When rotating our tires do the fronts go to the back or is there some x pattern switch required?

 

No X pattern. Front to back only, unless you want to pay to have the tires taken off the rims and moved from side to side keeping them going in the same direction that they had been going.

 

Claymore has it right. The reason for keeping tires on the same side of the car is the overlap of the tread belt. Once tires run very far in one rotation the overlap tends to take a set; running the opposite way can cause the overlap to 'bunch' or 'wrinkle' at that place.
That is often the reason many tires are marked in the rotation desired.
Smoother is better.

 

Rotate front to back unless you have uneven tire wear. If you have uneven wear then you can cross them. Tires have changed tremendously in the last ten years or so. Mostanufacturers recommend crossing them to keep tire wear even ie RF tire is drive tire. This only goes for non directional tires.

 

Not the manufacturers I work with.

 

i usually just do a front to back.

on US roads the front driver side tire will wear first usually on the outside
threads if you drive aggressively. if your tires are non-directional it's
good to do a x patten rotation if longetivity is your goal.

 

Drivers side (left) wears faster because right hand turns are sharper than left-hand because we rive on the right side of the road. (in England its the right side. True in all vehicles mostly in city and suburbia traffic.

 

Thanks for the input! Front to back it is.

 

Thats not what Honda says on page 200 of the 2007 owners manual. It says front to back (and back to front) with directional tires and "X to the drive wheels" with non directional (i.e. most and factory installed) tires. The "X to the drive wheels" has been recommended by most car and tire manufacturers since the turn of the century.

 

Not with Radial tires. They "take a set" in the belts and it may cause premature separation of the belts if you put them on going the opposite direction than they were even if they are not unidirectional. And like I said you can X the tires if you take then off the rims and put them on the other side GOING IN THE SAME DIRECTION that they were going in.

 

Where do you work and where does your information come from?

 

Wrong again!!!!!

Tire Tech Information - Tire Rotation Instructions

Tire Safety, Brochure (DOT HS 809 361 October 2001)

Goodyear Tires | Support | FAQs | Rotating Tires

Tire-saving Tips: Tire Care & Buying Guide: Michelin Tires

Tire Rotation

TireSafety.com

Cooper Tires. Don't Give Up A Thing. Ultra-High Performance, Passenger, Light Truck, SUV, Motorsport, Motorcycle and Commercial Tires

We all know you know more about the English language than Marriam-Webster, so, I guess we can assume you know more about tires than Honda, DOT, Tire Rack, Goodyear, Kumho, Firestone, Cooper, and Michelin too.

 

Now I've seen evidence and arguments both ways. If you have a sport version fit how are the dealerships rotating the tires?

 

Better yet, here's the diagram from the NHTSA



I'm pretty sure, 99.99% positive (though I haven't looked at the tires in a while), that the Fit's tires are not directional (directional=rotates in one direction).

Also, for example, taking the right hand side tires of the rims and putting them on the left hand side rims, but going the same direction, isn't necessarily a good idea. Most tires today have a side that is supposed to face away from the car and switching the tires and rims like that will make the outward facing side of the tire face inwards.

 

Well I had to choose one way or the other. I believe the Fit Sports Dunlop P195/55R15 tires are non directional. According to page 212 of the Fit manual an X pattern is the way to go. Tie goes to Honda! I took it out on the highway after the rotation and it seems silky smooth just like before.

 

I just got to the point of needing a tire rotation also. I rotate my wheels every 5K. All of the cars/trucks/vans that I have owned in the last 15 years have instructed the X-rotation in the owner/shop manuals. I accept that it is possible for the radial belt overlaps to begin to separate with opposite direction rotation over a long period of time, and suspect that with cheaper tires this may be more of a problem.

To confirm- stock tires on Fits are non-directional. So, I will continue with the X-rotation. If this eventually accelerates tire wear or failure, it just means that I will have the excuse and opportunity to buy better quality tires sooner rather than later.

The low probability of tread separation caused by the belts "bunching up" from opposite direction rotation, done repeatedly, is not a worry as far as safety. Tread separation almost always gives you plenty of warning before the tire fails.

 

thread resurrection

the stock tires look directional to me

If anyone has a new Fit that hasn't had the tires rotated yet can you look at the tread and tell me which way it's supposed to go? My wife got em rotated at a firestone and we don't know whether they did front/back or cross. Rather than trust their word I'd like to see what the stock direction is.

The middle of the tire looks like this: \/
where the bottom of that v is pointing toward the rear of the car. Something tells me that's wrong. Help would be much appreciated.

 

How does one go about determining if the stock Dunlaps on the Fit Sport are directional or non-directional?

I got my tires rotated today (2008 Fit Sport) and the dealer rotated them front to back the first rotation, and today back to front. I know this due to a nick in the wheel caused by hitting a curb on the front passenger side. I noted where this wheel appeared after each tire rotation. According to the manual and other sources, this is how directional tires are rotated.

After searching this forum, I am getting the impression that the Sport tires are non-directional. Is there a way I can verify this with my own eyes before I raise holy HELL with the dealership?

Oh yeah....I'm poised to pounce !!

It's also interesting to me that the front tires (after my 2nd rotation) have less tread than the rear tires now have. Is this normal?? Or is it maybe because the dealer is improperly rotating the tires????? Errrrrrrrrrr

 

Directional tire will have an arrow on the sidewall indicating which direction they should roll. As far as I know no USDM Fit has ever had directional tires installed from the factory.

 

remember though, the dealer may have done just a front/rear because the tires were wearing evenly and recommended not to do the cross rotation.

sometimes doing cross rotation on tires that have been worn in will generate noise and can pose another issue for normal folks who dont know this.

so consider these ares before screaming at the boy/girl at the counter who may have no idea what the hell you're talking about.