Which Tires Wear Fastest-The Fronts or Backs?

A driving pattern could cause that kind of minor variation.

 

It's been thus for some time, for gen's with 15" base tires.

Gen 3:



Gen 4:


That 4th gen full-size spare rotation guidance would lead to right side wear out of sync with left methinks. Only temp spares were used (on certain levels, typically the lower levels, go figure...), at least in North America.

Somewhat suprising, gen 1 and 2 Owner's Manuals just say to rotate, don't specify how.

 

The Toyota manuals show them front to back since the 1980s, probably to keep things simple and make the recommendation compatible for unidirectional tires, but the correct way to rotate bidirectional FWD tires is:

 

Well, I've been doing it incorrectly for 15 years, per the Owner's Manual for my 2010. One upside: next to no curb rash on the left-side rims.

FWIW, for decades of Hondas it was straight-back-and-cross-to-front.

 

Definitely incorrect, yes. Toyota’s recommendation will result in uneven tread wear.

 

The elephant in the room: that tire shop that doesn't label tires as they come off. Maybe a new guy??

Tried googling:

is it tire shop rule number one: always label tires for location, when removed from vehicle?

AI concurs

 

You can identify the tires by the painted dots on the sidewall. They are positioned differently for each tire.

Here are my beautiful Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S 91S tires with my beautiful aero wheel covers and beautiful OEM Pacific Industrial Co., Ltd. tire valve caps on the Turquoise Jewel.

 

This helps when they're all lying on the slab?

Calm down now.

 

Why become hostile over something like this?

The dots (red and yellow in my picture) are unique on each tire. You can take a photo before rotating them. They help you determine if the rotation was done correctly. Tire technicians will simply position the tire where it needs to be rotated immediately after removal, so they don’t need identifying marks.

 

That's how Toyota wanted to rotate tires for non hybrids too.

 

Toyota USA only. Toyota manuals elsewhere show the more generally recommended cross from back to front.

 

Right you are, from a pdf of the Toyota Australia 2010 Prius Owner's Manual:



Interesting response from AI when googling:

Why does Toyota recommend simple front to back tire rotation in North America, but cross rotation elsewhere, Australia for example

I may be a convert; cross-rotation has been the norm with every Honda we had over the decades. Apart from snow tires with directional tread. That said, I've had no problems with the Toyota Canada recommendation to keep them on the same side.

 

I've just been rotating my tires in a clockwise fashion for the past two decades. I've found that the cross rotation makes the car "feels funny" for a few hundred miles after the rotation. I don't get that weird "drive feel" when doing a clockwise rotation.

YMMV

 

And in Canada too!

It could be to avoid getting directional tires turning the wrong way.

Also, first time I’ve ever heard of clockwise rotation.