RE: Tire Rotation

[Challenger Timothy APK <Timothy.Challenger@xxxxxx>]

Oh God, I hope this is a trawl.

You want to "rotate" the tyres like you might on a car ? That is, put the
front on the rear and the rear on the front ?  
Or just turn each tyre around on the rim so the the tyres woul dbe on
backwards ?

The first wouldn't work because they are of different sizes, and even if
they were the same size there is a very good reason why manufacturers
designate them as front or rear tyres.
The second is also fairly stupid for the same reason.

Tyres are directional, and front and rear tyres have different stresses to
cope with. The front is subject to a lot of braking forces and relatively
little in the way of acceleration. The rear is under stress while
accelerating. So the two tyres have to stand up to rotational stress in
different directions. The tread-pattern on some tyres, and the rubber tread
on most are directional, reflecting this. The rubber tread is formed in a
strip, wrapped around th ecarcass and then stuck together along the the end
(which run across the width of the tyre).  This join is normally invisible
(unless you happen to have owned an Avon tyre in the last few years...  ;-)
). The join is cut and overlaps -the direction of the overlap is chosen so
that on the rear tyre it is held closed by the rotation under acceleration,
on the front during braking. Reversing the tyres can cause this joint to
open up , at the best ruining the tyre, at the worse causing you to crash.
Tim.


> Jeff innocently inquired, "One last question, how often should I rotate
>the tires on this thing, none of the mechanics at the shop will give me the
>same....




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