Tyre Rotation Question

Hi All,

I've got a question about tyre rotation for my 2009 GU ST Patrol please, for any tyre experts out there!

What would you do in this situation...

2 front Maxxis AT700 at about 85% remaining apprx
2 rear Bridgestone Duelers at about 70% remaining apprx
1 spare Bridegstone Dueler at 100% (never used by the looks of it)

...in terms of rotation? Is it ok to mix up the Duelers and Maxxis back & front/side to side plus given their different wear? And the spare? Previously I've had Mickey Thompsons on a Disco and rotated them all equally so never had this situation when they are all different/out of sync!

Cheers.

Being basically constant 4wd I wouldn't as all have different rolling diameters, M2cW

Keep them in their pairs. Leave the spare alone until you get a new set.

Not exactly ideal as same size tyre from different manuf will have different rolling circumferences as the buggers don't standardise IE for example a 33 inch Cooper is usually just over 32... but anyway... either
What Nissannewby said
or
If you aren't sure your getting Duellers later rotate the spare thru the axle with the Duellers and they will all be due for replacement at about the same time.

Swap the tyres left to right regularly (to reverse the direction of rotation) and if you want to change axles fine but keep them in their 'pair' and keep an eye on wear patterns and pressures and you shouldn't have too much hass.

Good info thanks guys.

Ive always heard its not good to switch left to right (flipping rim around, not taking tyre off then flip rim). Reasoning behind it is that, the steel belt tightens to a certain direction, and when you turn the tyre around, you start to pull the belt the other direction and can damage the belt and cause excessive wear on the tyre.

I could be wrong, but thats just what ive heard.

Because the Patrol is a rear wheel drive vehicle when driving in 2WH they will wear out the rears a little bit faster then the fronts. Lets face it, most 4WD's do the bulk of there KM"s on tar. Buy a new Dueler to match the 100%er and fit them on the rear. Put the Duelers at about 70% on the front. Keep the 2 others as spares. In 10,000 K's rotate the front and rear tyres.

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Originally Posted by lhurley

Ive always heard its not good to switch left to right (flipping rim around, not taking tyre off then flip rim). Reasoning behind it is that, the steel belt tightens to a certain direction, and when you turn the tyre around, you start to pull the belt the other direction and can damage the belt and cause excessive wear on the tyre.

I could be wrong, but thats just what ive heard.

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I have been told that by the local tyre specialist. I suppose you could mark the tyres then flip them on the rim, before fitting them to the opposite side. Is that an option ?

Ive been thinking about some replies here...if I bought just 1 dueler and used it plus the current spare, and took the Maxxis pair off as spares...then I'd be driving with 4 duelers on and a maxxis spare? Which I don't think is the best option, from other replies.

Perhaps I'd be better off getting 2 new duellers, put them on in place of the maxxis, don't touch the spare, rotate all the duellers through to even them out and sell the maxxis? Haha...I'm thinking about this too much arent I?!

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Originally Posted by gingerboy

Ive been thinking about some replies here...if I bought just 1 dueler and used it plus the current spare, and took the Maxxis pair off as spares...then I'd be driving with 4 duelers on and a maxxis spare? Which I don't think is the best option, from other replies.

Perhaps I'd be better off getting 2 new duellers, put them on in place of the maxxis, don't touch the spare, rotate all the duellers through to even them out and sell the maxxis? Haha...I'm thinking about this too much arent I?!

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Either option works fine mate.

Measure the sizes.. if your writting 5-10mm then don't stress.. its when you get 20mm difference then you gotta worry..
Always put news on the front..
So if you want to buy tyres get one new one and bolt it to the front with the spare.. sell the 2 maxis tyres and get a second handie fir the spare..

But imho, leave how is.. just keep them paired.. never heard or had an issue with swapping left to right.. do it every 10 thou service..

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

should not use different size tyres while 4wd driving as the wheels are turning at different speeds i will try and find the thread on this i read on the navara forum from a very well respected person gives the mathematics as well

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lhurley

Ive always heard its not good to switch left to right (flipping rim around, not taking tyre off then flip rim). Reasoning behind it is that, the steel belt tightens to a certain direction, and when you turn the tyre around, you start to pull the belt the other direction and can damage the belt and cause excessive wear on the tyre.

I could be wrong, but thats just what ive heard.

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I heard that one as well when driving previous other brand wagon (to embarrassed to name) which it had a slight vibration which could not be identified and put down to rotating tyres from side to side.
However when I bought the GUiv ute brand new in 2006, I rotated original duellers in circle every 10,000 klm so all 5 tyres eventually did same mileage on all corners and did not have a problem over life of 120,000 klms.
My best uneducated guess is that on vehicles with softer suspension and car like features, it might be a problem.

Wow! A lot of different opinions on here over something so simple. I know this is an old thread but I couldn't help but respond with a few points for everyone to keep in mind.

Here are the facts people.

1. Rotating or "flipping" a tyre on the rim is a completely pointless exercise. Once a tyre has a wear pattern in it, it can not be undone. Flipping the tyre doesn't fix it because the all of the tyre surface is still in contact with the road even when flipped. So that wear pattern will continue to wear flipped or not.

2. Never have odd tyres if you can avoid it. 2 pairs is okay but keep those pairs together, only rotate them front to rear if you have pairs. Different rolling diameters puts huge stress on your drive line in 4wd mode.

3. ALWAYS have your best tyres on the front of your car. Biggest/deepest tread to the back because they wear the quickest (if that is even the case) is wrong. Best tyres to the front because your front tyres control your car. Do you really want the least amount of tread on the front so the front will aquaplane in the wet before the rear. They will have less tread for water to get out from under the tyre. BEST FRONT, nothing else!!

4. Whether a tyre rolls this way or that, it does nothing to the belts. Do what you like. Directional tyres are purely based tread pattern for water/mud dispersion.

5. Quickest wearing tyre on any car is the passenger side front. Outside of that tyre takes all the stress and load when we turn right around roundabouts all the time. Go check it on your car now, i'll wait here. See fact 1 here, flipping it on the rim aint gunna fix it, sorry.

6.Biggest way to kill tyres early in their life cycle is incorrect pressures on the road. It costs nothing to have the pressures right and low pressures on the road can literally halve the life of your tyres.

7. Rotate and balance every 10,000kms. Don't be a tight arse with your $2000 Mickey Tees or whatever you have. No point spending that money to only get half the life out of them. Rotate them, and use ALL FIVE tyres when you do. Wear out the whole set and get new ones. Don't wear out 2 and then get 2 new ones. See Fact 2, different rolling diameters with 2 new tyres to 2 old ones.

I hope some of these tips/facts help you guys to get more life out of your tyre investment. My 2 cents is bought to you by me being a tyre shop manager for a large tyre retailer business for about 3 years.

Happy Trails!! :)

4. Whether a tyre rolls this way or that, it does nothing to the belts. Do what you like. Directional tyres are purely based tread pattern for water/mud dispersion.

01 bear I beg to differ if the belts are moulded into the tyre case and they work across the tread as in braking and acceleration then we put side loads on as we corner you have a problem that the belts move in a set pattern .The belts are mouldered into the case but being a different compound to the case will move in the case flipping the tyre increases the belt movement in the reverse direction which will cause more balance problems and decrease the tyre life . This is the explanation giving to me as a tyre tester for Dunlop Pacific from one of their top engineers .

5. Quickest wearing tyre on any car is the passenger side front. Outside of that tyre takes all the stress and load when we turn right around roundabouts all the time. Go check it on your car now, i'll wait here. See fact 1 here, flipping it on the rim aint gunna fix it, sorry.

Maybe try running a higher pressure around town in the fhl tyre by 2/5 psi to take some of the flex out of the side wall to help the weight transfer .

What pressure to run is another one we get wrong . A few sheets of A4 and a trolly jack will give you a base to work from .Measure the width of your tyre jack up the patrol and lower the tyre back down to the sheet of paper and if the imprint is square that is the max traction available then decrease the length of the imprint to improve l/km . handy for a trip away and all pressure don't have to be the same .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg I am running this

. Quickest wearing tyre on any car is the passenger side front. Outside of that tyre takes all the stress and load when we turn right around roundabouts all the time. Go check it on your car now, i'll wait here. See fact 1 here, flipping it on the rim aint gunna fix it, sorry.

IMHO that might be correct for a city car but from my experience and confirmed on recent Cape trip the rear left wears the most.

I always rotate all 5 tyres every 10,000 and never had a problem. After the 8,000klm round trip to the Cape and back via Mt Isa, my rear left had much more wear than the other 3. I suppose about 2500 to 3000 was on dirt so that probably had some effect. On the dirt, I was in 4wd high and only when I left Mt Isa did I unlock the hubs.

Left hand rear Wizard 52 I find that interesting got any theory as to why as I have a 99 coily tray

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Originally Posted by dads tractor

Left hand rear Wizard 52 I find that interesting got any theory as to why as I have a 99 coily tray

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Unfortunately no real idea why. Remember hearing years ago some plausible explanation about drive from diff going more to one wheel but it could have been an urban myth.
The difference in wear was very noticeable on the Cape trip- probably 20,000k worth of wear (if possible to guess) so it will be rotated to spare for next 2 rotations.