Re: Tire Rotation

only if you flipped the tire so the outside (i.e. facing you as you look at the car) stayed outside. Do you need to do this?

Good to hear it's OK cause I thought it sounded odd not to cross. Certainly if you DO happene to have directional tires, it's probably not wise to dis-, then re-mount them. I wouldn't do it.

Carl

Of course, flipping the tire includes taking it off the wheel . . .

I don';t think Crapenza 92 that came with my OBS is a directional tire. But no mechanics ever check the owner's manual and they always swap tires on the same side. So, most likely, to abate the owner-mechanic conflict or to simplify the user manual to cover other Potenza varieties that are directional (RE-070?) they have this dumbed down pattern.

Not sure what would be achieved with the X pattern. both tires on the same axle should get about the same wear. If they don't the car is due for 4 wheel alignment anyway. Isn't that about right?

That's for "bidirectional" tread patterns only. Unidirectional treads (TripleTred, Falken ZE502 and ZE512 for example) can only be rotated same-side front-back unless you take the tires off the rims to do the rotation.

I do my own tire rotations. When I read Subaru recommended the simpler method, I was relieved. It is way easier to do this every other oil change, which I also do myself.

Jay M '03 Baja VA, USA

You need an alignment if it's feathering :-/

I switched to a rear cross on my Forester because of what I call feathering i.e. on a tread block the front of the block is wearing faster than the rear of the tread block or visa versa. This after the car was 2X times check for alignment and found to be aligned correctly. Now if you have side to side wear that is uneven across the tread then it probably is an alignment issue.

Hi, Ed

If I read the "symptom" correctly, you could still have a bit of a toe issue even though the car's supposedly properly aligned. Most cars have a "range" that's within spec, and it may be yours needs to be set up near one end or another of that range. Many shops figure as long as the needle's in "the green" as it were, life is good. But I've talked to alignment guys in the past who've told me sometimes they have to actually go a little outside the "published" spec to settle a tire wear issue. Might be worth asking some questions...

Rick

Thanks Rick. Something to consider