Tyres : To rotate or buy new

thomas anderson.

Here lads

Is it better to rotate your tyres or wait till the front ones are bald and just replace?

Tony Beetroot

I prefer to change my tyres when they are down to 2-3mm tread not bald.

Buona Fortuna

When I replace tyres , its usually the front two. If there's a decent tread on the rear ones I put them on the front and the new on the back.

I do it, it makes me happy, but I don't think it saves anything.

jimgoose

If you have a car with an engine, meaning V-something, 6 or ideally 8, fcuk them onto the back and vapourise them. If you're Irish, go immediately to the most expensive Tyre Guy reachable and scream like a little girl.

dooroy

As most cars are front wheel drive I would imagine the fronts wear much quicker than the rears- they have more to do ( braking , steering, putting down the power and cornering ) while the rears are only deal with cornering and braking to a lesser extent .
Whenever I fit 2 new tyres I always put them on the front and move the fronts to the rear .

magentis

Your best tyres should be on the back if the car is front wheel drive.And 3mm is about as low as i would let them go.

AvonEnniskerry

It depends if you have alloys. Rotate if not. Buy new and fit them if you do. No point rotating alloys as usually the front get scrapes and bangs.

AvonEnniskerry

Buona Fortuna wrote:

When I replace tyres , its usually the front two. If there's a decent tread on the rear ones I put them on the front and the new on the back.

Is your car rear wheel drive. I used to always keep the good tyres on the front as it was front wheel drive?

magentis

Its a lot easier to recover the front breaking loose than the rear in a front wheel drive.

Stoolbend

I always just change whichever ones I need. Whether that's the back or front axle.

I never rotate them but they never really get past 3mm either.

magentis

Probably does not matter for most,but if i ever have to experience aquaplaning again,the rear should let go after the front if at all.

Buona Fortuna

AvonEnniskerry wrote: »

Is your car rear wheel drive. I used to always keep the good tyres on the front as it was front wheel drive?

It is, yes.

Tea drinker

magentis wrote: »

Its a lot easier to recover the front breaking loose than the rear in a front wheel drive.

I always found it harder to recover a ploughing front than a rear stepping out.
Also most of your breaking effort is on the front.
Tyre guys always say what you just said in fairness Magentis

Prenderb

This tyre vendor (no connections) explains it quite well.

James Delaney

I would ave thought - Best Tyres should be on the Front for Front Wheel Drive !!

Magentis - Can you further reason your opinion please - as the most wear & tear will be on the Front tyres for FWD

Also u should X your tyres when switching.

Front Left to Rear Right etc. .

power pants

1.6mm is when Id change.

2-3mm still has plenty to go

Cee-Jay-Cee

I usually buy non directional tyres so that I can rotate them to opposite corners for a more even wear pattern.

Anjobe

James Delaney wrote: »

I would ave thought - Best Tyres should be on the Front for Front Wheel Drive !!

Magentis - Can you further reason your opinion please - as the most wear & tear will be on the Front tyres for FWD

Also u should X your tyres when switching.

Front Left to Rear Right etc. .

The reason for putting the best tyres on the rear is one of safety - if the rears let go first it will lead to a spin which in turn could lead to a much bigger accident than the under-steer that would result if the fronts let go first.

power pants wrote: »

1.6mm is when Id change.

2-3mm still has plenty to go

Once upon a time perhaps. The 1.6mm min tread depth comes from a time when tyres were generally much narrower than they are now, and is woefully out of date. Wider tyres require a greater tread depth to channel water away from the centre of the tyre and there is plenty of evidence around to show that the wet grip of a modern tyre is seriously compromised once the tread has worn below 3mm.

Tea 1000

Anjobe wrote: »

The reason for putting the best tyres on the rear is one of safety - if the rears let go first it will lead to a spin which in turn could lead to a much bigger accident than the under-steer that would result if the fronts let go first.



Once upon a time perhaps. The 1.6mm min tread depth comes from a time when tyres were generally much narrower than they are now, and is woefully out of date. Wider tyres require a greater tread depth to channel water away from the centre of the tyre and there is plenty of evidence around to show that the wet grip of a modern tyre is seriously compromised once the tread has worn below 3mm.

power pants doesn't do "evidence" when it comes to tyres though. He uses the "I've never crashed, therefore I'm always right" to ignore good sense and reasonable logic!

CramCycle

I don't swap tyres around, if there is enough left on them leave them where they are, if not chuck and replace. My front ones wear far quicker, if either front needs changing, they both get new ones, if either rear needs changing, they both get new ones.

I can't see how swapping around gives any benefit, as if they are not fit for the front, they are not fit for the rear and vice versa.

power pants

Anjobe wrote: »

The reason for putting the best tyres on the rear is one of safety - if the rears let go first it will lead to a spin which in turn could lead to a much bigger accident than the under-steer that would result if the fronts let go first.



Once upon a time perhaps. The 1.6mm min tread depth comes from a time when tyres were generally much narrower than they are now, and is woefully out of date. Wider tyres require a greater tread depth to channel water away from the centre of the tyre and there is plenty of evidence around to show that the wet grip of a modern tyre is seriously compromised once the tread has worn below 3mm.

I worked in a main dealers until recently and we had a very important contract and we still went by the 1.6mm rule. Not saying you are wrong but its still used to this day. we only put on 2 brands of expensive tyres which I personally disagreed with

Anjobe

power pants wrote: »

I worked in a main dealers until recently and we had a very important contract and we still went by the 1.6mm rule. Not saying you are wrong but its still used to this day. we only put on 2 brands of expensive tyres which I personally disagreed with

There was a study done by Semperit and Auto Express magazine in 2006 that shows that the 1.6mm legal minimum, set in 1992, is not safe. I can't find the link to the original study but here it is reported in the Irish Times. I would have thought everybody was recommending change at 3mm nowadays.

power pants

oh dear, I think you are actually correct. Im sure it was 3mm on reflection in the dealership

oh well, ill chalk this one up to being wrong for once

thomas anderson.

Theres still 2.5 mill on the front but the back are still like new.

Was just wondering if it'd be worth swapping them over to save a bit of cash.

Shes a VW 1.6 tdi btw

Anjobe

thomas anderson. wrote: »

Theres still 2.5 mill on the front but the back are still like new.

Was just wondering if it'd be worth swapping them over to save a bit of cash.

Shes a VW 1.6 tdi btw

Don't rotate those. Your front tyres are worn out at 2.5mm, they need changing when you get the chance and until then they are best left where they are.

magentis

Tea drinker wrote:

I always found it harder to recover a ploughing front than a rear stepping out. Also most of your breaking effort is on the front. Tyre guys always say what you just said in fairness Magentis

I would have thought under-steer would be easier to correct than over-steer.