24 replies to this topic

[croc7]

Would there be a problem with switching A008s from left side to right side instead of front to rear when rotating tires?

 

Edit:  Talked with my local tire guy and he says front to back is fine, as is left to right.  So will stick with the usual, thanks all for the replies.

Edited by croc7, 09 May 2024 - 01:06 AM.

[nicklouse]

No but why? 
 

do people still rotate tyres? 
 

[croc7]

I’m chasing a slight vibration is why. I usually rotate front to rear to even out wear.

[imack]

No but why?

do people still rotate tyres?

It's still part of the service schedule for Suzuki.

Edited by imack, 06 May 2024 - 10:32 AM.

[mab01uk]

I don't think many people or car/tyre manufacturers recommend rotating tyres anymore or the possible effects of moving a part worn tyre to a different position.

No harm if you are just trying to track down a vibration due to an unbalanced wheel or tyre problem. Most modern motorists would not even know how to change a wheel anyway...

 

Also having all your tyres wear out at the same time means a big replacement cost all in one go which might not be ideal for those on a tight budget who would prefer to spread the cost out.

One advantage of rotation on a very low annual mileage Mini might be that the rear tyres might get very old and degrade before the tread wear outs compared to the front tyres.

[Coalhod]

Yes! I had this happen on my car with 12 year old A-008's at the rear.  I was competing in an autocross here in the States which are timed events on tarmac.  Anyway, no changes in anything suspension related when the back end broke loose two times without warning!  I always change the fronts as they wore down and the rears were very little worn.  It wasn't until I looked at the date code on the rears  and found the cause was just old tyres.  2 fresh A-008's and the car is back to its old self.

[Midas Mk1]

It’s common practice at my workplace on non staggered setups, better having even worn, even ages tyres.

To the op, a008s aren’t directional, just fitted inside outside.

[Bobbins]

My daily driver has a factory recommendation to rotate the tyres at defined mileage intervals to even out wear, I suspect the same brand as Midas.

[absx2]

The problem being if you are running with front negative camber and factory positive rear camber things can get a bit interesting in the handling department.

I swapped part worn A059`s from front to back and after the first drive out I quickly ordered a new set and that was with zero rear camber.

 

Unlike modern cars with plush suspension and built in safe steering geometry minis are like go carts so small changes can have a big effect.

Edited by absx2, 06 May 2024 - 04:24 PM.

[Midas Mk1]

.

Edited by Midas Mk1, 06 May 2024 - 08:13 PM.

[Midas Mk1]

The problem being if you are running with front negative camber and factory positive rear camber things can get a bit interesting in the handling department.
I swapped part worn A059`s from front to back and after the first drive out I quickly ordered a new set and that was with zero rear camber.

Unlike modern cars with plush suspension and built in safe steering geometry minis are like go carts so small changes can have a big effect.

Tbf if you have negative camber front arms your rear brackets should be modified to suit, pretty pointless not having the rear set and the fronts modified.
Rotate mine and see no issue, i’d rather have all tyres wearing evenly. The nsf will always wear faster on a drive on the left setup.

Edited by Midas Mk1, 06 May 2024 - 07:53 PM.

[stuart bowes]

nothing wrong with rotating them to get a bit of extra life.. on the daily I normally see the fronts wearing out before the rears, probably very common for fwd cars if you give them some welly on a regular basis, I try to catch them before they get too low and then I can swap them with the rears which more often than not are still pretty much 'new'

 

it got messed up this time round though because just after I swapped them over I got a rear puncture, so I replaced as a pair, obviously I wanted the newest on the front, so the others got swapped to the back again, a right old faff about

 

so now in 6 months or so I'll replace the newish old rear ones with new new ones and put them on the front, at which point the old new front ones can go on the back.  and if you followed that you can follow anything

[absx2]

 

The problem being if you are running with front negative camber and factory positive rear camber things can get a bit interesting in the handling department.
I swapped part worn A059`s from front to back and after the first drive out I quickly ordered a new set and that was with zero rear camber.

Unlike modern cars with plush suspension and built in safe steering geometry minis are like go carts so small changes can have a big effect.

Tbf if you have negative camber front arms your rear brackets should be modified to suit, pretty pointless not having the rear set and the fronts modified.
Rotate mine and see no issue, i’d rather have all tyres wearing evenly. The nsf will always wear faster on a drive on the left setup.

 

Yep I should have worded that differently. 

My car has been optimised for fast road and track so is modified front and rear.

It corners on rails and get up to 4000 miles out of a set of 12" Yoko`s and the rears get heavy wear on the outer edges so on the occasion I fitted them to the front it was not a pleasant experience.

Not a problem on someone's car that has normal road use and 10" tyres are very forgiving due to the high sidewall.

[mbolt998]

Would there be a problem with switching A008s from left side to right side instead of front to rear when rotating tires?

There's a distinction between "asymmetric" and "directional". If there's asymmetric you can swap them left to right-- it just means they have to be on the rim the correct way round, which they already are. But if they're directional you can't swap them left to right, only front to rear.

 

Google seems to say those are directional, but this is the thing to check.

[mbolt998]

nothing wrong with rotating them to get a bit of extra life.. on the daily I normally see the fronts wearing out before the rears, probably very common for fwd cars if you give them some welly on a regular basis, I try to catch them before they get too low and then I can swap them with the rears which more often than not are still pretty much 'new'

 

it got messed up this time round though because just after I swapped them over I got a rear puncture, so I replaced as a pair, obviously I wanted the newest on the front, so the others got swapped to the back again, a right old faff about

 

so now in 6 months or so I'll replace the newish old rear ones with new new ones and put them on the front, at which point the old new front ones can go on the back.  and if you followed that you can follow anything

 

Rotating sounds like a good idea. I do it on my modern car to keep the tyre wear consistent. Never used to on the Mini because I ran better quality tyres on the front and budgets on the rear. But now all four are the same and I could rotate them. But I've only done about 2k miles in the year since it's been back on the road. Must try harder!