them because they are so noisey and/or rough riding.

Unfortunately due to the different wheel and tire sizes on the smartie, rotation cannot be done and it is not recommended to put the smaller front on the rear for any reason other than a short distance run as a spare in the case of a flat tire.

I just changed my front wheels over to 5.5X 15 with 175-55R-15 tires bought new from Tire rack (continentals) I was fortunate to find someone who had replaced their brand new stock wheels with something else and had rear stock wheels (9 spoke alloy) available to buy so I bought a set of rears from him to put on the front..

I feel doing this was a win-win because the car rides better at Interstate speeds of 65-80 (not inclined to be so *steery*) whereby the skinnier tires (the 155's)followed the road grooves more readily than the slightly wider 175's did. The second win is that now I can rotate my tires front to rear or crisscross every other rotation and optimize my tire mileage....all part of economizing every where we can.....

Doesn't make sense to gain .5 mpg or alittle more with a skinnier tire on the front (if that is the reason..not sure what the engineering reason is... )only to have to trash the tires prematurely because you can't rotate them.....so this is a no brainer to me.

There is negligible difference in offset (.060" or 1.5MM) to make any difference in handling or any other front end geometry parameter that I can see.(Front wheel is 22mm, rear is 23.5mm offset) although the wheel is an inch wider. So far, doing this change to me has been a big plus....

John

[smartune]

The smaller front tire is for engineered understeer.

[msjohnson1974]

Not buying the 2x figure on the life span. I never rotated my Explorer or 3 Series when I had it and the tires wore evenly. I also never have had the tires turn rough or noisy.

To each his own, its a personal decision. I'm also not going to change the tire/wheel sizes as those German engineers get paid the big bucks for a reason.

[Paul A]

Do you want to sell your old front wheels?

[spdickey]

That affect would a left/right rotate do? Any help?

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by spdickey

That affect would a left/right rotate do? Any help?

You would reverse the tire rotation the belts may not like that you could check with continetal if it is ok. Some tires don't like that.
karl

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by msjohnson1974

Not buying the 2x figure on the life span. I never rotated my Explorer or 3 Series when I had it and the tires wore evenly. I also never have had the tires turn rough or noisy.

To each his own, its a personal decision. I'm also not going to change the tire/wheel sizes as those German engineers get paid the big bucks for a reason.

Rather than the rule then, especially with an Explorer. Like many 4x4's, you can hear them growling down the road before you even see them.
Ask a tire guy...he'll tell you about the benefits of rotating tires....and he sells tires!

John

[E-SMART]

You know there are a few other cars that do this, different size tires front and rear - but mostly higher-end cars (Corvette, Audi R8 come to mind) so the old rule of replacing all 4 or rotating no longer apply and you would replace them in pairs. Still remember having snow tires on my wife's '81 rear-wheel drive Corolla and with the longer winters, we would actually 'spare' a pair that wouldn't wear at all of course when they're off the car.

As far as the smaller front's, the smart brochure (besides understeer) states its for 'slicing through' snow of all things! (I'm looking for the exact text but do remember reading it)