Tyre Rotation

Even if the tires are not directional, it is very bad to switch the rotation,... (it will actually increase the wear). just exchanging front to back is ok - if you really think it is needed

BR : MM

Won't swiching front and back just mean that all 4 tyres need to be replaced in 1 go, rather than 2 and then the other 2.

I know you can get a slight additional discount when buying 4 rather than 2, but personally I'd rather replace a pair at a time.

Is there some safety beniefit in doing this that I'm not aware of?

Well I suppose that if its nominally front wheel drive most of the time, then the fronts will wear more than the rear in normal use. Therefore as the fronts wear down, they will tend to under steer as they start to lose grip. Normally a little under steer on the driven wheels is is not a problem as the driver can just lift off a bit normally and regain directional control.

However, if you now swap the worn fronts to the rear, you will get more grip at the front but with less grip at the rear it may cause a tendency to oversteer. This is a much less desirable handling trait and just lifting off will normally make over steer worse.

I have no idea what the experts may think about this, or even if i am correct, but I am sure I read in the Evoque manual that tyre rotation should not be done. My guess is might be for the reasons above.

Perhaps its also something to do with the Haldex system - With less torque able to be used on worn fronts, torque would begin to transfer to the rear if worn fronts lost some grip. My guess is this would be benefical to safety on the road. But with worn rears (if you rotated) then the fronts should in theory always have more grip than the rears, which would delay tourque transfer to the rears until the fronts had really let go, by then it may be too late to have a stabilising effect.

Mind you, I could be taking a load of tosh, who knows???

(17-06-2012 10:40pm)FujiSan Wrote:  Well I suppose that if its nominally front wheel drive most of the time, then the fronts will wear more than the rear in normal use. Therefore as the fronts wear down, they will tend to under steer as they start to lose grip. Normally a little under steer on the driven wheels is is not a problem as the driver can just lift off a bit normally and regain directional control.

However, if you now swap the worn fronts to the rear, you will get more grip at the front but with less grip at the rear it may cause a tendency to oversteer. This is a much less desirable handling trait and just lifting off will normally make over steer worse.

I have no idea what the experts may think about this, or even if i am correct, but I am sure I read in the Evoque manual that tyre rotation should not be done. My guess is might be for the reasons above.

Perhaps its also something to do with the Haldex system - With less torque able to be used on worn fronts, torque would begin to transfer to the rear if worn fronts lost some grip. My guess is this would be benefical to safety on the road. But with worn rears (if you rotated) then the fronts should in theory always have more grip than the rears, which would delay tourque transfer to the rears until the fronts had really let go, by then it may be too late to have a stabilising effect.

Mind you, I could be taking a load of tosh, who knows???

Exactly for the reason you stated above, some tyre fitters will not fit new tyres to the rear of cars, they will put the new ones on the front and the old fronts on the rear.

As far as I know, most modern road cars are always engineered to provide slight understeer anyway, as it is seen as a safer handling trait for the un-initiated. Swapping worn tyres to the rear would compromise that design tendency, and is probably not adviseable.

(18-06-2012 08:22am)speary Wrote:  Exactly for the reason you stated above, some tyre fitters will not fit new tyres to the rear of cars, they will put the new ones on the front and the old fronts on the rear.

makes sense however as car predominately front wheel drive you will eventually have less tread on the front, I had a Hyundai 4X4 and the dealer would look out for this and swap tyres back to front at the annual service (part of service charge). I hope LR do this as standard practice at service if it apparent that rear wheels have more tread than front.