Rotating Tires

[Greezy56]

Can you rotate tires , ie back to the front when you have tire presh monitors.

 

Is it worth it , can it be done?

[Robbydazzler]

As far as I am aware you can. The system uses the ABS system. Rotate your wheels and set the tyre pressures to the correct levels. Then recalibrate the tyre pressure monitoring system.

[FelisBengalensis]

No monitors in mine....as suggested, it’s the ABS monitoring wheel rotation differences to detect pressure changes. 

[Auric Goldfinger]

True or not, I was always told by my local tyre place that tyres should be rotated front to back same side, if you put the tyres on the other side they will be running in the opposite direction, evidently tyres get into a wear pattern.

[Ootohere]

If not Directional Tyres people have been also changing not just from to rear but also turning the treads for years.

 

Tyres to get a wear pattern, so change them twice a year maybe, side to side or back to front.

Sometimes Local Tyres places have people that are trained and qualified and think and sometimes ones trained and repeat what that person tells them to tell customers.

[aldouk]

Always keep your newer tyres on the back with more tread on. 

[BillyJim]

 

9 hours ago, Greezy56 said:

Is it worth it , can it be done?

 

On FWD cars I'd keep the tyres with the most tread depth on the front. These are the driven wheels, they do the steering, and they do the most braking, in other words they do the most work and will likely be the ones that wear down quickest, whereas the rears are free rotating followers and Škoda appear to agree with me. This is what they say in the manual...

 

Notes on using wheels

Read and observe on page 217 first.

New tyres do not offer optimum grip during the first 500 km and appropriate care should therefore be taken when driving.

Always fit the tyres with the deeper tread depth to the front wheels.

 

As for how and when...

 

 

For uniform wear on all tyres, we recommend that you change the wheels every 10 000 km according to the scheme » Fig. 236 B .

You will then obtain approximately the same life for all the tyres.

After a wheel has been replaced, the tyre pressure has to be adjusted.
In vehicles with tyre pressure monitoring, save tyre pressure values.

 

"For uniform wear on all tyres" On my last 5 cars, all FWD except my current 4x4, I've never had more than 1 mm of wear difference between front and rear so I simply haven't bothered with rotation.

[brad1.8T]

9 hours ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

True or not, I was always told by my local tyre place that tyres should be rotated front to back same side, if you put the tyres on the other side they will be running in the opposite direction, evidently tyres get into a wear pattern.

I always X-rotate the front onto the rear - to get rid of the wear pattern. 

The rears go straight to the front.

[Prykey]

I must say that I've never bothered doing this, life's to short to be laying under cars, maybe I've missed a trick here but I don't think so, service stated after 9k miles that the front and rear tread depth on mine were 6mm .

 

For those that have to fit winter tyres the ideal time to do it would be when the summer tyres go back on in the spring, I can't ever see me requiring winter tyres in London, it it's that bad I don't use the car.

 

However I'm not saying don't do it, nothing would get done in this world if everyone was as lazy as me   

Edited 11 December, 2017 by Prykey

[langers2k]

8 hours ago, BillyJim said:

Always fit the tyres with the deeper tread depth to the front wheels.

 

That contradicts the current advice given by most tyre manufactures and motoring bodies.

 

I agree it's in the owners manual so I don't dispute that, I'm just curious why Skoda feel current wisdom doesn't apply to their cars. Anyone?

[Alan_P]

Understeer is safer and easier to deal with than oversteer for the average driver. It’s instinctive to simply brake as opposed to steering into a slide without braking etc.

I don’t think there is anything unconventional about the Superb so no idea why they would go against the general consensus.

[peter_k]

3 hours ago, Alan_P said:

I don’t think there is anything unconventional about the Superb so no idea why they would go against the general consensus.

 

 

I think this is a translation error.  The latest Octavia, Kodiaq and Karoq manuals say: Always fit tyres with a greater profile depth on the front wheels.  Which I would say means "Always fit the narrowest tyres on front wheels" - that should ensure understeer.  But I would have thought there would have been a "protective/disclaimer" statement "Only use wheels and tyres with matching specifications" 

[Ootohere]

Audi will sell you a RS 3 with the front wheels / tyres wider then the rears. 'Option'.

You are not swapping those front to rear.

 

BMW will sell a Ultimate Driving machine with Rear Wheel Drive & Wide Rear Tyres, so will Porsche and others.

They will also sell a BMW with wide rear wheels and x-drive, or even front wheel drive.

 

My point is not all vehicles are the same, be then Pullers Pushers or drive all wheelers, 

So giving advice ever Tyre Manufacturers / Wholesellers / Retailers do not say much about if it is a Front or Rear wheel or AWD or 4x4.

[Alan_P]

1 hour ago, AwaoffSki said:

Audi will sell you a RS 3 with the front wheels / tyres wider then the rears. 'Option'.

You are not swapping those front to rear.

 

BMW will sell a Ultimate Driving machine with Rear Wheel Drive & Wide Rear Tyres, so will Porsche and others.

They will also sell a BMW with wide rear wheels and x-drive, or even front wheel drive.

 

My point is not all vehicles are the same, be then Pullers Pushers or drive all wheelers, 

So giving advice ever Tyre Manufacturers / Wholesellers / Retailers do not say much about if it is a Front or Rear wheel or AWD or 4x4.

I thought the advice relates to potential aquaplaning (water dispersal) regardless of drive? To be fair, tests don’t show a huge difference above 4mm on most brands, but 2mm at the back and a new set with 7/8mm on the front could easily help the rear step out on braking and bends etc. ABS can greatly help with shallower tread at the front and it generates bite, but it won’t help with oversteer and the ability of ESC systems varies massively.

[Ootohere]

If you read and pay attention to those Tyre Manufacturers and sellers then you will see they advise replacing Summer (all season) Tyres at 3mm tread not the 1.6mm 

And Winter / Snow / All Weather what ever translation is @ 4mm.

 

Cars have been driving roads with pneumatic tyres in all seasons for over a century.

Not rocket science or much in the way of changed technology since radial tyres became OEM.

Tyre depth and why you should change at 3mm Mobile Tyre Fitting.mhtml

Q&A_ Replacing tyres at 3mm tread “an absolute waste” says Michelin director _ Motoring News _ Honest John.mhtml

Edited 11 December, 2017 by AwaoffSki

[Alan_P]

16 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

If you read and pay attention to those Tyre Manufacturers and sellers then you will see they advise replacing Summer (all season) Tyres at 3mm tread not the 1.6mm 

And Winter / Snow / All Weather what ever translation is @ 4mm.

 

Cars have been driving roads with pneumatic tyres in all seasons for over a century.

Not rocket science or much in the way of changed technology since radial tyres became OEM.

Tyre depth and why you should change at 3mm Mobile Tyre Fitting.mhtml

Q&A_ Replacing tyres at 3mm tread “an absolute waste” says Michelin director _ Motoring News _ Honest John.mhtml

 

I’m not quite sure what your point is? Or maybe you weren’t replying to me?

[Ootohere]

Point being you read all sorts, if you listen to experts then remember there are many opinions from those in the same industry / business.

Some are salespeople / accountants, some engineer / technicians and some scientists / academics, and some full of sh!te or BS.

 

Use you common sense, experience and knowledge and make a judgement on what expert to listen to.

[Alan_P]

So you disagree (in general) with fitting newer/deeper tread tyres at the rear of a car with the same wheel size?

[Ootohere]

Personally i have the best treads on the rear of my BMW even though it has x-drive, and i had them on other RWDs i had, but then there are good tyres on the front as well, just different sizes.

On my 4x4s, good tyres all round, on my Front Wheel Drives often good tyres / best on the front.

Often at the start of winter or end of March / April again just on the front.

 

(And in the warm weather the Snow Tyres on the Front for the 1/4 mile strip with FWD's,  and on the rears for RWD's.)

 

But then thats from going to the Ski Centres for over 4 decades now.

 

PS

Other than Forlifts everything i drive steers with the front wheels and most braking is at the front, 

and any accidents / crashes i have had was while slowing / braking and i have never gone backwards into ditches, fences or fields.

Going quick forwards has never caused an accident in my case, just the not being able to stop or get around a bend.

Edited 11 December, 2017 by AwaoffSki

[facet edge]

If the front tyres are wearing faster than the rears I would swap them so that all four tyres wear out together. This means that you get a complete new set and no worries about mixing old and new tyres.