ALAN G Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 In days gone by it was recommended that wheels should be changed from axle to axle in a specific pattern, that involved the spare, to even out tyre wear. I bought five tyres 7000 miles ago and the spare will reamain unused, until I get a puncture, unless I make the effort of moving them around. Do I need to bother? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianR Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 My tyre depot (ATS) tell me that it is better to have the less worn tyres on the rear, to avoid the rear end breaking away in an emergency stop. With modern equipment at tyre depots, you should no-longer get the uneven wear between tyres on one side of the vehicle compared with the other. If you do rotate them, you will just end up with them all wearing out at the same time. In my opinion, it is better to renew them in pairs rather than all in one go - less painful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Whilst I agree with most things said I query whether the best tyres should be on the rear, I can control a rear wheel slide, but a front wheel slide oh,oh, plus on front wheel drive you want good tyres for max traction and steering. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 trooper - 2008-03-05 7:39 PM Whilst I agree with most things said I query whether the best tyres should be on the rear, I can control a rear wheel slide, but a front wheel slide oh,oh, plus on front wheel drive you want good tyres for max traction and steering. Don In most cases it is better to have fronts lock than rear, often if the rears lock then the rear try's to overtake the front, not good news believe me I've been there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Why aye man! Sorry, originally read this as Tyne and Wear! We've got 7 of the things! I ain't looking forward to the day when we need to change them lot, hopefully a couple of years or so away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I didnt think wheels locked up with ABS (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 trooper - 2008-03-05 9:30 PM I didnt think wheels locked up with ABS (?) I suppose need to think about ABS when replying as it is more common now, the effects of wheel losing grip is less with ABS as wheel 'unlocks' several times a second, weather the old 'rules' on having better tyres on back still apply I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 colin - 2008-03-05 8:29 PM trooper - 2008-03-05 7:39 PM Whilst I agree with most things said I query whether the best tyres should be on the rear, I can control a rear wheel slide, but a front wheel slide oh,oh, plus on front wheel drive you want good tyres for max traction and steering. Don In most cases it is better to have fronts lock than rear, often if the rears lock then the rear try's to overtake the front, not good news believe me I've been there. Understeer is generally held to be "safer" than oversteer, because the speed will be fairly harmlessly scrubbed off, and the vehicle is liable to remain more controllable by more people as this happens. Problem is, if you get into a slide either end on a bend, it is because speed is too high for road/tyre conditions. Whether it is better for the front, or the rear, to go seems a bit academic to me since, at this point, most folk are going gardening whether they like it or not. You may have a better chance of keeping on the road if the rear goes than the front, but only if you achieve the right balance of steering into the skid and leaving brake and accelerator strictly alone. Feet off, and steer into the skid. However, 3.5 tonnes of sideways motorhome ain't quite the same a chucking a mini, so I think there would be a large degree of luck in the outcome whoever was driving. Notwithstanding, I still prefer the best tyres on the front, because on most occasions when I've overcooked things I've found a rear slide more controllable than a front slide. Neither condition has been achieved in a motorhome, or for quite a few years, though!ABS is no substitute for appropriate speed. Under almost any conditions it will stop you quicker, but the laws of physics still rule. If you brake while sliding, when the lateral G has already exceeded the grip between tyre and road, the poor old ABS may help you retain some control while you get your speed down to a level at which grip is restored but, good as it is, it can't work miracles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 My experience relates not to cornering too fast but having to brake in a relativly straight line. At the time my normal mode of transport was a rwd car that had a power to weight ratio roughly equvilent to having a 700bhp engine in a 3.5t van, as you can imagine I was quite used to having to aplly a bit of opposite lock especialy in the wet! I was driving a Transit hire van in the rain when a woman decided to pull out from a side road, I hit the brakes very hard, before I knew what, I was stopped facing the wrong direction, fortunatly I did not have time to apply opposite lock as all that would proboly have happened would have been a head on into a skip lorry coming other way, I had to get out for some fresh air, and had a look at tyres and rears didn't have a lot of tread but fronts where nearly new. This was a leason I will not forget any time soon, and made me realise why my father had allways told me to have best tyres on rear. Which reminds me, as a little aside, many years ago my father told me 'if you pull up behind a car with auto badge in a trafic jam leave a big gap behind them' at time I never realy thought about it, but many years later saw a program on tv that showed several intances of auto's left in nuetral that would start reversing of there on acord! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 Interesting video I have linked to... worth viewing. J. http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care/tire-basics/reartire-change/ edit: another link for those who want it in text/html http://www.michelin.co.uk/uk/auto/auto_cons_bib_pqr_neuf.jsp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted March 5, 2008 Share Posted March 5, 2008 I recently put the rear wheels on the front & front on the rear, ensuring that I "criss crossed them", as I've always done. Reading through the handbook today on another matter, I noticed that Fiat specifically state:- "Do not change the tyres over in criss cross fashion by moving a tyre from the left hand side of the vehicle to the right and vice versa" Why not ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 brambles, very interesting video............ A+ Its changed my thinking on this issue Q everyone telling me its wrong (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 bob b - 2008-03-05 11:52 PM I recently put the rear wheels on the front & front on the rear, ensuring that I "criss crossed them", as I've always done. Reading through the handbook today on another matter, I noticed that Fiat specifically state:- "Do not change the tyres over in criss cross fashion by moving a tyre from the left hand side of the vehicle to the right and vice versa" Why not ? Well one possible reason would be that the tyres are intended for single direction use but on a commercial vehicle I find this doubtful. Anybody else any ideas? Of course you could always ask Fiat themselves. ;-) D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 It is to do with the why tread blocks wear in a wedge shape on the driven wheels. When you swap to the other side then the 'wedge' or slope of the tread blocks can affect handling and grip slightly, and also it will accelerate wear of the tread blocks. If you do crisscross them the non-driven wheels should be crossed to the driven axles while the driven move on same sides to the non-driven wheel positions. This allows the wedge formed on tread blocks to wear level again slowly on the non driven positions. All very confusing so much easier for car makers to say, do not cross. Also crossing will give you a slight whine from the tread for a short while. Thats how I understand it anyway. ..and of course directional specific tyres cannot be criss-Xd. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Sorry i missed something out as usual, I would put best on rear, on rear wheel drive vehicle, again for traction, when we used to off road with 4x4 I always had equal tyres all round, plus this prevented transmision windup on hard surfaces when no centre diff. Sorry better with vehicles than with words or computors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handyman Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 http://www.etyres.co.uk/flashmovies/new-tyres-on-rear-800.html another video, with a better looking woman explaining it :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Wilst I agree with the vidio of skid pan type driving, who drives like this in them conditions, (also i have done this and won a competition between around 30 people). In over 50 years driving including m/cycles sports cars hgvs etc I have only aquaplaned on the front wheels, and believe me when you are heading for the hedge at speed unable to stear it is quite frightening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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