[irodders]

Hi folks

Just wondering. I have a 2013 jimny with bfg at tyres. I bought 5 new tyres and the 4 on the car have now done about 7500 km. The spare is still brand new. I want to rotate the 5 of them but could this be a problem as the spare tyre is going to be a little bigger in diameter compared to the rest?

Or would the difference not be large enough to worry about?


Cheers Rod

[1DYX]

There will be no issues including the spare in to the rotation.
'
Ideally, at least every 10000k's more often if you like.
My recommendation:
Spare to Left front
Front tyres cross rotated to rear axle. (unless they were directional) This allows the front tyres to flatten out again.
Right rear to Front.
Left rear to spare.

Readjust all the tyre pressures.


Experience: tyre man since 1984


Note: if you are in a Left hook country, Spare to Right front, etc.

[fordem]

More out of curiosity than anything else - why would you change the rotation "pattern" for LHD/RHD - I use a different pattern to the one suggested, and in my case the rears are cross rotated to the front, I was of the impression that as long as all five wheels rotated through all five positions in sequence it wouldn't matter.

[Gwagensteve]

Near side front always wears the fastest.

[fordem]

I'm not certain I agree with that - I certainly can't see why it should (especially on what is essentially a rear wheel drive car) - and again, if all five tyres rotate through all five positions, each one will spend time in the near side front and "wear fastest" whilst it's there.

[watermouse]

Some observations.
In a RHD and doing a left hook there is the extra mass of the driver bearing down on the right front compared to right hooks/left front. Another way of looking at it is amount of body roll in left and right turns due to the mass of the driver. The wear shows as rounding on the outside shoulder.
Also in RHD countries our left turns at intersections will almost always be sharper than our right turns. A lot of people will brake or decelerate going into the turn exacerbating front tyre shoulder wear
Higher profile tyres will exhibit more shoulder wear in these scenarios.
Obviously reverse everything for LHD countries

[irodders]

Thanks for that 1DY
I'll switch them today

[Gwagensteve]

Every car I have ever owned has worn the near side front faster by a measurable amount. It's primarily a result of the camber of the road and why it's different for RHD and LHD vehicles.

[henno]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Every car I have ever owned has worn the near side front faster by a measurable amount. It's primarily a result of the camber of the road and why it's different for RHD and LHD vehicles.

Spot on.

In fact, I thought that was commonly known; I guess not.

[Gwagensteve]

It's a pain on cars with directional tyres with no spare as the LHS wears more quickly even with rotation.

[henno]

It sure is. I am in the position right now where I need to sort something out with my KL's as I can't keep an even wear across all four without having the tyres constantly flipped on the rims.

[fordem]

watermouse wrote:

Some observations.
In a RHD and doing a left hook there is the extra mass of the driver bearing down on the right front compared to right hooks/left front. Another way of looking at it is amount of body roll in left and right turns due to the mass of the driver. The wear shows as rounding on the outside shoulder.
Also in RHD countries our left turns at intersections will almost always be sharper than our right turns. A lot of people will brake or decelerate going into the turn exacerbating front tyre shoulder wear
Higher profile tyres will exhibit more shoulder wear in these scenarios.
Obviously reverse everything for LHD countries

Whilst I agree with much of what is said here, the weight transfer in the sharper left turn is going to be to the right side of the vehicle causing the right front to wear faster, also, with rear wheel drive vehicles, there is an inherent tendency to understeer, which I believe causes the outer tire in the turn to scrub, again on the outer edge.

Gwagensteve wrote:

Every car I have ever owned has worn the near side front faster by a measurable amount. It's primarily a result of the camber of the road and why it's different for RHD and LHD vehicles.

This has not been my experience, and that is the reason I am questioning it - I have had pretty much even wear side~side, even on front wheel drive cars with directional tires which have been rotated front to back and stay on the same side of the car all their life - our experiences may differ if it's related to the degree of camber on the roads, as I don't think the roads here have a significant degree of camber.

[1DYX]

It is generally considered, in the industry, that because we (RHD country) turn right at greater speed, tyre deformation causes increased wear on the shoulder.
Conversely, a left turn is usually at much lower speeds, and the distance the tyre travels under deformation, is much shorter. Camber does change around the country, and is adjusted, based on rainfall that may be experienced in that area.

Also, Australians are much less likely to request a wheel alignment every year. I have never done so. But I have always ensured, when I buy me a car, that I have it aligned by someone I trust. (I have my go to guy here in WA) After that, unless I have a big impact somehow, I am unlikely to get another alignment.

At the end of the day, usually, the rear axle will wear tyres flatter, so both front tyres should be moved there to do this. Cross rotating helps to flatten out the tread blocks, which is the primary cause of that horrid noise you hear on some vehicles as they drive past.

It has been argued by many an expert, that cross rotating causes tyres to separate, or de-laminate. This is simply not true. Pressure and driving conditions play a way bigger part.

experience: I worked and managed, a retread plant, producing around 500 truck retreads per week. My manufacturing fault claim rate (determined by independant adjudicators) was 0.7 to 1.5%, over a 10 year period. Many truck casings were retreaded 3 or 4 times. I even saw a few (Michelins, mainly) with all 8 letters removed! There is NO way that tyre was kept in a single direction of rotation each and every time it was fitted back on to a trailer.

But, at the end of the day, you should inspect your tyres regularly, determaning which tyres are wearing normally and which are wearing abnormally. Move the abnormally worn tyre to whatever position that will assist longer life.

[Qthefun]

So get my tyres rotated every service (5,000kms) from new will keep them even!

Thanks!
Q and D

[1DYX]

Qthefun wrote:

So get my tyres rotated every service (5,000kms) from new will keep them even!

Thanks!
Q and D

Service manuals usually state that the tyres should be rotated. DO NOT expect this to be done by your service point.

You will need to specifically request (remind) them to do it.

On the wife's car, because I get hers done by a 3rd party, or occasionally at the dealer, I marked each wheel with dots (1 dot for spare, 2 dots for LF, 3 dots for RF etc...) so that I can check whether a rotation has been performed, or performed to my satisfaction. Just use a texta somewhere discreet, and keep yourself a log in the service book.

[Qthefun]

Smart thinking 1DYX!! I like it!!!