Wheel rotating and balancing
Discussion
Evening all, I'll admit now that I am completely clueless in this subject so be gentle!
My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
There is a big debate on having your best tyres at the rear of the car. I'd wear the fronts down to the legal limit ( you don't actually get any less grip with worn tyres unless they are worn down to the wires of there's standing water), then put the current rears on the front and stick some new tyres on the rear.
busta said:
There is a big debate on having your best tyres at the rear of the car. I'd wear the fronts down to the legal limit ( you don't actually get any less grip with worn tyres unless they are worn down to the wires of there's standing water), then put the current rears on the front and stick some new tyres on the rear.
Sorry, that isn't right. You do get less grip - it just gets much more pronounced at 3mm and below.eg:
http://www.rospa.com/RoadSafety/info/tyre_tread_de...
If they are below 3mm, consider swapping out.
Edited by plg on Monday 6th September 23:52
Waugh-terfall said:
Evening all, I'll admit now that I am completely clueless in this subject so be gentle!
My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
A lot of tyres have directional tread patterns these days. You have to swap front left with rear left, and front right with rear right. I did just this today to get another couple of months out of my set before I put my freshly purchased Winters on..!!My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
plg said:
busta said:
There is a big debate on having your best tyres at the rear of the car. I'd wear the fronts down to the legal limit ( you don't actually get any less grip with worn tyres unless they are worn down to the wires or there's standing water), then put the current rears on the front and stick some new tyres on the rear.
Sorry, that isn't right. You do get less grip - it just gets much more pronounced at 3mm and below.eg:
http://www.rospa.com/RoadSafety/info/tyre_tread_de...
If they are below 3mm, consider swapping out.
Edited by plg on Monday 6th September 23:52
on me.Surely the only purpose of a tyres tread is to clear water and allow the rubber to contact the road. So if anything, a tyres dry grip will increase as it wears (due to the tread blocks having less flex). Obviously the reverse is true once water is encountered.
Sorry, OP, not much help to your original question!
Sorry, OP, not much help to your original question!
Mars said:
Waugh-terfall said:
Evening all, I'll admit now that I am completely clueless in this subject so be gentle!
My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
A lot of tyres have directional tread patterns these days. You have to swap front left with rear left, and front right with rear right. I did just this today to get another couple of months out of my set before I put my freshly purchased Winters on..!!My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
TallPaul said:
Surely the only purpose of a tyres tread is to clear water and allow the rubber to contact the road. So if anything, a tyres dry grip will increase as it wears (due to the tread blocks having less flex). Obviously the reverse is true once water is encountered.
Sorry, OP, not much help to your original question!
Don't sweat it, I'm still interested in this specific debate and agree with your theory. I would like to add that, once the tread blocks wear past the legal minimum, dry grip levels would surely begin to degenerate? Though actually, I suppose it'd be like running slicks, and that I'd be f**ked (if it weren't illegal!) if it started to rain!Sorry, OP, not much help to your original question!
(Edited for grammar)
Edited by Waugh-terfall on Tuesday 7th September 00:43
To be honest OP, unless you like to thrash the car round in the wet then just ask change the tyres from front to back taking note of the rotation of the tyres. In the real world you will probably never notice the difference and the back end will only come out if you decide to brake heavily round corners or go at them at silly speeds. Braking in a straight line will not be affected.
ymwoods said:
To be honest OP, unless you like to thrash the car round in the wet then just ask change the tyres from front to back taking note of the rotation of the tyres. In the real world you will probably never notice the difference and the back end will only come out if you decide to brake heavily round corners or go at them at silly speeds. Braking in a straight line will not be affected.
I don't thrash the car at all really, it's really so I can get some more life out of the tyres as I won't be able to replace them for a while. Only ever had the back end step out once, intentionally, on a wide, very wet and deserted road, braked heavily as I turned into a sweeping left, it stepped out, I jumped onto the throttle and gave it a quick flick of oppo. Wanted to know what it felt like at, on and past the limitEgg Chaser said:
Mars said:
Waugh-terfall said:
Evening all, I'll admit now that I am completely clueless in this subject so be gentle!
My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
A lot of tyres have directional tread patterns these days. You have to swap front left with rear left, and front right with rear right. I did just this today to get another couple of months out of my set before I put my freshly purchased Winters on..!!My car had 4 new tyres before I bought it, the fronts are getting quite low on tread now, whereas the rears are still almost as good as new, my wheels are the same size all round and I want to swap the fronts with the rears to try and increase the longevity of those tyres currently on the front... I take it I just swap the NSR with the NSF and the OSR with the OSF? Do I need to then get the wheels re-balanced?
Thanks!
busta said:
plg said:
busta said:
There is a big debate on having your best tyres at the rear of the car. I'd wear the fronts down to the legal limit ( you don't actually get any less grip with worn tyres unless they are worn down to the wires or there's standing water), then put the current rears on the front and stick some new tyres on the rear.
Sorry, that isn't right. You do get less grip - it just gets much more pronounced at 3mm and below.eg:
http://www.rospa.com/RoadSafety/info/tyre_tread_de...
If they are below 3mm, consider swapping out.
Edited by plg on Monday 6th September 23:52
One function of tread blocks is to generate movement in the rubber and the resulting heat, so on a cold day, dry or damp there's a chance a worn tyre won't have the ultimate roadholding as a new one. The Goodyear Optigrip actually has 2 compounds of rubber to combat this, with the lower compound being softer so as the tyre wears heat can still be generated.
You're right in stating that standing water is going to be your biggest issue, and it's far better to have the front floating (the car will go straight on) compared to the rear (the car will go where ever it feels!)
Car went in to have a new cambelt, turns out the tyres are 1.6mm on one side, 1mm on the other, so it's a bit late for rotating! Should have some shiny new Kumho Ecsta KH31s on Tuesday...
Just for future reference, my tyres are symmetrical, I take it I'd just have to make sure they're pointing in the right direction!?
Just for future reference, my tyres are symmetrical, I take it I'd just have to make sure they're pointing in the right direction!?
Waugh-terfall said:
HellDiver said:
It's a 1.4 Megane, it really doesn't matter to be honest.
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