A mechanic recently told me that radial tires made in recent years can be safely swapped from left to right. I remember as a youngster working my way through college as a mechanic, I was always told never to swap radial tires from one side of the vehicle to the other. In other words, I was told you should not install a used radial tire such a way that it will rotate in the opposite direction from the way it was rotating previously. Supposedly this could cause a blow-out. The mechanic says it's not this way anymore.

Is this true? If so, how long have the new generation of tires been in existence?


Thanks,


Matt

 

Ooops, sorry, I should have posted this in a different category....not sure how to move it.

 

I have been cross rotating radial tires for at least 20 years--never had a problem. I found out that cross rotation will keep the tires from making excessive noise. When a radial only rotates in one direction--the tread blocks will have the leading end more worn than the trailing end and cause noise.

I have heard that the first generation of radials couldnt be cross rotated --back in the seventies--the steel radial generation.

There are still directional radial tires that cant be cross rotated--these are usually high performance radials. My GT Mustang has a set of these on them.

 

Wow, interesting. Didn't know it had been so long since the directional radials. And also interesting to find out that, not only is it ok to switch directions, but that there is actually a benefit to it.

Thanks much!


Matt

 

A tire guy at the Discount tire shop I used a couple years ago said that Michelin has never claimed anything about keeping the direction. Plus, have you ever bought a used tire? Used tires dealers just have used tires. Not directional used tires. Plus, what about your spare? You'd need two of them.

 

Having worked for a major tire mfr for many, many years, I can confirm you absolutely should cross-rotate radials. It's always been best for even wear & was recommended in the bias-ply days. Early radials had a tendency to separate & not crossing them was thought to help. Doubtful that was the real problem, though. In rotating tires, the recommended pattern is to cross the tires going to the drive wheels. On a rear wheel drive, cross those going to the rear. On 4x4, cross all 4.

 

I don't and won't if I can help it. I've been working in the car business for 25 years and regularly come up with deals on used tires. Nine times out of ten they're fine but I've had at least 10 separation failures directly attributable to running a tire "reversed". When I worked for Firestone I pulled a set and wanted to buy them. The manager inspected the tires before I got bought them and I mounted them. One failed one the way to work the very next day. Manager and Firestone categorically denied the failure was due to tire, nor was it possible. (This was years before they were denying any problems with the tires they put on Explorers).
I've had one fail not five months ago. Tires are date coded on the sidewalls so I could prove that it wasn't an "old" tire.
I dunno, somebody runs tires with no trouble for 15K miles. I take these tires and put them on my car/truck in a different rotation and one (one time a pair) fails in a very short time with obvious belt separation. But everyone denies it happens. It by-God happens to me. Over and over. Used tires don't last very long. I've been a mechanic, parts man, and yes, a tire guy for going on 25 years so it's not like I don't know anything at all. Tire companies can deny what they want, I believe my eyes. My experience is where the rubber meets the road, not what is "supposed to be".
Of course you don't have to believe me, I'm just some guy who has never personally owned a set of brand new tires in his life.

 

GypsyR is right. On the 80's and 90's cars the owners manual shows the correct rotation order and they show rotating from front to back. I have never seen one that showed to cross rotate with radial tires. Of course the newest vehicle I own is a 99 sable and a 93 F150 so I could be behind the times, I'm A throwback.

 

Well, I suppose that everyone has had different experiences, but I have absolutely never had a problem cross rotating tires, and I do it every third oil change (9,000 miles). I got 85,000 miles out of my last set of tires, and have 40,000 on this set, and they are still about 2/3 tread life. I always cross rotated tires in the shops I worked for, and never had a failure, either. That said, I keep my tires properly inflated. If A tire is run low, then run "backwards", perhaps the outcome is different? What I do know is that cross rotating the tires on my truck and cars allows me to get significantly longer life from them than straight front to back rotation would. Not trying to be argumentative, just stating my professional and personal experiences, and a possible solution to those who do have problems with cross rotation. Perhaps a tire that was once under-inflated and driven won't tollerate being loaded in the other direction even if it is now properly inflated.

 

From the 1996 owners manual - cross rotation of tires is the recommended method.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...&albumid=16492

 

as long as the tire is not speciffacly marked on the side wall as directional it is no problem

 

Thanks for all of the responses!