Tire rotation question

[gforeman]

Are the stock tires unidirectional or can the be moved from side-to-side in a criss-cross pattern?

4,800 miles so first oil change is happening this weekend. I always just rotate when I do the change.

G-Man

[finman]

Not Unidirectional, as far as I know.

No cross-rotation needed since these are modern radial tires...NOT bias-ply. whatever those terms mean. I'll let more knowledgeable folks chime in.

I'm doing 5,000 mile rotations F to R and (now) 10,000 mile oil changes. Been using Mobil 1 syn since early on. Cleaning both air filters (K and N engine and toyota cabin) every 10,000 as well.

As usual, YMMV (your mileage may vary)

Enjoy your car, it's still the best out there and the one to beat in all-around performance (emissions, efficiency,room, speed, and gadgets!)

[auricchio]

Typically, standard radial tires are not criss-crossed during rotation. They're just moved front to rear.

Unidirectional tires, of course, are never swapped side-to-side.

[A. B. Hair]

I have had bad left side wear by rotation from front to rear. Toyota says this correct but Honda says to move the from tires to rear on opposite sides, then move the rear to the front on the same side. I have done this for years with good results. I did the Toyota way on the Prius and the left side is worn but the right side is still good. I have ordered new tires for the Prius and will use the Honda method from now on.

[ScottY]

In the manual, Toyota recommends just rotation them front to back on the same side.

I've read couple of tire articles, they seem to recommend doing the forward cross method for front wheel drive vehicles, see http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=43

"On front-wheel drive cars, rotate the tires in a forward cross pattern (Figure A) or the alternative X pattern (Figure B)"

According to TireRack, the Toyota method is for "vehicles equipped with the same size directional wheels and/or directional tires."

[A. B. Hair]

I just talked to a Michelin rep who also states as you say - cross the front and move the back to the same side front. I will do this from now on.
Thanks!(I do my own maintenance and want it right. )These Goodyear Infinity tires are being replaced sooner than any of a good many years.

[N3FOL]

Originally Posted by gforeman

Are the stock tires unidirectional or can the be moved from side-to-side in a criss-cross pattern?

4,800 miles so first oil change is happening this weekend. I always just rotate when I do the change.

G-Man

I think the manual says to just rotate tires from front to back. If this is what Toyota recommends for the Prius, that is what I'm doing. If there are any uneven wear on the tires, there must be something that needs to be fixed in the suspension components.

[apriusfan]

Originally Posted by N3FOL

I think the manual says to just rotate tires from front to back. If this is what Toyota recommends for the Prius, that is what I'm doing. If there are any uneven wear on the tires, there must be something that needs to be fixed in the suspension components.

A couple of thoughts:
1. Rotate the tires according to the tire manufacturer's directions. If no response from the tire manufacturer, then default to what Toyota recommends.

2. Uneven wear on one side is usually a problem with the suspension.

[richard schumacher]

There is no need to rotate tires according to a schedule. It is safer to rotate them only as needed to keep the two least-worn tires at the rear, as explained here:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=52

[patsparks]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

There is no need to rotate tires according to a schedule. It is safer to rotate them only as needed to keep the two least-worn tires at the rear, as explained here:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=52

Putting the best tyres on the rear and not rotating the tyres front to rear to even out wear will mean the rear tyres will remain on the rear until the front tyres are worn to a point that they need to be replaced, at this time you would move the rear tyres to the front and put the new tyres on the rear where they would stay while the front tyres again wear more quickly because they have to handle all acceleration and turning forces and most of braking forces. Front tyres naturally wear more on the edges than rear tyres due to greater mass and cornering forces. By rotating tyres front to rear at regular intervals will make your tyres last longer and you will be replacing them as a set rather than 2 at a time therefore maintaining the balance of the car. If you ignore this important part of tyre maintenance it is important not to put tyres that are worn significantly more on the rear although with shallow tread on the front tyres you risk aquaplaning on very wet roads and loss of traction when trying to accelerate on ice, mud or snow. It is therefore advisable to replace the not rotated front tyres much sooner to maintain usable tread depth for winter driving. All in all the no rotation method is a win win for the tyres sellers and makers.

Tyres are one of the hardest parts of a car to recycle.

Now read this from the above posted link and you will see that the article isn't saying don't rotate your tyres, it is saying don't put new tyres on the back while the rear tyres are half worn or worse. Rotate your tyres and avoid this issue.

Most vehicles are equipped with the same size tire at every wheel position. Ideally all of these tires should also be of the same type and design, have the same tread depth and be inflated to the pressures specified by the vehicle placard or owner's manual. This combination best retains the handling balance engineered into the vehicle by its manufacturer.
However due to the front tires' responsibility for transmitting acceleration, steering and most of the braking forces on front-wheel-drive vehicles, it's normal for front tires to wear faster than rear tires. If the tires aren't rotated on a regular basis, it's also common for pairs of tires to wear out rather than sets. And if the tires aren't rotated at all, it's likely that the rear tires will still have about 1/2 of their original tread depth when the front tires are completely worn out.
Intuition suggests that since the front tires wore out first and because there is still about half-tread remaining on the rear tires, the new tires should be installed on the front axle. This will provide more traction, and by the time the front tires have worn out for the second time, the rear tires will be worn out too. However in this case, intuition isn't right...and following it can be downright dangerous.