And the logic for not "rotating"? I used to not rotate, or change the rotation direction of radials, since they would often separate and come apart. Newer radials are supposed to be able to handle this. I fear swapping the rears, since the radials will twist and tighten in the direction of spin, and if I changed the direction of rotation, I feared throwing the tread. Same logic, or something else?
If the new Corvette owners aren't worried about rotating their tires (kind'a hard to rotate them when they're 18s on the front and 19s on the rear), then I ain't worried about doing it on my Maverick...
My first set of tires wore down so fast(due to alignment and soft compound) that I didnt get to rotate them. My second set dryrotted cause I never had the money to fix the problems and get an alignment, sold that POS a while back. But I agree with scooper on his theory, besides, I mess with my own wheels when it comes to taking them off and its further to go around the car, LOL:bananaman
Blu, I like your "lazy approach" to rotating tires. Actually, when I had my old Nissan Sentra, I rotated front to rear only, never swapping to the other side. It kept the wear a little more even, but didn't mess with the radials. One time I swapped the "proper" pattern, after the dealer insisted that I do it, and it never drove right again. Seemed to shimmy and pulled to the right from then on.
Where I learned about not rotating radials, bear with me, it is a fairly short story: My dad and I were driving to Toledo Bend, northeast Texas, in a 1976 Dodge van (w/440 and headers, and I wonder where I get my gearhead gene) from Houston. He had just rotated the tires. This was in 1978, I guess steel belts were new at that time, or maybe they were crappy tires. We got halfway there, and the tread started peeling off the tires. Now, it didn't just fly off. It held on half way, and beat the fenders in until it hit the frame. We stopped, swapped out the spare, and got back on the road. Less than 20 miles later, a second one did the same thing. Without a second spare, we had to drive until we got to a town. It beat a second fender in (both rear) before it finally threw the tread completely off and we drove slowly on the bare tire. My dad has never rotated steel belted radials since. I have only done so wearily after being "promised" by car dealers and tire salespersons that newer radials can handle the swap. I still won't do it on a "drag" car.
