Is it just BMW that does not recommend tire rotation?

Do any other manufacturers other than BMW not recommend tire rotation?

>From the BMW shop manual:

Tire rotation
The tread wear patterns at the front end
differ from those at the rear - the actual
patterns will vary according to individual
driving conditions. In the interests
of safety and maintaining optimal
handling characteristics, BMW does not
recommend tire rotation.

If a proposed interaxle rotation of tires
is based on economic considerations,
one should consider whether the costs
for the rotation are likely to be recaptured
by any increase in the service life
of the tires that might be realized. In
principle, interaxle rotation must be
performed in short intervals, with a
maximum of 3,000 miles (5,000 km).
Consult your BMW center for more
information.

Should you decide to rotate the tires, it
is essential to comply with the following:
Rotate tires on the same side only, since
braking characteristics and road grip
could otherwise be adversely affected.
Following rotation, the tire inflation
pressure should always be corrected.
If different tire sizes are mounted
on the front and rear axles (refer to
page 130), the wheels may not be
rotated from one axle to the other.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55120
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Shaft Drive wrote:

> Do any other manufacturers other than BMW not recommend tire rotation?

The info you provided sounds like they might be referring to
purpose-built front and rear tires of the same size. Some
high-end BMWs have larger tires on the rear axle.

Pirelli's PZero system includes a directional tire for the
front, and an asymmetric tire for the rear. I believe they're
optimized for RWD cars.

<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=PZero+System+ Direzionale>

"y_p_w" > wrote
> Shaft Drive wrote:
>> Do any other manufacturers other than BMW not recommend tire rotation?
>
> The info you provided sounds like they might be referring to
> purpose-built front and rear tires of the same size. Some
> high-end BMWs have larger tires on the rear axle.

The info is the same in virtually all BMW owner manuals, for
all tire combinations including same-size front/rear. For instance,
my '01 330xi (same size all round - has to be!) recommends
against it. So does the manual for my '91 E34 525i.

The front tires tend to wear asymmetrically; more wear on the
outside/outboard edges than in the center and inside edge.
This happens *even if* the car is perfectly aligned.

Floyd

"Shaft Drive" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Do any other manufacturers other than BMW not recommend tire rotation?
>

Some tyre can only rotate in one direction, so these can't be turned around
on the rim and could only be swapped between the front and back on the same
side and then only if the tyres are the same size (otherwise you will go
round in circles!). So you may not be able to swap any tyres on some models
/ wheels.

Generally speaking rear tyres tend to wear in the middle, especially if you
do a lot of motorway work whereas the fronts tend to wear at the edge
(especially outside - so some tyres can be turned or rim swapped to even
this wear up). As it happens all my 7 series have had standard tyres which
are all the same size, so when the fronts wear down, I move the rears to the
front and put new tyres on the rear.

Shaft Drive wrote:

> Do any other manufacturers other than BMW not recommend tire rotation?
>

Well, I can think of several cars right off the top of my head (Dodge
Viper, for one) where there is a different configuration tire for each
corner of the car, and so rotation isn't even possible. ANY car that
uses unidirectional tires AND different size tires front and rear falls
into that category.

Steve wrote:
> Shaft Drive wrote:
>
>> Do any other manufacturers other than BMW not recommend tire rotation?
>>
>
> Well, I can think of several cars right off the top of my head (Dodge
> Viper, for one) where there is a different configuration tire for each
> corner of the car, and so rotation isn't even possible. ANY car that
> uses unidirectional tires AND different size tires front and rear falls
> into that category.
>

Vettes - 97 & up - different size wheels on the front and back. tires
are directional, so rotating isn't possible without dismounting the
tires. Don't own one, so can't tell you what the manual says, but if I
owned one I wouldn't rotate the tires.

Some 80's Camaros had wheels with different offset for front and rear
with directional tires, so same problem.

For my 01 Trans Am it recommends rotating front-rear on the same side.

I think the Acura NSX had a unique tire at each corner as well.

"ray" > wrote in message
...
> Steve wrote:
> > Shaft Drive wrote:
> >
SNIP

> I think the Acura NSX had a unique tire at each corner as well.

Forgive my ignorance but, in using the word 'unique' are saying that each
tire is actually manufactured differently? And if so, how does one replace
a single tire? Do you request a left rear, front right, etc...?

RichieP

"RichieP" > wrote
> "ray" > wrote
>> Steve wrote:
>> > Shaft Drive wrote:
>
>> I think the Acura NSX had a unique tire at each corner as well.
>
> Forgive my ignorance but, in using the word 'unique' are saying that each
> tire is actually manufactured differently? And if so, how does one
> replace
> a single tire? Do you request a left rear, front right, etc...?

That is exactly the case. The NSX (and many other high performance
cars, including BMW's with different-sized front/rear sport packages)
have uni-directional tires. That means that the tires can be on only
one side (left/right) of the car. When, in addition, the tires at the
front and rear are different sizes, that means that no tire can be
used *EXCEPT* at the corner it is designed for. The NSX ('91-'94)
has 205/50ZR15's front, 225/50ZR16 rear (IIRC), and the OEM
tires (Yoko & Bridgestones) are uni-directional.

If you trash a tire, you should replace both on that axle if they
have been worn much - say about 75% left. You do have to
order the right one for that corner.

FloydR - used to have an NSX

fbloogyudsr wrote:
> "RichieP" > wrote
> > "ray" > wrote
> >> Steve wrote:
> >> > Shaft Drive wrote:
> >
> >> I think the Acura NSX had a unique tire at each corner as well.
> >
> > Forgive my ignorance but, in using the word 'unique' are saying
that each
> > tire is actually manufactured differently? And if so, how does one

> > replace
> > a single tire? Do you request a left rear, front right, etc...?
>
> That is exactly the case. The NSX (and many other high performance
> cars, including BMW's with different-sized front/rear sport packages)
> have uni-directional tires. That means that the tires can be on only
> one side (left/right) of the car. When, in addition, the tires at
the
> front and rear are different sizes, that means that no tire can be
> used *EXCEPT* at the corner it is designed for. The NSX ('91-'94)
> has 205/50ZR15's front, 225/50ZR16 rear (IIRC), and the OEM
> tires (Yoko & Bridgestones) are uni-directional.

There are all sorts of wacky configurations. My current Pirelli
PZero Nero M+S tires are non-directional asymmetric. Some tires
are directional asymmetric. The wackiest of all are directional
asymmetric left/right specific.

<http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T%2FA+KD>

RichieP wrote:

> "ray" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Steve wrote:
>>
>>>Shaft Drive wrote:
>>>
>
> SNIP
>
>
>>I think the Acura NSX had a unique tire at each corner as well.
>
>
> Forgive my ignorance but, in using the word 'unique' are saying that each
> tire is actually manufactured differently? And if so, how does one replace
> a single tire? Do you request a left rear, front right, etc...?
>
> RichieP

No, but when you have different size front and rear tires in combination
with unidiriectional tires, then a MOUNTED tire/wheel combo is unique to
each corner of the car. You COULD dismount the front tires and swap them
side to side and re-mount them, but SHEESH! Why bother?