tire rotation

[cuate01221]

So I was talking to my teacher about tire rotations today and he said that with radials, he never crosses sides because the steel belt in the tire will flex the opposite way it has been flexing and break. I always thought it was better to put the front tires directly on the back and then cross the back tires when you put them up front for more even tire wear. How do you guys rotate tires?

[mtnbikaah]

my tires are directional. So, just front to back.

[deevergote]

I've never heard of that before.
I usually just do front to back myself... but I burn through tires so quickly that it really doesn't matter. Front to back is easier, because you can just jack up one full side of the car.

[MikeW]

Should've asked him if he runs his directionals backwards.

[benjerman112]

Front to back and vise versa.
I've heard of crossing them but never done it.

[tommi]

i work at a shop and we DO NOT cross them cuz of this reason. yes ive heard of it.

[Losiracer2]

you can cross rotate, but its usually only to correct a weird wear pattern. Only heavy duty trucks usually do this since they sometimes get "cupping" in the tread blocks.

Cross rotating helps to eliminate this by spinning the tire in the other direction.

[bobbycos]

bias ply tires get cross rotated

radials front to back on the same side

thats what i have always known and done

last set of bias ply tires i had were a set of H78-15's on my first 1970 Impala

still have a few old A70-13's for my Vega but only for show, i would never dare go on a highway with them

[Fleetw00d]

Not cross rotating radials was certainly true when they first came out (some were just plain bad regardless - my parent's 1974 Impala wagon went through 7 Firestone 500's in 20,000 miles), but I believe modern tires can be cross rotated without a problem (unless of course they are directional). I've switched tires aound on my EX and my 1999 E350without a problem, the other three CB's all have directional tires.