HELP! What's this tire mark MEAN?!?!

I would mark the tire position where it was removed FROM. I wouldn't read more than that into it.

 

I might reason that, whether they came from those positions, or were judged suitable for going to those positions, they're probably ok either way.

Is there any difference in wear that you can discern?

 

Are the tires the same model? The same size? Been in service together for the same amount of time, or have the same level of wear?

If the answer is yes to those, I wouldn't worry. From what I've read, potential issues for the AWD come up when replacing only some of the tires with new, or perhaps when mixing different tire models. The wear difference between old and new means a difference in the tires' actual diameter, which means different rotations per mile, and that is what causes problems for the AWD system. Likewise, even if the same size, different tire models can have a different true diameter.

If the slight differences in wear that occur to a set of tires were enough to fry the AWD, people would have stopped buying cars with it awhile ago.

PS: a tire gauge can had for under a couple of bucks from an autoparts store, and they are also useful for checking for uneven wear across a tire.

 

Also check to see if the winter tires are directional (left side only, right side only). There should be markings on the tire itself if they are.

 

Ask them, the next time they are open.

If you assume wrong, then you can re-rotate them later. A couple trips to Portland isn't anywhere near enough to cause any problem with scrambling a rotation pattern.

And as RRxing said, check the sidewalls first to see if the tires are directional. BTDT

 

No sure I understand the question.
Odds are the tire tech is writing RF LF RR LR so they don't mix up the rims.

If you are asking about imbedded or factory marks on the tire, and you are mounting dismounting tires onto your rims, the following may be most helpful:

"Find the valve stem on the side of the tire. If it is lined up with the yellow dot, the valve stem is located at the heaviest part of the tire. If it is lined up with the red dot, then it is located at the lightest part of the tire. These dots guide the technician to make sure that the tire is properly balanced during installation."

Typically the valve stem goes to the lightest part of the tire. TPMS may alter than statement as it may be the heaviest part. It can be an art moving the tire around the rim to attain a near perfect balance before adding weights.

Good luck.

 

I think she has winter tires mounted on a separate set of rims. The tire tech likely wrote on the tires with chalk or soapstone. (For mine, I use a felt tip pen on the inside rim itself.) She would only be swapping already-mounted tire-wheel sets.

I'm not sure she is far enough along the road to recovery from that horrid injury to be mounting and dismounting tires on and off rims by herself.

 

I am 99% sure they refer to the spot they removed the tire from. The rotation can be straight front to back or crisscross depending on make, so indicating the spot to install it when it goes back on the car would be different if you use different rotation patterns.

If you really want to be sure, you can just check the LR and RR tires and compare them to RF and LF tires. The rear tires always have more stones and pebbles on the treads than the front tires. If you see more stones in LR an RR, then they came off from the rear.

 

... Yet another job that you have recovered enough to do again!

 

In the early days of radial tires when we transitioned from bias ply there were some radial tire failures and we developed an old wise tail that you can't reverse the direction of the tire. This is actually nonsense. the manufacturers put a directional arrow which only refers to water displacement. Don't mistaken this to mean that you can't flip the tires around because it will somehow mysteriously fail. the only tire I can think of that is an exception and cannot be rotated is from the Acura NSX. It's a special tire and each tire is made for its placement on the vehicle and cannot be moved to any other place. It has to do with belt directions and the belt directions helping the car steer. They could still be rotated but the car won't perform the same. I don't know of any other scenarios like that

 

In this wet climate zone and wet season, that water-shedding tread direction is certainly what I meant, not that old radial mythology. And I suspect RRxing meant the same.

 

Gah.

Having a more convincing compressor wired into the car may sound like some kind of offbeat indulgence, but I can confirm that one gets used to it real fast. If living in a place where the alternative was inconvenient trips into town and/or physical discomfort, even more so. This arrangement (with a Viair 450C) will fill an SUV tire up right quick.

 

Might you have an ordinary bicycle floor pump hanging around? That shouldn't take anywhere near as long.

 

Not as critical, but having the unidirectional tires on backwards could mean more noise and higher rolling resistance.

 

Duct tape solves lots of problems! I would have tried taping the crud out of that airhose to see if I could get some pressure to the tire. Maybe several layers of tape AND a hose clamp on top...

But glad you got it all taken care of!