I have a friend with a '53 Chevy and he's never rotated his bias ply tires. I'd think, if the tread pattern was the same, switching them around shouldn't matter. If your doing this due to uneven tread wear, maybe you need to check the frontend.
Recommended way to rotate bias ply tires, to equalize wear: LF to LR LR to RF RF to RR RR to spare Spare to LF
my first after High School job was at the biggest tire shop in town, during the bias days, when radials were very uncommon. The boss said bias can do an X swap to opposite corners, or there was a complicated version, if you used the spare tire also. He said radials should not be X'd as the steel plies take "a set" and should only rotate in the same direction. So, LF to LR, but not to opposite corners
Tires need to be rotated. Yes fronts will wear differently then the rears no matter what. Even if the front end is in perfect condition. Here is a diagram showing the proper rotation sequence. Sent via Western Union Express.
The chart that 1955IHC posted was pretty well standard in the early 70's at any placed that serviced tires. In the early 70's some tire companies had trouble with radials breaking down structurally when they were crossed to the other side. The theory was that they had taken a directional set in the casing and the tire was run in the other direction the materials in the tire ended up getting pulled apart. I don't know if that is correct or not but I replaced a lot of radials with separations in the tread or sidewalls in the early 70s when I worked in a tire store. The bias tires didn't care where you put them or where you moved them to but not moving them cut tire life in half on most of them. I think the Firestone Deluxe champions were rated for 25K at that time That was if you rotated them every 5000 miles faithfully. It took the local tire store guys a long time to grasp the concept that I didn't worry about tire wear too much on my 48 as I have run big and littles on it with a huge difference in size for over 35 years. A set of front tires every so often was just part of the deal.
I have 5000+ miles on my Firestone bias-ply and have not rotated them yet. I think I personally would just go back to front same side.
wow. thanks for the info. I just had a blow out on a radial tire now I'm wondering if I rotated left to right.
Rotating a radial left to right shouldn't cause a blowout. Worst case scenario is ply separation, which would lead to vibration not blowout.
Some bias plys are directional if they are they will have an arrow on them, otherwise bias plys don't care.
They won't. I worked at a tire shop for six years and we used to do straight and cross rotations all the time, no issues. I always cross rotate on my DD and so far no problems.
Spare?? We don't need no stinkin' spare;o) You can put them any way you want as long as they're the same size. In the early days of radials in the U.S. the rotation had to be the same direction or the tires would fail so they could only be switched to the front or back on the same side of the vehicle (as we were told, in reality U.S. tire makers didn't how to make a worthy radial tire) Including the spare was more complicated so wasn't usually done. Today I thinks you can rotate them as above but I still don"t and just replace them four at a time.
No you just need the guy like me with a uni-lug spare on the truck and the extra in the bed. Sent via Western Union Express
Your right, but I'm relying on some luck and a extra big can of fix a flat with me always. I ain't got room for a spare.
I'm just giving you a hard time. If I had something small that didn't have the room I'd take my chances to. However I perfer a plug kit over fix-a-flat. Sent via Western Union Express
I really don't see the point in cross-rotating any type of tire. Front-to-back should be sufficient (and less of a hassle)...
If, for various reasons, your tires have abnormal wear patterns ( like tread worn more on one side than the other, cupped, etc changing the rotation will allow you to drive on them longer until you save up enough money (if ever) to repair the f.e. alignment and buy new rubber. From back in the day and bias ply tires.
There are other factors also. Each corner of the car is subjected to different factors. Weight, steering, crown of the road, etc. No cross rotation in not necessary, but it will make it will help ensure all tires wear evenly and help you get the best possible mileage out of them. Sent via Western Union Express
Thanks for the replies, I swapped the 2 fronts the other day. I can't swap the backs to the front because of the way I mounted my sombrero's. I want to fix that this winter. No spare for me either, just a plug kit and flat in a can.
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