There has been some question on how to Rotate tires on the 350Z

(Or Any with Directional tires on a Staggered setup)



Forward:

On a vehicle with Negative Camber the Inside of the tire naturally wears more then the Outside. This technique will prolong the life of your tires.


When to do this?

Once the Inside of your tires being to show Tire Wear. If the Outside of your tires look brand new then do this just before the Inside of the tire reaches the Wear Indicator's. If the vehicle is driven in hard corners or on the track so the Outside shows signs of tire wear the sooner this technique is done, the more even the tire wear will be. Make sure to do this before the Wear Indicators are fully worn or the Tire Cord begins to show.

What will I gain from this?

If this technique is done the Tires will last almost Twice as long! (depending on driving habits of course)


How To:

STEP #1

Dismount Wheels from the Vehicle.

*For Explanation Purposes we have labeled the wheel & tire:

Front Left = #1
Front Right = #2
Rear Left = #3
Rear Right = #4

Image 1A displays the wheels before this technique is performed on the vehicle.




STEP #2

Put Wheel #1 on the Tire Mounting Machine. On 95% of wheels the face of the wheel points up (the out side of the wheel will be facing up) ((in cases of Reverse Mount wheels (Racing Hart etc) the wheel will be upside down / outside facing down))

Dismount the Tire from the wheel. Flip the Tire over so the Inside is now on top.

Mount the tire so what was the Inside is now on top and the Outside is now on the bottom.



Repeat for all wheels.


STEP #3 Time to put the wheels back on the car.

Since we flipped the tires they can not be put on where they were originally. The LEFT FRONT #1 will now have to be mounted on the RIGHT FRONT position. The original RIGHT FRONT #2 will be in the LEFT position.



Notice how what was the FRONT LEFT #1 wheel is going the Same Direction only on the FRONT RIGHT Position.

The illustrations display the Number Box on the INSIDE of the tire. The Arrow shows the Direction of the tire.

This technique can not be done with Asymmetrical Tires like the BF Goodrich KD TA.

This technique CAN be done with the OEM Tires to get more life out of them as well as popular tires like, TOYO T1S, POTENZA S0-3, BFG KDW 1 & 2, and other Directional Symmetrical Tire.


Sorry about the chicken scratch images, I do not have photoshop at home at the moment...

 

pretty bored at work aren't you

 

no at home...

 

thanx for this useful thread.

 

Hey Jason, you guys have a tire removal machine there right?

 

Yes, we do this on all wheels up to 18" On some 19's,

Any reverse mount wheels and other 19's and higher we send out.

We have them sent out while your car is being worked on and stand behind that work as much as our own. So if something happens to your wheels we stand behind our work.

 

You forgot to mention TPS. If you have it, you have to get them reassigned or learn to look at the display differently since the numbers will change order.

 

They will still be the same front and back... But this time the Top will be on the bottom and vice versa... Not really a big deal IMHO... But it is easy to re-learn them completely at your local dealer...

 

I also forgot to mention that using this technique eliminates the need for a "Camber Kit because I get too much inside tire wear"

As one can imagine it is more cost effective to rotate tires like this and get more out of both sides of the tire then buy a camber kit for clost to $1000 and up. Unless you install that camber kit at set all wheels at 0 camber, inner tire wear is going to occur.

 

wow.... how would it cost 4 you to do this and would you be able to do this on 19" rh c4's with nitto nt555 tires??

 

YOu can do it with those no problem...

It will cost a little bit more since the C4's are reverse mount rims... (it is in general for all mounting and ballancing on reverse mount rims)...

To do it here it would be about $140 ish...

 

Here are some photos of the tire...

This is a picture of my LEFT FRONT wheel and tire...

The LEFT of the tire (OUTSIDE) looks pretty much new (I havent tracked this set at all)...
The RIGHT of the tire (INSIDE) is nearly bald...





This image shows the tread depth left on the INSIDE of the tire... (NONE)


This image shows the tread depth left on the OUTSIDE of the tire... (Almost Full Depth)...


This method will move the Front Left directional tire to the RIGHT and vice versa, making the full tread depth side now on the inside... So it is like having a brand new tire all over again! Get twice the use out of your tires this way

It works the same for the rear as well...

 

BUT, what if you don't have any shops that are respectable (aka NOT JIM BOB's shop out of his Garage) and take good enough care of my $2500 Volks to not scratch them in this process?????

 

your wheels will be just as damaged when you go to change the tires to new ones...

 

I just get scared b/c I got my Volks and one of the tire's wasn't sealed correctly and I took it to a shop to get it fixed and I had only had the wheels THREE days and those ****ers put about a 2.5 inch scratch on one of the lips! Talk about getting pissed off! Needless to say they were nice enough to not charge me! BS

 

Most reliable shops will pay for the damage done to your vehicle if they cause it...

Stay away from the shops that dont stand behind their work like that...

 

stickied

 

One of the authorities on Z parts - Yes

Artist - NO!!!


Great write-up Jason!!

He's right, if your installer can't stand behind their work, stay away!!

 

Also like the Conti 2s... Which sucks because I was cosidering getting these for my next set of tires. O'well, at least I can flip my Yoko's AVS for now and next season. 2x the life...

good post Jason


Zquicksilver

 

my tires are bald on the inside due to tire feathering, if i do this rotate, am i still risking a tire pop on the freeway? because the bald side will be on the outside afterwards. just wondering, thanks