Tyre rotation

egyptiancotton

I've never actually rotated my tyres, ever. But now I'd like to change that!

I've come across this handy tyre rotation calculator. Would it be best to follow the advice given by the calculator or rotate the tyres every 5000 miles (approximately)?

For info to put into the calculator:

• New tyre tread depth: 8
• Mileage when tyres new: 30496
• Mileage now: 36050
• Front tread depth now: 5
• Rear tread depth now: 6
• Min acceptable tread depth: 1.8

scotsbob

Nothing wrong with rotation apart from the fact that all 4 tyres will eventually need to be replaced together. Makes a fair dent in the motoring budget.

GolfBravo

scotsbob wrote: »

Nothing wrong with rotation apart from the fact that all 4 tyres will eventually need to be replaced together.

Which is, actually, not a bad thing: you don't want to end up with new front tyres every 2 years, and two 6 year old rear tyres. Tyre rubber compounds do perish over time.

Richard53

All other things being equal, I tend to wait until the fronts are worn, and then swap the rears to the front and put new ones on the rear. Only two tyres to buy at once, and the rears get used up within a reasonable time. This only works if you have a perfect 2:1 wear ratio between front and rear, though, so I often end up getting all four done at once.

I have the reverse problem on the bikes. Tyres seem to wear in the ratio one rear to about 1.5 fronts, so there's no easy way to keep them in sync either.

Hintza

^^^^^ I'm with Bob and Richard on this one. Tyres perishing! Mine never last that long!

Horizon81

When my fronts are worn I just get them replaced then swap front to rear, so the new ones always end up on the back. This means I only ever buy 2 at a time.

fivetide

Richard53 wrote: »

I have the reverse problem on the bikes. Tyres seem to wear in the ratio one rear to about 1.5 fronts, so there's no easy way to keep them in sync either.

Sport/touring rear and a softer front will sort the bike issue out. I've discovered this as they don't do a sport touring for the FireBlade front, just the rear but it works really well.

Mind, I could get two rears to one front using the touring tyres on the Blackbird.

Ultrasonic

As others above, I change fronts when worn (to 3 mm), getting the old rears swapped to the front and the new tyres on the rear. Best tyres on the rear is the standard advice for safety now, although this is always a subject of argument on motoring forums.

Richard53

fivetide wrote: »

Sport/touring rear and a softer front will sort the bike issue out. I've discovered this as they don't do a sport touring for the FireBlade front, just the rear but it works really well.

Mind, I could get two rears to one front using the touring tyres on the Blackbird.

Funny - 20 years ago I always used to get 2 rear to 1 front, so the strategy was a simple one. But these days either I am stuffing it into corners harder or rear compounds have got softer, because it's much closer to 1:1 now. In fact, the XT600 is so much fun to chuck about on the front brake that I have ragged the front tyre and the rear still has some left.

I'm not keen on using different compounds, profiles etc front and rear. I'd rather pay the extra and know that I had a matched pair. Just me, YMMV and all that.

fivetide

Richard53 wrote: »

I'm not keen on using different compounds, profiles etc front and rear. I'd rather pay the extra and know that I had a matched pair. Just me, YMMV and all that.

Actually I paid extra for an unmatched pair

My daily ride is FireBlade which runs a 17" rear but a 16" front so has a limited tyre choice. However, Bridgstone specify which tyres can be mixed for the bike so now running a sport touring rear and soft front. It's very MotoGP!

oneye14

Best tyres on the rear is the standard advice for safety now, although this is always a subject of argument on motoring forums.

With front wheel drive and braking I thought it was the other way round.