tire rotation pattern

[ksaldibar]

i have about 7k miles on my new tires and my dad and I are going to rotate them ourselves. i was wondering what pattern i should follow. the four tire rotation in my owners manual says tomove the rear tires foward and criss cross the front tires to the back. on the other hand, my haynes manual just shows moving the fron to back and back to front. thanks for any help.

-ken

 

[leenjen]

well jimabena74 is the tire guy to ask. he'll be able to tell you which way is better.

to me it seems like the criss-cross way would be better at preventing abnormal wear on one side of the tire.

 

[aldive]

On every car/truck I have ever ha, I have Xed the tires during rotation, followed by a good ballance,

 

[RTStork]

I agree. The "X" pattern has given me the most even wear and longest mileage.

 

[Yomie]

thats the way i have done all my cars in the past, but my 4X4 shop as well as my alignment shop said only to do it front to back on 4X4's, i dunno why, thats just what they said

 

[rpenner54]

Here ya all go... this was hashed out a few years ago...

http://208.38.138.31/forums/showthread.php?threadid=13881&highlight=Tire+Rotation

 

[Jim F]

I do front to back rotation without switching sides due to the tear drop pattern of the rims. If I switched the rear to the front and the fronts straight back (which I believe is Fords recommendation), the tear drops will be reversed in relation to the front and rear tire on the same side. That would bug me.

 

[01EB5.0]

I do the X pattern and since I do a 5 tire rotation I take the tire from the passanger front and put it under the truck one time, the next time I take the driver's front and keep switching. I do it every 6,000 miles and have had great results

 

[Yomie]

Dead Link Removed

Read # 3) they also say the back to front, front to back

 

[ksaldibar]

thanks for the info guys.

-ken

 

[LOGJOCKY]

I THINK FRONT TO BACK IS ONLY NEEDED IF U USE A DIRECTIONAL TIRE WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO ROTATE THE SAME WAY ALL OF THE TIME

 

[bigtigexplorer]

ksaldibar - I just called my local tire shop and they said if the front tires appear to be wearing evenly then they just do a front to back rotation, but if ther is any uneven wear on the front tires then they do the X pattern.

 

[Longs]

I cross to the drive axle on my Explorer and on my '96 Chrysler, which is what both owners manuals show. In other words, on my explorer, Left Rear goes to Left Front, Right Rear goes to Right Front, Left Front goes to Right Rear, Right Front goes to Left Rear.

This works for a car where there's only one drive axle 100% of the time, (the chrysler) and my explorer, which is rear wheel drive 90+% of the time. I don't know anything about these pseudo full time 4WD systems on the later model Explorers or other 4WDs.

 

[ksaldibar]

thanks for the help guys. i plan on doing this as soon as i get my self a set of jack stands.