Rotating Tires On Staggered Wheels

[comatose]

I went to have my tires rotated at the local Ford Dealership, and when I explained that I have a directional, staggered setup (255/45/17 Front, 285/40/17 Back) they said that that type of setup never needs to be rotated. I think they were just too lazy to do it because of the extra time and labor it takes to dismount the tires to switch sides (directional tires).

Is what the dealership told me true? I have always had the tires rotated on my other vehicles, and thought it was necessary to prolong their life, although I have not had a staggered setup before.

Thanks!

 

[mijo_latino]

So your saying to dismount the tires off the wheels and switch them... I never heard of that being considred rotating you tires. You could do that but they will proably charge for dis/mounting tires not rotating them.

 

[trailblazr81]

Ya, unless you really want to pay to dismount, mount, and balance 4 tires dont worry about it. I run the same tire sizes, and have more negative camber in front to help when I do auto-x and open track days. You may lose some miles out of your tires, but I know I didnt buy mine for most mileage.

 

[VPStang]

werd-since you have staggered AND directional tread--you cannot rotate unless you dismount and remount from passenger to driver.

 

[stang_man_1]

Dismounting and remounting wouldn't really change anything. I say leave them alone.

 

[hognutz]

how would you rotate that setup?

directionals don't rotate side to side. they just rotate front to back. why would you want your 285's up front and 255's in the rear?

I have my own method it is call big smokey burnout if the front start wearing faster than the rear.

 

[jasonh_86]

I've thought about getting my front tires swapped to the opposite side, since they're 265/35/18's and the rear are 285/35/18.. Since they eat away the inside of the tire quicker (i dont have C/C Plates or anything, just steeda springs) but I decided not to mess with it, because it doesnt do it all THAT quickly..

Is that the kind of thing you were talking about?

 

[poorcollegekid]

id say an alignment then would be better than a rotation.

 

[MineralG2k2GT]

you cant rotate staggered tires from back to front......you cant rotate directional tires.....

you are pretty much out of luck...tahts the main reason i went with 275/35/18 all around so i can rotate easily

 

[DocG]

Is it just me, or did half these responses not seem to read the entire original post. He apparently understands what it takes to rotate staggered and directional tires, as he stated the tires would have to come off the wheels and be swapped up.

But I'd say what you'd pay for that to be done every so many thousands of miles, might as well just save it for your new tires. I'm betting with the few miles you might lose by not rotating, the cost would offset itself.

 

[bdcardinal]

in order to correctly rotate they have to dismount. also, tires are generally a waste of time for dealerships. they dont make money on them. as stated, the amount of money you would pay for dismount/mount/rebalance every 5-10k will outway the cost of new tires. this is the cost you pay for running staggered directional tire setups.