I'm getting ready to throw my summer tires back on my wheels, and I have been thinking about the rotation pattern. The tires are directional, so you can typically only rotate front-to-back.

However, since they aren't mounted to the wheels I could cross rotate them and maintatain the proper rotation direction.

Since I have the opportunity to do so should I cross rotate them, or should I simply stick with the traditional front-to-back? Does it even matter? Any thoughts?

 

Well, the OEM Advan tires aren't really "directional". They do however have an "Outside" indicator on the tires meaning that is the sidewall which should be on the outside of the wheel.

so when the tire is on the left side of the car, the tires will rotate in one direction, and then on the right side of the car, the tires will rotate in the other direction. This is because "outside" is facing to the left on the left side, and is facing the right on the right side.

Make any sense?

 

^+1 the factory advans are not directional, just make sure you put them on the wheel correctly.

 

Food for thought. Below is what multiple goodyear reps have told me for non-directional tires (directional works also if tires are off wheels). I don't understand their reasoning, but they seem pretty adamant about it.

 

Yea, that's the "cross-rotation" that I was talking about. That is supposedly a preferable rotation pattern, but you can't do it with directional tires unless they're off the wheels. It's nice because on the tires that change sides you're swapping which portion of the tire is towards the inside of the car, which helps even out wear.

I guess since mine are off that's probably what I'll have them do. I basically just wanted to make sure it wasn't a bad idea and that I was overlooking something.

BTW I'm on Z1 Star Specs, which are directional.

 

yep, +1 for non-directional.
Also, that chart is in the owner's manual.

 

The Z1s are definitely directional. The chart in the owner's manual only applies to the stock tires.

Anyway, I cross rotated.

 

Running directional tires in the wrong rotational direction will prevent the water channels from working correctly. That's what I have read. So for dry it doesn't matter but on wet roads it will likely make a big difference in how the tire grips and could result in increased hydroplaning.

 

That is correct. However, you can cross-rotate directional tires if you take them off the wheels. You're essentially flipping the tires around the other way and remounting them so that when they go on the other side of the car they're still pointing in the right direction.