Modern steel belted radial tires have kevlar and stronger poly belts which are actually stronger, lighter, and quieter than the early steel belted tires.

My question:

Will the more pliable modern "steel" belts pop out the sidewall of a tire if you mounted them backwards? (rotate across the car so wheel revolves the other way). The old school SB radials used to do this.

I am suspect of tire companies not supporting 5 tire rotation; it hurts sales compared to same side only rotation.

Any thoughts? thanks.

 

Ehhh...some of the cheaper ones may have issues, but if you're running a name brand tire (like you should be), it won't matter.

In theory, radial tires can develop a bias as they're run in one direction for a long period of time. Switching the tire around acts against the bias, which weakens the tire and can result in catastrophic tire failure. As you said, older radials used to have this problem, and I imagine some of the current off-brand tires might, but sales reps from all of the major manufacturers will tell you it doesn't matter anymore for their tires.

 

I would think unless you've got a tire that has the rotation direction clearly stated on the actual tire (high performance tires with specially designed tread patterns come to mind) that you would be okay doing either side of the tire.

 

Even the ones that only go one way you can still swap the front and back just not a true rotation.Most new tires are fine only tire i see problems with is goodyear they have some weak sidewalls and nascar been blowing a lot of them this season.

 

Unless they are directional tires, you can rotate them side to side. The old "always run them rotating the same direction" business is from the distant past. Modern radial tires are drastically improved. I have rotated tires on ALL my vehicles for at least ten years and have gotten great service and wear out of them.

The standard rotation pattern for radials is to move both rear tires forward on the same side and cross the front ones to the rear. Due to spacesaver spares and fancy wheels, I can't remember ever having the spare in the rotation so you're on your own for that one.

 

I'd be more suspicious of a tire company that does NOT offer at least one tire model with either a required rotation direction or a specific "inside/outside". That tells me that they are ignoring the high performance segment in order to concentrate on building mass-market OE-replacement tires as a matter of corporate philosophy. You're still going to get good tires within their tire model lineup, but probably not great ones for demanding drivers.

Not sure how it hurts sales, need a little help there. Though I do know if you normally drive a stick-axle car with an aggressive alignment that running a RF tire on the LF corner won't help even out your treadwear. Better off to stick to same-side swapping.

5-tire rotation is pretty much an imaginary practice any more, given that different versions of "space-saver" tires and run-flats have relegated the spare to emergency use only. And nobody I know of has ever bought five custom wheels just to accommodate this without having the car look like it was having some tire or other off being repaired 80% of the time .


Norm

 

Hmmm... Now "catastrophic tire failure" will be ringing in my head as I fly down the San Diego Freeway doing 95. Thanks, lol.

I don't know of any tire that has a specific direction by design, that would force you to find left and right tires. I was referring to the direction a tire develops after rotating for a few thousand miles, then suddenly reversing it. I don't know if you remember seeing a SB radial that was reversed, but first they get little bumps on the sidewall, then eventually the steel starts popping through, along with the air.

OK no one does 5 tire rotation anymore since the mini spares came out in the 80s, but 4 tire rotation will give the consumer more tread wear, thus deferring the need to buy a new set, thus hurting sales. Since I have worn tires anyway, I'm going to try swapping my front tires.

My front tires are worn evenly across, but the pass is lower, I suppose due to the slope in the road.

The following reply was encouraging:

Thanks guys. This was a general car question, but I felt safer asking it here.

CP

 

Unless I'm mistaken, that sounds like the Firestone 500 SBR's of the 70's, that IIRC had a major problem with adhesion to the steel belting. From what I understand, it's a rather fussy manufacturing process, and oxidation or surface contamination of the steel belting material was involved. Thankfully, it seems that all of the tire mfrs have that solved at this point.


Norm

 

I have cheapy pep boys 60k T rated radials on now. If it works, I might do a 4 tire rotation on my SUV, too. I will get more info from my local tire store first, but this was a good start. thanks again.

Norm, are you an engineer as wellas a hobbiest? You seem to know a lot of car tech.

CP

 

Caught me.

Let's just say that there has been plenty of time for whatever I have that passes for knowledge has had plenty of time to seep through a sometimes dense skull into the grey matter.


Norm