I think I’m going to stop rotating my tires back to front

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98_Q45
Posts: 498
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:12 am

Post

Anyone else feel the same?

I end up getting new tires like once every year and a half it seems, often having to toss rear tires with otherwise decent tread because they wear unevenly. But usually only need 2 tires at a time. The rears wear faster and also unevenly because my springs or control arm has it sitting on negative camber. I fixed a lot of driver’s side rear, but now the passenger side is starting to go negative as well. Replaced rear shocks but no luck on springs anywhere. But I plan to get the 2 upper control arms replaced soon.

Currently waiting on a new set of fronts because when I moved my Goodyears from the back, I been getting intermittent vibration and pulling, likely because the inside starts losing more tread, all my rear tires eventually wear to wires on the inside (i do a lot of highway) The tires have enough tread, but one of the tire places recommended replacements last month. Even a balancing didn’t really fix the issue.

Also for the rears, I’m considering a more expensive all season that can handle some snow and occasional quick burn outs. Even though I’m trying to stop that habit, but find myself wanting to do it at least once a year, last time was in middle of downtown, I coulda got an major ticket or arrested! And when I let off the brake, I fishtailed for a second lol.

But mainly I need traction for the occasional snow. Right now I still have the rear wheels on winter tires on until May…Midwest can still get snow in April, even May. And without snow tires, it’s almost impossible to maintain control.


User avatar
VStar650CL
Technical Expert
Posts: 8470
Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

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I'm all for rotation on RWD or 4WD platforms simply because the fronts and rears live in vastly different worlds, traction loads in the rear and steering loads in the front. That means rotation isn't purely a matter of wear rate. FWD or FWD-based AWD is a different story, the steering and primary traction loads are on the same tires. The upshot is, even on AWD's, the fronts wear out constantly but the rears can go 100~150K miles. What I advise my FWD customers (and also do myself) is replace fronts until the rears have reached the halfway mark, then move the rears to the front and put the new booties on the back. The one hard-and-fast rule on any platform is that the best tread should be on the rear. A spin is much more likely to kill you than understeer, and even on FWD, there isn't one driver in a hundred who can work the throttle well enough to avert a fishtail-induced spin on a slick road. So unless you're that guy, keep the rears healthy.

Ryantzer
Posts: 209
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 5:37 pm
Car: 1990 Infiniti Q45
Location: Phoenix, AZ

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Regular tire rotations are going to prolong the useful life of your tires, but fixing the camber issue will get you back to where you're not wearing them unevenly in the first place. Why do you have negative camber? Is it lowered? Have you had the suspension aligned?

BTW, tire balance has nothing to do with uneven tire wear, that's entirely due to the suspension.


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